Swweeet!

Maybe because of my not-so-good day on Wed, I was bestowed a compensatory nice day yesterday. :)

Morning started well. Dad gave me a cute little hand-held torch (courtesy of Baron's Strong Brew) and a 'Rolex'. What really caught me off-guard was that he called me 'baby' in a totally sweet, fatherly manner. :D We father & daughter don't communicate as much as I would have liked us to, but I know he loves us in his own way.

Made myself go for my spinning class after work even though I didn't exactly feel like it. And was extremely glad I went. :) Felt more energetic after. (Strange, ain't it?) Met up with Zan, Dawn, Sam(antha) and Sam(uel). FOW people. Had Swensen's ice-cream. Yum! :D With toppings of laughter!!! :p

It's Friday. I really should go to the gym. (I swear I planned to!!!) But I'm going to meet some friends for a drink instead. ha.

This weekend looks to be good. A close girlfriend of mine's giving me a spa treat tomorrow afternoon and I'm meeting a whole bunch of colleagues for Jap food in the evening. Yay!!! Plans to go swimming on Sun with sis then possibly head to the gym and after that dinner with friend, maybe.

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If only life came with an instruction manual and a remote control

Rewind, playback, delete.

A rough day it was yesterday.

Somehow, the morning started off-tangent and everything after formed a series of chain reactions eerily reminiscent of those performed in organic chemistry practicals.

Had to work non-stop from morning till late afternoon which meant no lunch and my stomach decided that very day to make known its displeasure as much as it could. (Most times I can get away with skipping lunch and not be subjected to gastric pains.)
Managed to finish my work in the lab just in time for our team meeting. But slightly panicking as I tried to do some last-minute polishing up of my presentation. Thankfully it went ok.
Meeting adjourned at 6 at which point I thought my stomach had possibly dissolved itself. This then means I couldn't go to the gym which would be the 3rd day this week I've not gone. I grabbed a few bites of 'lunch' as I tried to do some data analysis.
Left the office about 7-ish to attend a good friend's dad's wake. I don't like wakes very much at all. (I suppose no one does.) They always make me feel really sad, even if I don't know the person very well.
Good friend was very busy the whole night moving from one table of friends to the next. In my haste to go see her I didn't think to contact other friends to go together and ended up pretty much sitting by myself staring at the 'highly interesting' cemented ground for a couple of hours before a couple lifesavers (secondary school classmates) turned up. They sat with me and we caught up with each other. After a few more hours, we decided she was so busy she probably would never get around to us so we bidded our goodbyes. She has been really admirably strong, taking care of everything in her family after her dad had taken ill ages ago. I haven't seen her in eons because of all the things she has had to deal with. Hope things will smoothen out for her soon. And a prayer said in my heart for my parents to stay healthy and be with us for a long time to come.

Got home late and tried to eat some dinner which proceeded to come out the way it went in (so wrong!!!) almost immediately after I finished. :'( I felt sick, no doubt. Went to bed soon after.

Not such a great day.

Random Post-Script: Last weekend went by quietly. (That's why I almost couldn't remember what I did when I wanted to write it down.) Caught a movie with this (rather old) American guy whom I met at my hairstylist's tea reception. The movie was interesting. 'Friends with money' with Jennifer Aniston being one of the leads. I didn't even know of this movie before the guy mentioned it. It was quite a heavy show. Thought-provoking substance. :) Met up with an old friend after for dinner who didn't talk much so dinner seemed quite awkward and silent. Sun was bum-at-home day. Anyway, speaking of movies, the weekend before last I watched 'Lemming', a French movie. It was interesting in a weird way as French shows usually go. Which is one of their appeals to me. There are several movies I've wanted to watch (The Devil wears Prada, The Host etc.) but either no time or no one to go watch with. (I don't enjoy watching movies in cinemas alone.)

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Analgesia

When the pain becomes bearable,
I know the fort's been constructed that much sturdier,
The fence raised that much higher,
The barrier forged that much more impenetrable,
And me, that much wiser.

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Feuilles de thé

I stared at you, mesmerized.
Time seemed to have halted in its tracks for you.
Or should I say because of you?

You twirled and swirled,
Leisurely, gracefully, as if without a care in the world.
Some say Fortune could be told by observing you.
Or rather, the pattern of your dance.
Tell me, what's mine?

The memories of you, you and YOU, swam around in my head.
Unsure, faltering, confused,
I attempted to block them out, hold them close, push them away.
But like the tea leaves in my china,
Their movements erratic, unceremonious.

Until at last, their journey at an end,
Sunk to the bottom of the cup.
There they lay,
Until the next movement stirred them.

I drained my thé.
And stashed the thoughts.

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Dear Diary,

It's been an exhausting week. But unexpectedly good.

Had my last personal training session at the gym on Tues. He most definitely was out to get me. My back and arms are still vaguely aching from it now. Before I left he said he would still keep an eye on my progress, ergo, check that I come to the gym regularly and nag me about watching my food. Bleagh! I suppose he has noticed that discipline is not part of my (long list of) strengths. haha...

Plagued by a pounding headache on Wed but it was soon solved by swallowing a panadol. (Our company's product! :D) Then proceeded to have a great date with the girls after work! A few of us close female colleagues got together at Claire R's place for an indoor bbq. (Don't try this on your own at home. Well, unless you fancy a smoky kitchen. hee. But it was all worth it cos' our food turned out gorgeous!!!)
There was pasta salad, potato salad, bread rolls, burgers, chicken, sausages... *right, I'm salivating now...* I had the best intentions to take pictures but we were so hungry by the time the food was ready that we gobbled it up before I could pick up the camera.
Afterwards, they did, however, pose for the camera at my insistence. (Once again, will post all my pics when I get around to doing it. hee.) The minute I said I wanted us to take a group photo (we hardly get around to doing this sort of ladies evening and it was Claire B's last night in Singapore so a momento was called for), all the girls protested unanimously, 'But I look terrible today! Just look at the state of my hair!!!' Haha... Girls will always be girls eh? I didn't think I looked any better. Earlier in the day a few colleagues were just telling me that I looked deathly pale and sick.
Then we had some (Sara Lee) strawberry cheesecake for dessert (courtesy of Shab), listened to cheesy boyband songs (BackStreet Boys. And I knew every single one of the songs on the cd! The horrors!!! hahaha), chatted about sisters (namely, younger ones) and other girly stuff. What a marvellous way to spend a midweek evening! ^_^

Yesterday, Lingling asked me to go shopping with her. And she was so persuasive that I forwent my regular spinning class to go with her. Chiu came along to have dinner with us. (And of cos' to carry our shopping bags. Bwahaha...)
The poor boy was very patient while we entered almost every boutique we walked by. Must have been very well-trained by shui-sao. :p Lingling went home with the most spoils: 5 tops and a pair of Levi's jeans!!! I had tried some clothes which I quite liked but didn't buy them immediately for one reason or another. (A $200 pair of Levi's jeans!!! Obviously too expensive! A versatile 'shawl' that I'm not sure I would be able to use in Singapore.) I did buy something: a nice ethnic-looking shirt. At half the original price! I was happy enough.
Dinner was at Kenny Rogers and among us three, we finished an impressive 9 side dishes!!!!! *crossing my fingers that the calories burnt walking would be sufficient to cover for that* It's always great fun hanging out with them. They love food and are so crappy! So easy to talk to. :)

I've got to go to the gym today. Not sure what I'll do after that. Lingling was telling me earlier this morning that she hasn't shopped enough yesterday (!?!?!!) and was again trying to sway me into missing gym and going with her. I can't say I'm not tempted. But definitely can't skip again today. I've told her that if she wants to, she could come to the gym with me then we could go shopping after. I'm good influence, I am. ha.

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The joys of being a creative writing teacher

Got this off a friend's blog. She's an English teacher in the States. Quite definitely laugh-out-loud funny. :D (Well, at least I did... ^_^)

It's a collection of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays, which are published to the amusement of English teachers across the country each year.
Here are last year's winners:

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

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Where to?

A small lesson from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

'Cheshire Puss,' she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. 'Come, it's pleased so far,' thought Alice, and she went on. 'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'

'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.

'I don't much care where--' said Alice.

'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.

'--so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation.

'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough.'

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I abhor Mondays

with a fiery, blood-boiling passion.

Mondays are undoubtedly, without contest (in my world) the worst day of a week. Nothing short of a mountain (Everest-sized) of the world's finest chocolate could produce enough endorphins to brighten my mood today. :( Sigh. But not to worry, I'm not going to cause any grevious harm to anyone. (Though secretly, I think that would feel quite satisfying... of cos' only refering to enemies.)

I better get going. (Maybe head to the gym to work it out of my system.) Before I take it out on my innocent office pc. Ciao.

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Out of energy, money but full of glee!

It's Friday! Yipee!!!!!!!!!

Absolutely worn out. I have been thinking of going to the pool to get some sun tomorrow morning. But am now doubtful as to whether I would actually wake up before midday. Hee.

Just booked some tickets for my Oct trip! *Do I smell fabric burning? Oh, that's just my pocket...* Haha... a little more broke now. But rather ecstatic!!! (no, no, not about being broke... about the prospect of a holiday!!!) I'm looking forward to my trip! It's what's keeping me going now. :)

Have a good weekend, folks! ^_^

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Against her will, thoughts started to seep into her consciousness, trickling through a minute gap in the mental wall she had tried so hard to erect. She could no more stop them from entering than she could defer waves from lapping the shore. With a physical shrug, she relinquished the hold on the leash she held against her mind and resignedly allowed her thoughts to be swept away like fallen, withered leaves.

Soothed by the solitude and cool breeze, she felt her spirits lift ever so slightly. Her eyes lit upon an ancient rain tree, its branches sprawled out in an open, inviting manner. It was like walking into a grandfather's embrace, she mused as she approached it. How many children had clambered up its branches, giggling and shrieking with abandonment and delight? How many love-struck couples had exchanged vows and promises under its dark, romantic canopy? And how many whispered confessions and secrets had it lent its ears to in the long decades past? How many, like herself, had come to the silent wisdom of this ancient creature for answers to questions which were yet formulated in their minds?

She reached out and, reverently, touched the rough bark of the tree. "The stories you could tell," she murmured to it, fascinated, her eyes closed as if trying to hear a faint, distant voice. Bewilderingly touched, she wished she could convey the sentiments she felt so deeply about, adequately on canvas. She was interested in capturing not only the image but also the tales she was sure were hidden just beneath the façade. All she came up with so far though, was a fuzzy and vague idea to merge the word and the image.

She sighed, turned around and sat with her back against the strong trunk of the tree. The leaves of the rain tree were starting to open up again as the overcast sky began to clear. She remembered the recent conversation she had with her sister. There were times, many a time, when Emilie had wished she was like Elise. "What is it like to have no self-doubts at all?" she wondered.

Suppose, just for a minute, that she, Emilie, she mused haltingly, hardly daring to give voice to this absurd idea, had shed all her inhibitions, life would be pretty different, wouldn't it? She let her imagination run wild, just for a minute. Perhaps she would be able to out-talk the younger girl in an argument, for a change. Perhaps she wouldn't have to care what other people were saying about him and her, for a change. Perhaps then, just for once she could admit, to herself, mind, she does have some feelings for...

That thought did not get completed. Emilie's innate protective brakes had kicked into gear and had hastily quarantined that dangerous notion away in the crevices of her mind. Still chiding herself, she got up, brushed the dirt off her jeans and strode away into the breaking dawn.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The passage above was part of my lil' sis's assignment. I thought she wrote beautifully (Isn't she brillant? ^_^ I wish I could write like that!!!) and hence asked her for permission to twitch it some and put it up on my blog. :)

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And so it is.

This last weekend can be summarised in one word: cancellations. Several friends had asked to meet up but for some reason or other, blew off our appointments.

So, I was home the whole time. Not to say that it wasn't enjoyable. I do like staying at home sometimes. Just lazing around (read: sleeping), reading. (and eating, of cos'!)

Funny that after my weekend of doing nothing and spending every single one of my waking moment eating, my trainer should tell me (yesterday) he thought I had slimmed down a little. 'How did you do that?' he asked.
I responded truthfully, 'By eating.'
Needless to say, he didn't believe me.
Anyhow, that was a big compliment, coming from the guy who makes it his personal duty to remind me that I'm fat.
Let me give you some exepts of what he says during our training sessions;
'Now, I understand why you always wear loose clothes at the gym.' (This was just after we did an abs exercise.)
'You know, you are going to be very big when you get pregnant in the future.' (*And he gestures width-wise* This out of nowhere. Totally absurd!)
'Eh, you're bigger than me leh.' (On why I should be carrying heavier weights than my usual ones. He's barely taller than me, the lean-muscular type.)
'Watch your food!' (is repeated like a chant. 'How are you going to see results if you don't watch your food?' is his reply when I say, 'I exercise so that I can eat what I want, with less guilt.')

My colleague who goes to the same gym, tells me her trainer used to say things about her being fat too (and she's actually smaller-sized than me), but not nearly as horrible as mine! But he trains well, so I'll stick around till the end of my sessions and try not to let him affect my (already non-existent) self-confidence.

The only useful thing I did over the weekend was when I roasted a chicken for my mum. She had marinated it and asked me to help her roast it as she didn't know how to use the oven we had borrowed from my aunt. The chicken turned out quite good, all golden-brown and tender! :D Now my aunt wants me to to teach her how I twitched the dials on the oven to make it do that. I think I should get us an oven of our own soon so we could roast and bake whenever we like! That will go on my 'I-want' list. (probably very long by now... I've lost track.)

Last Friday evening was a very relaxing one. Claire R and I had gone to the gym after work and were heading towards Jumbo Restaurant (Boat Quay) to meet some other colleagues when she noticed a pub with a signage that read: Friday night - Ladies night. Free-flow champagne for the ladies. 8 - 11pm. It was Mad Flemmings. I had been there once on a Friday night (also after gym) with A and M. Nice place. We figured there might be a catch to the champagne deal so I asked one of the waitress. Surprisingly there was none. We only had to go queue for our champagne at the bar. So the 2 of us got our bubblies and sat ourselves down to chill. The other colleagues (mostly girls) then joined us after their seafood feast. About 11-ish I headed home, leaving the party chicks (who went to One Night Stand and MOS after) to their entertainment.

Possibly this Friday, Claire R and I will go to Mad Flemmings after gym to see if they still have the free champagne, which will make for a cheap evening out. Hee. Any babes wanna join us? :D

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Waiting for the cows to come home

The week flew by, as it has taken the habit of doing the past few months.

I'm still working almost 6 straight hours in the lab every single day. I could have broken my day up but that would mean finishing my day later, which I don't want. It's now into week 3 of my experiment. Results not looking significant at all. :( This, after all the effort and time put in, really doesn't feel good.

These days, I'm usually too exhausted at the end of my hours to reflect on or write about stuff (i.e. intelligent stuff, as opposed to unentertaining going-ons) that I've wanted to. So explains the mundane accounts of 'what-I-ate-for-breakfast' sort of posts. Sigh. Luckily there aren't many people following my blog, else they'd be so terribly bored out of their wits! My apologies to the few friends keeping up with this site!

That said, I'm going back to the chronicling (Is there such a word? Anyway, you know what I mean.) of my days. Haha...

Had a surprisingly good session at the gym on Tuesday. I had gone to the gym dreading my session, but the trainer managed to make me laugh while menacingly pushing me really hard. At the end of the hour, I felt tons better than when I came in. Though that was before I saw the shower queue... I dragged myself back into the gym thinking I should probably do something (but not really wanting to) rather than waste time queueing. My trainer came up and asked what I was doing. Apparently his next client had cancelled. So he put it upon himself to torture me for another half an hour until his subsequent session began. Thankfully when I went into the Ladies this time round, the queue was gone.

It's only Thursday and already I can't wait for tomorrow's workday to end.

Spinning tonight. Hopefully I'll come out of it alive...

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Perhaps I live for the weekends...

A rather brillant weekend it was.

Got home early after gym on Friday and lounged around watching tv. Then had a late-night chat over the phone with an old friend.

Slept in on Saturday morning. (Ah, sleep glorious sleep!!!) Ate and slept intermittently the rest of the day until it was time to get dressed for a colleague's (Claire Bratley's) leaving bbq party at her place. She's an IP (industrial placement) student from the UK and she's finished her year here so going back to university. :'( I'm gonna miss her!

The party was really fun. She had requested for everyone to come dressed with some sort of accessory, so there were bunny ears, a big, black curly wig, a smaller, bright purple curly wig, a tutu, ancient chinese hats (along with fake pigtails!) etc. Truly a sight to behold! :D I borrowed my sis's retro-looking (black & white striped and broad) Aliceband. [Sometime, there'd be pictures. I promise. Hee...] There was great food and alcohol enough to satisfy several teams of burly English rugby players (think A)!!! I was a good girl that night; ate well and kept my drinking to a minimum. Claire Rourke, who usually takes care of me on nights out, didn't eat very much and drank quite a bit, that means the tables were turned. I was glad to be able to be the care-giver this time round.

Most people started leaving around 11ish and we had to clear out of the bbq pit by 12am. Armed with the leftover food and alcohol, the remainder (not many) of us headed up to Claire B's apartment. There were 3 new IP students who only arrived a few days ago and being the unbelievably energetic youngsters they are, they wanted to continue the night at a club, namely Home. I wasn't feeling up to going clubbing, especially not to Home cos' I've been there once and the music they play are not exactly my cup of tea. The Claires didn't really want to go out either but somehow, the students managed to persuade them to go and I went along since I was going to stay at Claire R's place that night.

By the time we got back to Claire R's, it was 4plus in the morning. She went straight to bed while I had my shower before I slept. (I can never sleep with the smell of smoke on me!) I went back home after a few hours' of sleep.

Later in the afternoon, my hairstylist had an engagement tea plus opening ceremony at his (not-too) new salon and I was one of his exclusively invited clients! :D Now I would have been slightly upset if he hadn't invited me. I mean, I have been his loyal customer for over 5 years... He even gave every guest a (sort of customised) goodie-bag which contains a specific hair product which he thinks is suited for the individual! How thoughtful is that?? ^_^

Met up with an old friend whom I've not seen for ages in the evening and we had a laughter-filled catch-up session while sipping coffee. Then it was back home sulking the fact that the next day's Monday...

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Highly unusual

Wednesday was a school night and I was out late. Plus, I was 'subjected' to a almost-royal treatment the whole of that evening! :D

Met up with my ex-boss for dinner to catch up on how his company's doing and there's an option if I want to get back into the business sector in the future.
Earlier, we had agreed to meet where the restaurant is but because it was raining persistently, he offered to pick me up from work. Dinner was fantastic Jap food (yummeh!) at a Teppanyaki restaurant in Chijmes. I had wanted to give him a treat but he refused to let me but said I could get the bill the next time we meet. Which would be for sushi and sashimi at a Jap-family-owned restaurant that he said's really good and not too expensive. Looking forward to that! Hee. I LOVE raw fish! *gluttony grin*

Some recent acquintances (a Singaporean and some French people I met at Womad) invited me to join them for a night out at Double-O and after consulting with Wei Kang (the local), we agreed to stop by to say hi to the French people who are leaving soon and go home by about midnight (Cinderellas! haha :p) So he picked me up in his swanky red Mazda3 in town and we went to the appointed club.

We ended up staying till 2am. Ha. It was great fun though! I even had a little manicure done (free!! some sort of promo thingy) in the club with Audrey. (one of the French girls)

Since it was Ladies' night, I didn't have to pay for entrance or drinks. Hee. Not that I could take more than 2 drinks... When Wei Kang wanted to have a drink in the bar area before going into the dance area, and my drink there wasn't covered under the Ladies' night rule, he gallantly refused to let me for my own drink. (Sometimes I'm unfeminist like that. haha :D) And I had a lift home too.

Now, how I wish I am rich... Then I could buy what I want and have my own transport to zip around in. Sigh.

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