Emotions

Today, I helped my friend despite having a problem of my own. A promise is a promise. I won't break it even if it meant inconvenience for me. I managed to experience a range of emotions all in the space of one day.

I felt:
Cheerful, hopeful, frustrated, anger, hopeless, preoccupied, sad, lonely, tired, useful, contented, appreciated, happy.

What's Important to Me

Did this blogthing about priorities. Hahaha. Interesting result, especially for one of the questions. Lol. :P Which one? You guess lor, haha.

What's Important to You... And What Isn't:

For you, sex is usually your number one priority. You don't mind having things to get done... as long as they don't pile up on you. Your most important priorities get your attention. You are happily able to let the less important things slide. You want thinking to be a high priority, but you don't take enough time for yourself.

The Priority Test

Helping Others

I do enjoy helping people, be it my friends or strangers. Sometimes when I see tourists looking at maps and looking lost, I would go up to ask if they need help. I know some people would say that is being kay poh. But if your one single act can bring a smile or cheer to another person, why not? You will feel cheerier too for the day.

Somehow my career choices have always been those that I can be in the position to help others:
* Being a teacher - I helped my students to open their minds and learn about the world around them
* Being an educational psychologist - I helped students, parents, teachers and schools to deal with various learning disablities and difficulties
* Being a school counsellor - I help students to put their lives into perspectives
* Being a researcher - I conduct research in schools and hope the results will be able to help both current and future students, teachers and schools

Maybe my career choices are just extensions of my personality, lol. :)

Here's a blogthing that has quite accurate results.

You Are a Centaur

In general, you are a very cautious and reserved person. However, you are also warm hearted, and you enjoy helping others in practical ways. You are a great teacher, and you are really good at helping people get their lives in order. You are very intuitive, and you go with your gut. You make good decisions easily.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

PS. Today, I helped my friend out. Although I am tired, I feel really cheerful and content. :)

A Day of Missions

I am on a mission today, several missions actually. Lol. I have Juliane along with me on my missions. Lol.

* Mission 1
Since not many people have gotten back to me about their preferred choice of the farewell gift for a dear friend of ours, and time is running out, I decided to go ahead and get something that a few of us thought suitable. I hope the rest will be happy with the choice of gift. :) I went to the shop at Wisma at 10:30am. Hmmm, not really suitable. So we walked to the next mall. I made a call and decided to get what I thought it would be most suitable. Hey, Friends, hope you guys would be ok with the choice I made.

* Mission 2
Finally managed to break Juliane out of her "Green Frog" mode and got her interested in something else for lunch. But it was after much talking and "persuasion"! Lol. We went to The Soup Spoon at Paragon. Juliane ordered a Tokyo Chicken Stew (clear soup) while I had a Boston Clam Chowder. I just love soups! I am glad that Juliane enjoyed her soup and the bread rolls that came with our soups. :)



* Mission 3
Juliane had her first MRT train ride! I needed to go to Popular to get a few items but realised the branch at Orchard MRT is closed. The next branch I know of is at BBC. We would have to take either a bus or MRT train. Since Juliane has always been going on about wanting to take MRT train, so why not we take the train. At Orchard MRT, Juliane was really thrilled with the buying of her single trip ticket, the tapping of her ticket on the sensor, and being on the train. :) We dropped off at City Hall MRT. Juliane refused to let me return her ticket. Oh well, then let her keep it as the momento of her first MRT train ride, lol. We walked over to BBC. I managed to get the items I needed at Popular.


* Mission 4
While leaving Popular, I received a call from a good friend. They needed me to help them get some things from a supermarket. Since I would be walking back to City Hall MRT and there is Market Place there, not a problem. Found the items easily for my friends, and Juliane also found something for my friends' cat, BC, lol.

* Mission 5
My friends are in the midst of packing and moving to a new apartment. I thought they might need the things that they have asked me to help them get. Since I would be taking the taxi, it would just take a few more minutes to send the stuff to their place (which is nearby my place).

* Mission 6
Juliane got to see BC at long last. I hope that would stop her from bugging me to bring her to see BC, for some time to come at least. Lol.

It has been a busy day for us. But I think it certainly was also fun-filled. :)

Ikea and Dozo

* Ikea
I went to Ikea in the morning around 10:30am to run an errand - get some small and medium sized storage boxes. Ikea is a little messy and confusing at the moment because it is under going renovation and sections have been closed off. It was no use following their pamphlet as the map in it is outdated with the current renovation going on. Anyway, I managed to find the boxes. By the time, I got to the check-out point, it was just before 11:15am. Maybe it was still too early in the morning so there were not too many people at the check out counters. I was lucky I managed to find the shortest queue and was done with my purchases by 11:30am. :)

* Dozo
The girls wanted to go to the vending machines outside the video shop at Valley Point. We might as well have lunch there. We went to Dozo since we haven't been there before. Dozo is a Japanese fine dining restaurant which specialises in Japanese-European fusion dishes. It has an ala carte menu as well as degustation menus.

The decor went for European elegance. But it is also dark and loungey. There are plenty of private dining rooms. We were shown into one of the rooms which meant we had our own space and privacy. :)

The girls had the kids' meals ($15.90++) which included a mushroom soup, a main course, chef's dessert and a glass of orange juice. Marieann had Teriyaki Chicken with Japanese Udon while Juliane had Breaded Dory with Cheesy Rice. The mushroom soup was really delicious, creamy and with bite as there were lots of mushroom bits in it. Both the girls' main course were delicious and efforts were also put into the presentation of the kids' dishes. Goes to show they care for the little customers too. For dessert, the girls were given Dozo's Baked Warm Chocolate Cake (FOC!) to go with their vanilla ice cream. That is what I call service! :)





For our 6-course lunch degustation menu ($38.80++), we were given the Seasonal Starter which consisted of a scallop in a light foamy miso cream sauce and asparugus, foie gras on a piece of bread, and raw salmon topped with cream cheese. The scallop was really fresh and succulent and the size of the foie gras was just nice, enough to whet the taste buds. As for the salmon, I don't know how it tasted because I swallowed it in one gulp! I don't take raw fish lol. :P


After the starter, we were all given a mango sorbet drink to prime our palate for the next course. The girls were delighted with the extra drink lol. :)


For Side Dish:
I had the Steamed Egg Custard with scallop and foie gras topped with caviar. It was deliciously light. The foie gras was blended into the egg and steamed. The egg custard was still light but with the taste of foie gras in it which made it rather unique in taste.


The girls' father had the Tempura Battered Soft Shell Crab on galette of mash. The tempura was nice.


For Soup:
I had the Seafood Bisque which had scallops in it. The soup was rich and creamy which I really liked. :)


The girls' father had the Infusion of Cepes Mushroom and Truffle. The soup was similar to the girls' mushroom soup, except that he had a piece of black truffle to go with his soup.


For Main:
I had the Grilled Chicken Roulette with wild mushroom and Baked Apple Risotto. The chicken was a tad tough but it was still very tasty. I really liked the risotto which was baked in an apple. Thus, the risotto was infused with the fragrance and sweetness of the apple, making it refreshingly scrumptious. :)


The girls' father had the Oven Baked Hamachi Kama on bed of Risotto. The yellow tail cheek was really fresh.


For Dessert:
I had the Dozo's Green Tea Creme Brulee. My green tea creme brulee was really nice and the bitterness of green tea complimented the hard caramel layer very well. The girls' father had the Freshly Baked Warm Chocolate Cake with Ice cream.


For Drinks:
I had the Iced Fruity Refresher which was a mix of fruit juices and honey. It was delightfully refreshing.


The girls' father had the Iced Mallow Apple Melody which consisted of mallow flowers, apple and guava juice. I thought the guave juice masked the taste of mallow flowers.

Overall, the lunch was excellent! The portion was just nice and the taste was great. The service was really good! The waiters were friendly, helpful, and most attentive and yet not in your face. They somehow knew when to appear and disappear. :) We definitely enjoyed our lunch today.


PS. I am definitely going back there again. :)

My Feet

Guess what? Feet can also tell about one's personality, lol. This is going to be so interesting, haha.

Woohoo. My feet do know me! LOL. My responses are in green.

What Your Feet Say About You:

You are more expressive than most people. You let everyone know how you're feeling - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Oh yes, I do tend to let everyone know how I feel, especially the good (happy) and the ugly (anger). You are a very passionate person. You are highly charged and easily inspired. I guess in some ways, lol. You are an assertive and aggressive person. You are determined and not likely to ever give up. Hmm, being assertive, ok sometimes but agressive, I am not really leh. But I know I am not likely to give up on things that I have set my eyes on. You fall in love easily and develop strong bonds. You are attached to many people. I do develop strong bonds with people and I am "attached" to them in the sense I am an extremely loyal friend. :) You are not easily frightened, but you have a few strong phobias. Oh yes, Chili Padi is not so easily frightened except fear of height and spiders. :S You are intellectual and philosophical. You are more concerned with thoughts than action. Yar, easier to think than to put into action. Lazy lah, lol. :P You are very spoiled. You don't work unless you have to, and you love to be waited on. Is it? Maybe that's why my secret career choice is being a tai tai?? Hahaha. :P You are easily influenced by other people. You're quite impressionable, so you should only be around people who are a good influence. Easily influnence? It depends on whether it is going to be fun or not! Lol. :)

What Do Your Feet Say About You?

Books

I recently took over some books from a good friend who is moving into a new apartment. His new apartment no longer allows him to keep so many books, lol. As they say, "One man's misfortune is another's fortune" or rather in my case, it is a woman's fortune, haha. Shh.. better don't let friend hear or he would be upset, lol. :P He is still grieving that he has to lose so many books... But I think he can rest assured that his books are in good hands. What better hands for them to be in than a former head librarian's hands?! Lol. :)

I am instantly a proud owner of a collection of books. :) Being a former head librarian in school and being an avid reader, I am none the happier to suddenly increase the books in my own library. :) I am really lucky that friend reads similar genres (or I won't have taken over the books, lol) and he also had a couple of books or rather a dozen of books by authors whom I have been meaning to read. His books are also in very good conditions, almost like brand new! So am I lucky or what? Lol. You see, I am really fussy about the conditions of my books. My books are never dog-eared and their spines are bend-free. Yes, I know I am very the fussy, lol. :P

I am really happy with my new books. But now, I have a problem. Which book do I read first?? Hahaha.

My Flight Personality

This is interesting - a personality test based on my airplane flight experience/ habits. :) I like the result. :)

Your Personality at 35,000 Says...

Deep down, you prefer spending time alone to spending time with others. You enjoy thinking more than talking. You are good with your place in the world. You are confident and comfortable with who you are. Your gift is relating to other people. You don't hide from your own emotions, and you are good at drawing other people out. You are inspired by what is possible. Real life is often too ordinary for you. Your life has a lot of ups and downs, but things generally end up being pretty positive. It's one big emotional roller coaster, that's for certain.

The Personality Test at 35,000 Feet

Earth Day and Enbloc

Today is Earth Day.

My girls were told by their pre-school to wear green or brown clothes in order to celebrate Earth Day. Juliane wore a green dress while Marieann wore a green flowery blouse. Juliane's class celebrated by creating and decorating their own paper bag titled "Save Our Home". Marieann's class did a class painting of Earth and they also had a discussion on how to save our Earth.

Both girls enjoyed celebrating Earth Day.

***
However, on a more sombre note, I am sad to say that Singapore is not friendly to our Earth.

The BCA Green Mark Scheme was launched in 2005 with the intention to promote sustainability in the built environment and raise environmental awareness among developers, designers and builders when they start project conceptualisation and design, as well as during construction of environment-friendly buildings. It is a applaudable move by our government to help conserve our Earth. But another act of the government has totally eroded this good effort.

I am talking about the enbloc law in Singapore. Structurally sound buildings, namely condos are being enbloc-ed and demolished, all in the name of profit, opps I meant to say the politically correct term of "urban renewal". It is definitely a waste of resources and energy tearing down structurally sound buildings and definitely not very environmentally friendly. As long as the current enbloc law remains, Singapore will be "one step forward, two steps back" in its effort to be environmentally friendly. As long as the current enbloc law is not changed, the Singapore will be far from ever becoming an enviromentally friendly nation that it aspires to be.

Compassion

Out of curosity, I decided to attempt this blogthings, "What do People Envy about You?". Me, that is, lol.

People Envy Your Compassion

You have a kind heart and an unusual empathy for all living creatures. You tend to absorb others' happiness and pain. People envy your compassion, and more importantly, the connections it helps you build. And compassionate as you are, you feel for them.

What Do People Envy About You?

So people envy my compassion, lol. First of all, in my line of work as a counsellor, as a psychologist, there must be certain amount of compassion and empathy. So I guess it is already in my nature/ character/ personality, lol.

However, for me personally, with my friends and not to mention my close friends and such, I do tend to experience quite deeply their feelings. I guess I "suffer", through no fault of my friends, as I share their emotional and mental upheavals. I will go all out to help them so that I can be relieved of the emotional and mental stress too, lol. So is compassion such a good thing? I really don't know. Hahaha. But for all the emotional and mental stress that I go through together with my friends, it is reward enough when I know I have helped my friends and I see them happy again. :)

PS. Just curious, I wonder who I can turn to when I am in need of help...

Routine, Routine, Routine...

It is the usual weekend routine again.

* Isetan Scotts
Yes, we are back at Isetan again. Well, this time, we needed to get a new water bottle for Juliane as she somehow managed to crack the bottle cover of the old one. We also needed to get a lunchbox for Marieann. After seeing how her sister has been taking her favourite snacks to school, Marieann could no longer resist and asked if she could have a lunchbox too. Haha. :)
After having chosen her new water bottle, Juliane wanted me to get her a toy but I refused. She brought it to the counter when I was paying for the other stuff and tried to sneak it in with the rest. I took it out and she was really angry. She started crying and shouted, "I don't like you". To which, I replied, "Too bad, I am still not buying it". I think she was surprised with my response and stopped crying. Lol. Sorry, I don't like tantrums and I DON'T give in to tantrums. My girls should know better than that to throw one in public!

* Lunch
Thank goodness, today I managed to divert Juliane's attention from her "Green Frog" restaurant. Otherwise, I would go crazy eating there again! Lol. :P I brought her to Anatolia Turkish Restaurant, Level 2, Far East Plaza. I had a Salad set ($5) where I could choose from the salad bar what I wanted to have. The set also came with bread so it was very filling. Juliane had French fries ($2.50) and Eggs in Fry Pan ($3). We weren't very hungry so we didn't order much. I have eaten at the restaurant before and the kebab, and special rice are very nice. I would like to try the other stuff too, maybe next time. The restaurant is not very big but it is quaint and cosy. The food is definitely fresh and reasonably priced.



I decided to let Juliane have some fun. I ordered her a Dmado hand-made Turkish ice cream ($2) in order to let her watch the antics of the chef serving the ice cream. He pretended to drop her ice cream, gave her only the cone, etc. She was pretty tickled by him. She kept telling me that he is a funny man. She had the chocolate while I had the vanilla. I really like the ice cream there because it is really chewy and somehow it tastes different from the usual ice cream. Hmm, can't quite place my finger yet on what is the difference. I guess I will have to eat more of Anatolia's ice cream then to find out, lol. :P


* BC
Here we go again.
Juliane: Mama, can I go Cat Uncle's house?
Me: (ARGHHHHHH!!!! Silent scream) No!
I gave her such a look that thank goodness, she was smart enough to understand and kept really quiet. :P

* Home Sweet Home
It was time to go home after a good meal. Juliane had a nap when she got home. :) Well, we all had an afternoon siesta, lol.

Afternoon at The Singapore Flyer

After reading a promotional advert in the papers about a seafood restaurant, we decided to try it out for lunch.

Seafood Paradise is situated at The Singapore Flyer. The girls were pretty excited when they saw the Singapore Flyer. They thought they were going for a ride. Sorry, girls, we are only here for the food, lol. :P

The girls had the Seafood Thick Soup in Fragrant Coconut ($10). The soup was really sweet and fragrant. It was infused with the flavour of coconut. There was the usual seafood - prawn, scallop, crab meat in the soup with egg white. The girls totally enjoyed the soup, especially when it was served in cute little coconuts. :)

We ordered to share:
Stuffed BBQ Pork in Crispy Beancurd (Small, $12): the beancurd was mixed with some vege, stuffed with BBQ Pork (bak hwa) and fried till crispy. It was really fragrant and there was texture to the beancurd with the extra stuffings in it.


Wild Fungus with Asparagus (Small, $14): the asparagus was tender and there were several kinds of fungus in the dish.


Sambal Kang Kong (Small, $10): this one is for my mom. She thought the spiciness was there but a tad too sweet for her liking. Sorry, no pic as my mom refused to let me take a photo of it, lol. :P

Fragrant Crispy Duck (Half, $20): the duck was really crispy and fragrant. I really like this dish a lot.


What's the point of going to a seafood restaurant if we didn't order seafood? Lol. We had a Traditional Spicy Black Pepper Crab ($3.80 per 100g). My mom, the girls' father and the girls shared the crab. I didn't touch this dish as it was too spicy for my liking.


Stewed Ee-Fu Noodles (Medium, $18): the noodles were nicely stewed with mushrooms, bean sprouts, chives, and crabmeat. It wasn't too salty which was nice.


For desserts: the girls' father had Cream of mango with pomelo ($3.50), Juliane had Mango pudding ($3.50), Marieann had Honey dew sago ($3.50) and I had Double boiled Hashima with red dates ($6.50). They were pretty standard fare so no pics.



After lunch, we walked around The Singapore Flyer place to de-frost as the air con at the restaurant was really cold. There were some complimentary activities going on, sponsored by The Singapore Flyer - Balloon Sculpturing, Caricature and Face-painting. To compensate the girls for not bringing them on the Singapore Flyer, we allowed them to go for all the activities. Hahaha. The girls loved their balloon sculptures.




They enjoyed getting their caricatures done. Well, my mom and I couldn't resist it too and we also got our caricatures done, lol. :P


Top left corner is my mom, top right is me, bottom left is Juliane and bottom right is Marieann. Looks like us or not?! Lol. :)

Last but not the least, the girls had their face-painting done. :) They were the first kids who were enthusiastic enough to have their faces painted! The other kids only had their hands or arms painted, lol. Hmm, wonder where they inherited their gungho-ness from? Lol. :P




We left for home at 3:30pm. After all that excitement, the girls were really tired and they fell asleep even before we could reach home. :)

It has been a really enjoyable day!

My Ideal Pet

I was just wondering what sort of pet would be suitable for me. The number of pets that I have had were choices of my parents and fate - the dogs, the fishes (parents) and the cat (fate). Now, with my character, what would be my ideal pet?

Your Ideal Pet is a Cat

You're both aloof, introverted, and moody. And your friends secretly wish that you were declawed!

What's Your Ideal Pet?

I have got my answer, lol. Maybe Juliane would not be pestering me every weekend to bring her to see BC, if I have a cat, hahaha. :P But me aloof, introverted and moody meh?! I guess at times lah, lol.

BC and Juliane

Juliane has a very good memory and is very persistent. Almost every weekend, she would ask me the same thing and we would have almost the exact same conversation. We are like broken recorders, lol.

Juliane: Mama, can I go Cat Uncle's house?
Me: Why?
Juliane: I want to see BC.
Me: Sorry, Cat Uncle busy.
Juliane: I see BC, not Cat Uncle.
Me: BC is Cat Uncle's cat, and Cat Uncle is busy.
Juliane: But I go see BC, not Cat Uncle.
Me: ... Argh!
Juliane: Why cannot go see BC?
Me: Because Cat Uncle is busy.
Juliane: But I go see BC, not Cat Uncle.
Me: AHHHHHHHHHHH...

The conversation would repeat itself for another minute or two until I threatened to do something to her or I managed to divert her attention away from BC. Lol. :P

For a young kid, she is really persistent! Without fail, she would ask me almost every weekend about going to see my friend's cat, BC. I guess it is my fault too as I did promise her I would take her to see BC since last December. Since then, she has been hounding me about bringing her to see BC. Lol. One of these days, I will bring her to see BC. One of these days. Lol.

"Tiger Oil"

After her dinner, Marieann started complaining about her tongue being itchy. Huh, how can one's tongue be itchy?? At that time, I was in the kitchen washing the dishes while my mother was having her dinner. Juliane had also finished her dinner but was still seated at the dining table.

I was washing the dishes and at the same time, trying to look at Marieann's tongue. But it looked normal to me, no swelling, no redness, no nothing. But she was still whining away. I suggested that she go rinse her mouth or drink water. She drank water but she still complained about itchy tongue. Suddenly, Juliane in all seriousness said, "Tiger oil *". My mother burst out laughing and almost choked on her rice. As if that wasn't funny enough, Juliane went on to elaborate, "Jie jie ** tongue itchy, right? Put Tiger oil, then no itchy". Hahaha. Well, her thinking is logical. When she has mozzie bites, she would put Tiger oil and the itchiness is gone. So by the same logic, putting Tiger oil on her sister's tongue, the itchiness will be gone too. Oh, but we know Marieann will be feeling more than just itchiness if she puts Tiger oil on her tongue, lolol. :P I had to explain to Juliane that Tiger oil is only for external use, like insect bites and such. I don't think I want Juliane to try putting Tiger oil into her mouth should her tongue ever be itchy too, lol. :P

In the end, Marieann took her grandmother's suggestion of sucking on an ice cube. The itchiness on her tongue was soon gone.

* Tiger oil is Tiger Balm Liniment, a topical pain relieving liquid in a bottle with the same medicinal qualities as Tiger Balm. We call it Tiger oil, a direct translation from its Chinese name.

** Jie jie is Chinese for elder sister.

It Came!

Finally, the thing I was waiting for came!

I was at work, tidying up my stuff while waiting again. Around 10:15am, I decided to go get a drink. The timing was PERFECT! The gods must be on my side. If I had stepped out of my fishbowl a moment too soon, I would have missed it all.

As I stepped out of my fishbowl, I saw my friend rushing out of the GO running towards my direction and gesturing away. Without second thought, I started running towards her and into the GO. Later my friend said what if she was running away from a fire?! I would have been running into the fire! Lol. :P

The seating plan and work station for the fish "pond" is finally out after 2 days of waiting! This is the important thing that I was waiting for. You see, I have a big responsibility. I am in charge of helping 5 of my friends to reserve their seats/ work stations. If I am not there when the seating plan is out and the choice seats/ work stations are taken, I wouldn't know how to answer to my friends, lolol. I was No. 2 in the queue, lol. My friends called me when they saw the email informing us that the seating plan is out. They were tickled when I told them I was already in the GO before the email was out, choosing the seats/ work stations! Hahaha. :P

The 6 of us have decided to sit together as it is better to be among friends. If you end up sitting with someone you can't get along with, it is worse than death, lol. :P I know as I have had such an unpleasant experience whereby a former colleague and SNITCH would report my lunch movements to the boss to gain favour. Stupid idiot. Anyway, I am glad that I will be seated among good friends in the new fish pond.

It wasn't just a matter of simply choosing the seats/ work stations for the 6 of us, there was also the "Feng Shui" aspect to be considered, lol. I would like to think that the choices I've made are good - away from the printer, away from the washrooms, away from the PIs' rooms and away from snitches! :)

My Friends, I am really glad to be sitting in the same cluster with you guys soon. I do apologise in advance if I talk too much. If I get too noisy, just chuck a book at me to shut me up, hahaha. :P

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

I have been waiting for something to happen at work.

Friday:
Waited all day but nothing happened. While waiting, I did do some work. But there was a feeling of not being completely into what I was doing.

Monday:
Waited all day again and NOTHING happened again. Again did do work while waiting but was preoccupied thinking why what I am waiting for doesn't happen SOON! My colleagues know that I am going crazy about it, lol. :P

What is it then that I am waiting for? Well, I don't mean to be secretive but I can't tell. At least not yet, but I assure you it is a matter of great importance. It has long term negative impact if I am not careful.

Let's hope my waiting ends tomorrow! Then, I shall reveal all. :)

Tarot Reading

Hmm, haven't touched my tarot cards in a while. My best friend, Min was asking why didn't I bring it to Australia so that I could do some readings for fun? Yar, didn't think of it. :)

Since it is often not accurate when I do the readings for myself (but have been accurate when I do it for others), I decided to let Blogthings do my reading, haha.

You Are The Wheel of Fortune

You represent the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. You embrace change, the ups and downs of life. Fate is something you accept, even when you could possibly change things. Big things tend to happen to you more than other people. Your fortune: Something huge is about to happen in your life, and you have little control over it. You must accept your destiny, but luckily it is good fortune that has come your way. Big things and big changes are about to come your way. And while things will be intense for a while, they will be followed by a period of rest.

What Tarot Card Are You?

What can I say? It is pretty good, specially in view of what is going to happen soon. :)

Weekend Routine

It's back to the usual weekend routine. I took Juliane out. Well, where else but the usual haunt. Yup, Isetan Scotts and Wheelock Place. Well, today didn't have much of a choice because one, I bought chocolate for my friend who works at Isetan and haven't been able to pass it to her since I came back from Australia until today. Two, the sky was threateningly dark and I did promise to bring Juliane out, so somewhere nearby is better than breaking my promise.

We had quite a fun day. I shopped for new bedsheets and she helped to choose the design. I also got her a lunchbox which she is most happy with. She is sleeping with it by her side now. Hmm, most kids would sleep with their dolls or soft toys but a lunchbox?! Ok, she is a strange one, lol. :P I had wanted to bring Juliane to a Turkish restaurant at Far East Plaza so that after lunch, we could catch a taxi home from there. But it started raining cats and dogs at 11+am. No choice, have to go over to Juliane's "green frog" restaurant at Wheelock Place. Sigh. How come she not sick of it??!!



Happened to meet an ex-colleague from SCGS who was having lunch at the restaurant too. Wah, time really flies. It has been 7 years since I left SCGS. It was nice catching up on how she has been. :)

After lunch, the rain let up. We hurried over to Far East to catch a taxi home. I needed to sleep as I only slept 3 hours the night before. :P

Packing

Today, while downloading some videos for my project, I continued with my packing.

I actually wanted to just dump everything into two boxes since I dont have too much stuff as I just moved into this fishbowl 4 months ago and I had already cleared rubbish from that move. Boy, was I wrong! Somehow, I have accumulated a photocopy paper box full of rubbish! :P I also suffered a few paper cuts in the midst of clearing the rubbish. Ouch, ouch, ouch. :( A good friend was amused that I could get paper cuts that easily and he said, "Delicate hands", lol. :P I know another good friend would have said, "Tai-tai hands", hahaha.

By late afternoon, I have more or less finished packing. Everything is in the boxes. I am pleased with myself. But then, I realised something... what if I needed something? That means I have dig them up from the boxes again! Argh!

Busy but Fruitful Day

I have a real busy day today, 3 meetings back to back, lol. When I told a good friend, he actually laughed and said, "Welcome to my world". :P

My first meeting was at 9:15am with my PI and another professor. It was a really good meeting as we were given some food for thought about our project. It got us pretty excited. My second meeting started at 10:15am. Again, it was a productive meeting. Plans were drawn out for what to do in the coming week(s). At 11:30am, I had a lunch meeting with a colleague and a professor. We went to Colbar for lunch. It is the first time I am there. It is a very nice place, very rustic. I feel like I am back in the 60s. Well, it is an actual 60s' building, decor and everything, lol. A total breath of fresh air. :) We all had a good time enjoying the rustic surrounding, the food and our interesting conversation. :)

Got back to office around 1:20pm. Started to do some packing as our fishbowls* will be moving into one big "pond" at the end of this month. And I just moved into my current fishbowl 4 months ago. Now I have to pack again. Argh.

It has been a really busy day but extremely fruitful.

* For those new to reading my blog, my office space for 10 people is fondly called the fishbowl at my research centre. There are 6 fishbowls in all. We will move into one big office space at the end of the month.

Sunset in Singapore

Updated on 11 April 2008 8:32pm: More photos of the sunset uploaded.

I managed to catch a rare sight of the sunset from my living window. Actually, it was my girls who alerted me to it. They were shouting at me to "Come, Mama, see the blood sun". Hmm, interesting choice of adjective for the sun, lol. :P