Wedding by the River

A good friend of mine got hitched today. Both my girls and I were invited to the wedding lunch. We arrived at swissotel Merchant Court at 12pm sharp. After signing in, I brought the girls into the ballroom because I wanted to take some photos and at the same time, I wanted them to be seated where I can keep an eye on them. :)




Soon, my other friends started arriving. We were catching up and taking photos with each other. It is not often that we meet up as everyone is busy with work, lol. :) The wedding lunch started just a little behind time with the wedding march in, the pouring of the champagne, the thank you speech by the wedding couple and lunch!

There were cold dish combo, abalone soup, roast chicken, steamed seabass and braised ee fu noodle. And not forgetting my favourite dish of the meal and my girls' too, dessert. Instead of the usual dessert as one dish, this was a buffet dessert!! :) Yup my girls and I were in dessert heaven lol. :P The dessert buffet had black forest wuth cherries, mini fruit tartlets, mini eclairs with pistachio, creme brulee with chempedak and mango mousse. Most delicious and sweet!! However my friends kept their eagle eyes on me so I didn't and couldn't eat much of the lovely desserts, lol. They are concerned for my health. :)








We continued catching up with one another and taking photos with each other, lol. We left when we realised we were the last guests, haha. :P But we have made plans to meet up real soon. :)

Cravings

Juliane was craving for fried rice the entire time we were out on our usual weekend routine and I thought only adults have cravings, lol.

We were at Isetan Scotts and I was buying a mesh storage bag for the cables for my electrical gadgets. She was just chanting "I want to eat fried rice" over and over again. In the end, we went to Su Korean restaurant, Far East Plaza. Well, it has really good value for money set lunches and delicious too. :) We shared a Fast Lunch @ $8 - Seafood Fried Rice and we could either have side dishes or soup to go along with our fried rice. We ordered the side dishes cos I love the side dishes lol.

After a good meal, all Juliane craved was "Can we go home now?", hahaha. Ok, I ceded to her wish and we got home around 1:30pm. :) Actually, she helped me to save money by wanting to go home or else I would have bought something hahaha. :P

A New Phone

Soon! Next month! Lol. My wait have paid off. Palm is launching Treo Pro Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone for sale in September. :)

I had initially wanted Sony Ericsson Xperia but it's only for sale at end of the year or early next year. I also looked at htc diamond but I realised I didn't really like the touch screen technology. I still prefer having a Qwerty keypad. :P

Most happy! My Treo Pro will be on sale next month. :) Here is the link http://www.palm.com/us/products/smartphones/treopro/ for more information on the smartphone. It looks really sleek and chic too, lol. :)

Aftermath of Fire, Fire, FIRE!

Despite last night's drama and falling asleep only at 5am, the girls were awake at 7:30am most excited to go to pre-school to share with their classmates and teachers about last night's adventure. Lol. Alas, their mother just don't have their energy!

But I think exhaustion finally caught up with them hahaha. Marieann was asleep when I came home from work at 7pm. Juliane was still up and about but she knocked off at once when it was her bedtime at 9pm. Well, I couldn't resist taking a nap too after I got home. I was very tired as I only had less than 4 hours of sleep because of the fire.

When I came home, there was still the smoky smell of last night's fire in the building. There was also a damp (mouldy) smell in the air, probably because of the water used to put out the fire. Of course, it didn't help that it has been raining these past few days. The lift's doors also became squeaky, probably water got into the gears or something.

Hopefully the smell will be gone in a couple of days, and we will also know what was the cause of the fire.

Fire, Fire, FIRE!

If you are thinking what on earth am I still doing up at this hour, well there was a fire on the 7th floor of my block! We have just been let back into our apartment. What a drama!

I only went to bed close to 2:30am. Soon after, I heard sirens and then shoutings. At first, I thought there was a fight and the police was called in. My parents were woken up too. The three of us looked out the window and saw two fire engines, 3 police cars downstairs and quite a crowd of our neighbours standing around at the carpark. This was how our trilogue went: (can't really remember who said what)

Hrmm, there's a fire?!
Oh yar, can smell the smoke.
Do we go downstairs too?
Why so kaypoh go downstairs?
Oi, fire leh, don't play play.
What about the kids? Wake them up or carry them down?
Wait, check where is the fire first. Then we bring the kids down.
Go wake up the maid and the girls' father too.
Wah he is still sleeping?! How come he didn't hear anything??!! (me)
Ok, I will carry the younger one. But I change first! I would rather die than to be seen in public in my Tweety nightshirt! (me)

As I was carrying Juliane down 9 flights of stairs, there were police knocking on doors and evacuating our neighbours unit by unit, floor by floor. At the carpark, the police took down details of which unit we were from and if everyone was out of the unit and we were told to wait for further instructions from the police and the fire department. Everyone were just hanging around at the carpark, and I had Juliane hanging on me! I carried her in my arms for close to an hour. My arms are DYING!!! Neighbours were making small talks with each other, wondering how the fire got started,... The adults were fairly concerned but I think the kids actually enjoyed the drama. The kids were just running around, playing, laughing... even my own kids thought it was fun and exciting. Oh dear. Have to educate them in the morning about the dangers of fire.

By about 3:20am, we were informed by the police that the fire had been put out but we have to wait for the fire department to declare it safe before we can return to our apartments. Ok, some more waiting.. Although the fire has been put out, we could still see smoke coming out from the 7th floor apartment on and off. We could also see the firemen going into the apartment again and again to check for possible reignited sparks. Finally, at about 3:50am, we were given the all clear to return to our apartments and the police took down our details again. I carried Juliane up 9 flight of stairs because I didn't dare to try taking the lift. MY POOR ARMS! :S




I am too awake to go back to sleep so I am blogging about it now. If you see me tomorrow with panda eyes, you know why and please excuse me. It's 4:45am now. There is still a fire engine downstairs, probably for safety precaution, in case the fire started up again(?!). And we are all very lucky because it just started raining. If it had rained earlier, we would all have been caught in the rain. Thank goodness!

What a night. What a drama. What a panda-looking me!

Appreciation II

Today, I received yet another show of appreciation.

I was counselling in school. At one of the sessions, the HOD PC came by and asked me to step outside the room for a while. Thinking she might have a new case or some information to share about one of the counsellees, I hurried out. To my surprise, she handed me a bar of chocolate and a laminated paper covered with students' writing. It is my Teachers' Day gift from my counsellees!

When I looked at the paper in between sessions, I am really touched by what the girls have written! Their show of appreciation, even if it is just in a few lines of words, is reward enough for me! For the whole day, I am really happy that I have been able to do something for these girls, and that they know that I am trying my best to help them. :) This is the joy of counselling!

Here is what some of them have written:

"Thanks for listening to me and giving me advice :)"
"Thanks for counselling me. I have learnt a lot from you."
"Happy Teachers' Day! Thanks for helping me to be a better person! You are the best counsellor! :)"
"Happy Teachers' Day! Thank you so much."
"Happy Teachers' Day! I love you!"

Thank you, Girls for your lovely words of appreciation. I will treasure them for a long time to come. :)

Appreciation

This evening, two NUS students whom I gave an interview to a few months ago came by my place. They had interviewed me for their project which they sent for a competition. They came to see me this evening to show their appreciation for my help with a card and a box of chocolates. I have told them previously that I appreciated their gesture but it wasn't necessary as I didn't really do much. :) Nonetheless, they decided to visit me.

Thank you, Jia Qi and Heather. I really appreciated it. I hope you girls will do well for the competition and for your studies. :)

Using...

Window Vista is torture. That's how I feel about it. Hahaha. Ok, maybe I am still not used to it. :P

Shoes, Food??, Sleep

We went to Vivocity to get the girls new school shoes - Crocs. Their feet have grown too big for their current Crocs. Marieann managed to get her size but not Juliane. But they are now keeping a pair at Marina Square for us for three days. The girls' father would probably pick it up after work.

We had lunch at this restaurant and bar called Wood. At 12:35pm, there were only two tables including ours. Due to the restaurant policy, I can't take photos of their food. It is just as well because we were disappointed with our food. I went for the 3-course set lunch $35 which had a spinach salad with Chinese sausage and quail egg, hot pan seafood spaghetti with clams and prawn and lychee and mint granite with jelly. The salad was ordinary and spicy so I didn't finish it. I love pasta but I was sorely disappointed with this one. It was extremely salty and peppery and there was only one prawn. The only plus point was that they gave a generous portion of clams. I only managed to eat half of my spaghetti before the saltiness was just too much to take. The dessert was the most disappointing. The waiter told me it was lychee and mint sorbet but it was lychee and mint blended in ice with some tiny cubes of jelly. SIGH. For the first time in my life, I never finished any of my dishes. The girls' father's salad was also ordinary and his salmon was hardly filling for him. In the end, both of us had to eat the Wild Mushroom Pizza ($26) which we ordered for the girls. The pizza was the only winner, thin crust with mushroom and cheese. But then, it is over priced for a vegetarian pizza.

Overall, we felt the food was ordinary and over priced. The service was quite slow even though there were only three tables. We definitely won't be coming back here. By the time we left the restaurant, there were only two tables including the table that was there when we arrived. That says a lot.


We went home after a disappointing lunch. As it was raining, what better way is there to spend the rest of the afternoon than sleep? Lol.

Exhuasted!

I never had to pay so much attention to all that was said at a meeting. This meeting of mine went from 2 to 5pm. It was definitely physically and mentally exhausting!

Despite having a rest in the earlier part of the night, I am still exhausted. Yes, still EXHAUSTED!

Restless...

I am having a restless evening. I had wanted to read some articles so that I could write up a literature review for an article. But I was too restless to concentrate. After an hour, I gave up.

There is an important event tomorrow. I am restless because of it. I think I will do some light reading, the graphic novels I recently borrowed. Hopefully, they will relax me. If not, I might just watch some DVDs, Buffy or Angel or Battlestar Galactica...

I am restless...

It's An Orange World

Well, supposedly for me, it's an orange world out there, lol.

You See the World Through Orange Colored Glasses

You live your live with enthusiasm. You enjoy what you have, and you are determined to live a happy life. With my second chance in life, of course, live it to its fullest and be happy. :) You judge all your interactions through the lens of curiosity. You are genuinely interested in other people and tend not to be judgmental. Yar, I am very curious or nosy or kaypoh, depending on how you look at it, haha. :P You face challenges with a playful attitude. You are determined to succeed, and a part of you enjoys any challenge. Why be so serious? Only live life once, whatmore I have my second chance. Challenges can be fun and it definitely enriches my life. You see love as the utmost expression of creativity. For you, love is about building a unique and interesting life together. At your worst, you are irritable and burned out. Sometimes you burn too brightly. Oops! You are happiest when you are given free reign to explore, create, and play. Oh YES! Be it work or leisure. :)

What Color Glasses Do You See the World Through?

Distraction

I went to the library today. I have some books to return.

Sigh. Still no sign of the graphic novel: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vol 2. I hope it comes out soon. I managed to borrow the graphic novels: The New Fantastic Four, Ms Marvel, Outsiders and Annihilation Book 1. I borrowed another novel by Tess Gerritsen called The Mephisto Club. It sounds thrilling. I also got another book, The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury. It also looks interesting. I like stories that have action, history, and mystery running through them. :)

These will be nice distraction from my writing lol. :P

I Play...

The guru. That's according to Blogthings, lol. Ok, kind of true but I don't just play the guru, I am a guru, haha, that is you take the meaning of guru to be "any person who counsels or advises; mentor". :) More of my responses in purple.

You Are the Guru

You are a naturally good counselor. You are inspiring, encouraging, and compassionate. Thanks. But as a counsellor, one would have to be encouraging and compassionate. I guess in a way, my personality chose the work that I now do - being a counsellor. You are eager to help everyone who crosses your path, even those who don't want to be helped. Some would say I am nosy, lol. You are a natural healer. People feel at peace when they are with you. In a way because counsellors guide the clients to find their own answers and as a result, "heal" the clients and let them find peace. You are so good for people, in fact, that they go through withdrawal once you're gone. Yar, when I was away in March, my friends said the silence was deafening, haha. :P You quietly do your own thing, without openly resisting. You secretly try to fix every problem. Depends cos I am also chili padi, lol. :P Your biggest regret is not being able to help as many people as you'd like. Sigh, sometimes, especially with the children.

What Role Do You Play?

What Will You Do?

If something happens which is not what you want, what will you do?

1. Be "zen" and do nothing about it.
2. Be passive but yet lament about it.
3. Be active and do something about it.

I find people are often either 1. or 2. Somehow, they are afraid to do something about things they aren't happy. They either accept things passively without questions or they complain about things but don't do anything about it, expecting someone else might do something about it. Why are they lacking in this courage or strength to stand up for their own rights, for their own principles? What are they afraid of??

You may say I am throwing stones at others, what about me? I am proud to say I do things about it. Most of my friends would know what I have done for the situation at my estate. A few friends have said "Why you try so hard? What's the point?". I am glad that I have more friends who are supportive of my actions and have given me encouragement from time to time. Today, I received a phone call from an old classmate. Thanks, Chung. I really appreciate your call. I can still remember clearly her words before she hung up, "Jia yu, jia yu, jia yu!". Another friend is helping out too, looking through some things for me. I really appreciate all these help from my friends. They do give me the strength to continue standing up for what I believe in.

Sometimes, you can't back down from something, no matter how great the forces. Sometimes, you have to stand and fight for something, no matter how daunting the prospects are. Sometimes, you just have to do it. I believe I should stand up for my rights, for my principles. I am willing to do something about it. At least if things don't succeed, I know I have done my best and I have not betrayed myself.

Grazing Breakfast at Graze, Rochester Park

We went for a late breakfast at Graze, Rochester Park. Graze is housed in one of those black and white colonial bungalows within the nice, quiet, lush surrounding of Rochester Park. Once there, you feel like you are in another world, peaceful and unhurried.

Although there were still plenty of space outdoors in the outdoor garden pavilion, we requsted to be seated indoors. It should be quite cool outdoors as there were fans in the pavilion. Before our orders came, we were given a complimentary plate of bread with butter, strawberry and blackcurrant jam.
Juliane had some of the bread and a cupcake as she said she wasn't very hungry.
Marieann had a Graze baked omelet ($16): which came with 4 of Marieann's choices of cheese, ham, potato and tomatoes, and a salad. The omelet was pretty rich because of the cheese. Marieann finished most of everything on her plate, lol.


I had a "The cast iron pan" ($18) which came with smoked bacon, mushroom, tomato, potato, baked beans, fried egg and plum chili salsa. It was supposed to come with Graze bratwurst sausage but it was made of beef and pork so they gave me extra bacon instead, a LOT extra, lol. :) It was a real hearty breakfast and a quick look around, I see mostly guys ordered this dish. Oh well, I do enjoy my food.


The girls' father had a Scottish smoked salmon ($13): on toasted bagel with lemon and dill cream cheese spread and fresh salad. I had two bite size of salmon on the bagel and loaded them with extra cream cheese. It was heavenly. :)


It was a great breakfast. The ambience was peaceful, quiet and in a way, quite zen. Well if you consider eating as a kind of meditation, lol. :) I really enjoyed the breakfast. I think we will be coming back to Rochester Park to explore the other restaurants. :)



After our late breakfast, Juliane and I were dropped off at Tanglin Mall for our usual weekend routine. We did some window shopping and I bought a dress for myself, lol. It is for a wedding lunch coming up soon. :) After that, we took a slow leisurely walk home from Tanglin Mall.

Marieann's 1st Movie Magic Experience

The girls' father's car went for servicing today. He wouldn't want to go out without a car so I thought I would bring the girls out myself. However, Juliane decided that she wanted to stay home. So I took Marieann out with me. We detoured to the post office first to post some letters. Just as we were crossing over to Tanglin Mall, it started to drizzle. We were lucky to get into a cab before it poured! :)

We went straight to the cinema to get tickets when we arrived at Great World City. She wanted to watch "Journey to the Centre of the Earth". Since we had an hour before the 12:05pm movie, we went to have lunch first at Mckkies. Marieann chose it, lol. I managed to look into a few shops before adjourning to the cinema. Thank goodness, the cinema was only 1/3 full. But it was mainly families with children watching the movie, lol.

It is Marieann's 1st movie experience. She was really thrilled to be seated in a dark cinema and watching the movie on a huge screen. She couldn't stop smiling. :) She really enjoyed watching the movie. I am also proud of her because she remained quiet and only asked me questions after the movie ended. I am really glad that I got to share with Marieann what movie magic is all about. :) I hope to bring her to watch more movies and of course, Juliane too. :)

"Journey to the Centre of the Earth" has action, adventure, fantasy and sci-fi all rolled into one movie. But the movie never intended to make itself out to be a serious movie which is its saving grace. It is just as it is, a good fun movie. It has plenty of light hearted fun and movie-goers are all in on the joke that the movie can be a little silly but hey, who is actually keeping tabs (a pun from the movie :P)? Not me, except for the laughs it brought me. There is no need to think with "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", just sit back, laugh and enjoy the movie. :)

Songs by Cascada

I happened to hear her songs when my girls were watching videos of Winx Club on YouTube. Someone has mixed her songs into the video. Cascada's songs are dance songs. They are really catchy and very groovy to dance to, lol. I know my girls were always dancing to her songs, haha. :) Here are her songs: Everytime We Touch, Miracle and Cascada Megamix. You wont be able to resist tapping your feet while listening to her songs. :)

Chili Padi

"Be careful, this one chili padi", that's what my friend, a PM has been telling the new PMs about me. Aiyo, there goes my reputation. Hahaha. :P I am not chili padi all the time lah. :P Most of the time, I am very nice, friendly and nice, lol. I think I am only chili padi to a few persons at work because I don't think they should get away with their nonsense. I am alright if they do things fairly but if they don't, then watch out lor. I don't give face. Actually, I don't see that as being chili padi leh, just being honest to my feelings and speaking my mind. Haha. Often, my friends would be shocked by my actions/ words and would try to calm me down, lol. Thanks, Friends. :) To avoid giving you guys mini heart attacks, I will try to be less chili padi, ok? Lol. :P

All Things Supernatural

Today I had counselling. After I ended a session with one counsellee, just before she left, she asked me to look under the table.

I was surprised by her request. But I refused to look under the table because I knew she was trying to spook me. It is that time of the year, the Chinese Ghost Month. I remembered from one ghost movie that there was such a scene where the spirit was hiding under the table. My counsellee laughed and said I was clever not being tricked by her. Aiya, of course lah, I am counsellor. I can "read" minds hahaha. :P

***
In my family, the ESP has always been strong. That's why I am pretty accurate with my tarot readings. Sometimes, I am pretty good with telling people to do something first before things happen and sometimes, my dreams come true. My intuition about people are often quite accurate too but I just don't listen to it enough.

I think my intuition helps me somewhat in my counselling too. Sometimes, I can "read" minds. It is like a thought will pop into my head and often, the counsellees would say, "How you know what I was thinking?!". :) I should not let my "gift" go to waste, huh? I must use it more often lol. :P