see you guys on saturday!

it's 10pm over here now...it's my bedtime...but my lazy ass isn't as organised as it used to be...

at least i did manage to get everyone presents...i seriously DON'T CARE if your '08 resolution is/was to lose weight...

there really isn't much of a point for this entry, except that i just wanted to notch up another entry before i leave...orginally there was going to be a super long post about what we did when joy was here...but seriously, that is like so last month lah...so forget it...i'll just summarise it here in one word: Karaoke...i think if the uptopia guys see us again, S.H.E and JAY CHOU will spring to mind...i have been avoiding that part of Northbridge ever since....and no Joy, we have not gone to check out CROWN for you....

*deep breath out* i still have not packed my suitcase,i need to do a dishwasher run, i need to find clothes to wear to work tomorrow...i know my mum's gonna be pissed when i tell her that the water filters she wanted are all sold out....and i miss shiro already...damnit!

i am getting all cranky now...better go...ok, i'm signing off here...see you all in lovely Singapore...i'll give you guys a call when i get in...

How Retro!

There are times at work where i usually squeeze in my daily dose of internet news, online games, reading my personal emails etc...you can see my company has a very healthy attitude towards employees who surf the web during work hours *beams* - Reason #247 why I jumped at the opportunity to return...

what i saw in my inbox this afternoon nearly made me fell off the chair (in a good way!):

Don't know how this pic crawl out from the depths of Dana's mac...but it made me laugh out loud...taken circa 2004, Dana even titled the email "So Young Then"...

apart from the obvious fact that *ahem* we look younger (ok ok! don't whack me, i'm only speaking for MYSELF here), can anyone believe the filters???? haha...i was telling Dana it's like so...ermm...taiwanese in the 80's kinda feel....look at the porn-blue couch!!...and it doesn't help that this pic was taken at a karaoke...

i wonder is it only when our friends go thru some sort of joy or adversity in their lives that we stop and ponder about the great times we had before...hence the on-slaught of memories from school-days or years before we all started work and leading very separate lives...

glad to have these pictures remind us of the happy times we had...

hehe..and since i know some pple ain't regulars on this blog..no harm putting on another pic right guys? (if only they knew, they will so kill me..and dana for the kind sponsor)

Best Wishes

I am a bad friend...if you had asked me even just 2 years ago...i didn't think i'll become this jaded, grouchy, cynical, "unfeeling" friend....

dana said so herself...my damn 2008 resolutions didn't even mention friends...shit, i am really terrible...

I have always thought that i am those, you know, will-go-to-the-ends-of-the-world-for-you (even if you were super super unreasonable) kind of friend...sadly, that seems to be no longer who i am...

stupidly, I made promises i cldn't really keep...right after uni...i basically told myself that i will definitely go back to EVERYONE'S wedding...to be there at your special day...but guess what...right after our wedding in Sept 2006, i missed the first in a whole string of weddings....

sorry Eying...i know you said you didn't mind...but i still feel regretful till now...esp after reading ur last entry abt ur dress...sigh...i didn't even know you felt this way...so jokingly, i've always pestered you to have the wedding dinner...well, it's just an attempt to make myself feel better...selfish i know...

there were a few more in between, but pple probably decided might as well not ask...hahaha...i don't blame them really...

tomorrow is going to be another day like this....sorry girl, i really wish i cld make it...but the timing is really off...might all sound like excuses at this stage, but i really can't...all i can say is that if circumstances weren't what they are now, i wld have made it back regardless...

i truly wish you all the happiness in the whole wide world...enjoy your day and don't worry too much about making it a perfect...marriage is for life...it's not just about the wedding day...so relax, take deep breaths and smile smile smile....

So here's to you and Mark: Have a great married life, and don't forget to look back at this wonderful day and think how lucky you two are....

Siheng: I think you are probably the next in my whole line of friends...sorry if i what i said to you over the last few days stressed you out...really didn't mean for it to be like that...sorry sorry sorry...i sincerely do hope that you and Eurris can manage to pull this off without much hassel...so you know lah, if you need any help (or if you have to ask obvious questions) come talk to me and eying ok?

all the stupid little things that made me laugh

see...it's all your fault...who ask you to whinge abt my lack of blog posts?....after that one post i did last week, i got hooked on youtube (again!)....and funny msn conversations no less...

yes, i do appreaciate the fact that i get to laugh myself silly...and in many cases i actually laugh until my stomach cramped up...shiro now thinks i am insane and has been ignoring all polite requests to come to me ever since...

comedy, especially those with physical violence involved, transcends all languages and cultures...some things just don't need any explainations...put it simply, just watch! i'm sure you will get it!








is it just me or are these type of game-shows seriously hilarious? i don't believe i am the only one (plus mere) that thinks this makes excellent entertainment for after work...

For the lack of a better title...

i'm officially disgusted with my procrastination for all things web-based...disgusted enough to drag my sorry-self back to this blog...but not enough to open up a facebook account...bleh...my "official" stand is that i blame gmail for not giving me a decent alias..and besides...i doubt pam has started her blog...so sue me...

i really thought i was gonna write something before 2008...you know, about

- Christmas (parties)

- Highs and Lows of 2007

- and everything else from Nov onwards

but laziness has got the better of me...now back with my old company, i seem to have lost all my free time and interest in starting up the comp when i come home...

i have now decided to kick myself in the ass (if that is even possible)..and pick up the slack...so let me fill you guys in....

In case anyone forgot...just a few days before posting my massive load of company Christmas cards**** (the post office pple actually asked me to go home and come back the next morning coz i had 2 boxes of cards to send...) it was Mere's birthday, and as you can see, he wasn't too pleased getting closer to the big three-oh...


i wasn't there when he made that face...this was taken at his office carpark (of all places) coz Ren & Sylvia made him muffins and decided to have the "party" there...he got golf clubs from me btw, so that kinda made up for the low spirit...i hope!

*** that explains the lack of Christmas cards this year to all family and friends...sorry sorry sorry...i was too overwhelmed with the crowd at the Post Office...i didn't know Perth had that many pple, seriously!

Nov/Dec is always a good time at the office...sales are usually pouring in the door and it's near the holidays..everyone's in great spirits!...one of the first "parties" after i came back was a end-month lunch to celebrate great sales (what else?)...played supagolf in the morning and spent the afternoon at Ferals getting pissed drunk....

we took turns wearing the cap and taking crazy photos of each other...this was mine...the rest were better left unseen...

no point sharing all my work whinges..so let's carry on with the parties! the next big party was the Christmas boat trip to Rottnest...the skies were blue the sea was green and the fish were gi-normous..

unfortunately, i had no pictures to show for it...coz i was ill...sick on the way there and on the way back...let me just say it was super unglam to throw-up in front of your boss and work mates...never to be repeated i guarantee....and just for clarification...no i wasn't drunk...and at the very least my breakfast was probably what attracted the fish to our boat in the first place...

anywho...then that brings us to Christmas and New Year's which went by in a hurry....had great plans to spring clean the house..and like you and I know (knew)...that wasn't going to happen and it didn't....ha!

i did vacuum and wipe the place down for our Christmas party at home...but didn't throw out all my crap...too disracted by the new evaporative air-conditioning we have just put in and my serials...

i so have to rave abt the air-conditioning...so fabulous that even Shiro didn't have to go for his summer-shave this year (makes him look like a cue ball, not a good look i assure u...) and we didn't even realised that temperatures soared to 44 C during the Christmas break...aint that great? for the first time in 7 yrs...summer has simply by-passed me....so happy :)

then just before the year was up...Mere made another happy purchase...we finally got rid of the fat box of a TV and upgraded to a slimmer, sleeker 50-inch plasma....hehehehe...don't have to wear glasses to watch my serials...extremely happy...so much better now to perv on the DOA bikini-clad chicks (who cares if they are not REAL)....wahahahaha....

i shall close this entry with what i would like to achieve in 2008, in hope that you my friends, will push me to stay on track when i stray off the planned route...and give me encouragement when i need it the most...

1) this is a classic: i shall endeavour to stay on a healthy exercise plan. Note: this is not a diet plan..coz that is just simply setting myself up for failure (i love food..need i say more?)...our gym membership has started..i am aiming to go to the gym at least 3 times a week...so far so good...but freakin RPM is so boring...and i can't stop yawning on the elliptical trainer...any tips (other than TV and music) to keep myself from getting bored while exercising?

2) work-wise, i hope to make 2008 a positive one for me...i hope to grow and i hope to learn...i have an excellent bunch of workmates and i wld like to keep that up...nothing is better than to go to work knowing that i will laugh and enjoy my time away from home...so no stressing over the little bits and pieces, and go with the flow!

3) with Mere, there is nothing more i can ask for...we are happy, healthy and very comfortable with our lives...i do not ask for anything else...i just want to carry on with this stability in our relationship which we have worked so hard for over the last 12 years... :)

4) i wish i had more time with my family..but with the distance and lots of other factors, it is simply not practical...honestly this is beginning to bug me a lot more than it used to...tho sad that my sis won't be joining me here in Perth, but in some ways, i am glad Joy is staying in Singapore...so there will always be someone i can count on to pass on my love to my parents and aunty...i think 2008 is time that i think abt coming home for a while and also to ensure that i call my parents more often...

so help me out guys...this will be my guidance to life for 2008...come December, don't make me look back at this entry with regret...i want to be able to put a tick against all the above!

Wanna feel like a superstar?

......try autographing 500 christmas cards at one sitting :(

Australian Idol 2007

We are such idol-watchers here...not fans...but appreciative audiences... :)

The final two weren't disappointing...whichever one won wouldn't have made a difference...we liked both! I guess Mere is happy that the chick won...she did a few songs in the series which he really really liked...

here's a sample of the songs sung by the two finalist during the series:

Natalie Gauci - Man in the Mirror

Natalie Gauci - Umbrella

Matt Corby - The Blower's Daughter


Matt Corby - The Scientist

The winner's single by Natalie was superb, but too bad I can't locate the opera house clip yet....

This year's batch of finalists were probably the best lot we have had...ever...just glad that a certain spoilt brat didn't win...

If you are still patient enough to watch this last clip, then please...i didn't particularly wanted him to win Idol...but I thought this song was done so perfectly, it would be a shame not to have people remember it....

Ben McKenzie - Hide and Seek

Facebook-less

I know I am getting old and out-of-touch...and i am hardly over a quarter-century old...promise I will sort out an account soon....don't rush me!

If anything, I should have the cleanest and softest clothes in the world!

6 years ago, when i first arrived in Perth...my inexperience in setting up houses meant that my parents had to come over and help me fit in all the barang barang and make sure i had all the essentials....apparently, knowing how to cook is really not enough to survive on your own....

i still remember how my parents spent their first week in perth scuttling around looking for mundane (but important!) things like extra locks for the apartment, extra light bulbs, detergent, household cleaners etc...and i was just simply interested in selecting bedsheets....

One of the things that was bought during that fateful June in 2001, was a 5L container of Comfort softerner...yes, it's not a typo...it's really 5 LITRES...look, my mum has this thing for fabric softerners ok?...i have since moved houses twice and each time I had to take that giant bottle with me....

7 years later (today)....i have finally finished using the last drop....phew....to think it was only 2 years ago that i finally used up the 10kgs of washing powder that my mum bought as well....

Update

I know my last update was on Halloween....and apparently my favourite "Happy Tree Friends" weren't good enough company...yes yes I know....it's been a while....i'm trying my best! honest!!

well, my main excuse for not updating is really coz i was preoccupied with lotsa things...that is the story of my life...either i have so much time on my hands that i am bored to tears OR i will have so much on that i also dunno what to blog abt...for fear u all will be frightened off by my blow-by-blow accounts...i know i am cheong hei...i do admit that...

if you guys really want to know...read on

for starters i was starting on a new job...going abt my normal day to day...learning the ropes of managing the PR for a variety of products...from GPS units to Waterproof iPod cases to other barang-barangs....already busy enuf but the mkting mgr decided to quit...so i knew more or less i will be given her role as well...and hopefully with more money...but i was fretting...debating if i shld take more money and significantly increase my workload...or just stick to my usual workload and forgo the extra cash....

i was waiting and waiting for my boss to tell me how much more he was offering me before i decided if i wanted to do both jobs (PR & Mkting) or just stick to doing one (PR or Mkting)...then all of a sudden...i didn't need to make the decision anymore...my old boss called me back....

ok ok...i exaggerated...he texted me....

so now i am back at my old company with a whole bunch of pple that i truly enjoy working with and for....altho there's a whole heap of new faces...but it still had the same fab vibe....i am really glad this happened....i am not doing anything new...in fact doing less now for a lot more money than before...that always puts a smile on my (money)face!

I just got to learn how to deal with Corporate in Canada and learn not to upset other newer team members (that is another story in itself...seems like i "stole" someone else's role)...i am not a bitch (really!) and i rather make friends than enemies...i swear i honestly want this team dynamic to work...so i am willing to play nice and BE truly nice...

the other thing that i was preoccupied with was Jelly and Mark's visit....as u all know i am a kancheong spider* when it comes to vistors...i will prep and fret, prep and fret, prep and fret...from the day the pple arrive to the day they leave...

*Note to potential visitors: not that you are unwelcomed, in fact you are most welcome to stay with us while in Perth..just excuse the worrisome host...

They were here for a week...mainly to take their wedding pics and also have a short break from their hectic schedules...sneak preview of photos available...but I have to photoshop them first...hard work lah (8GBS worth!)...so that got to wait, obviously....

jelly and mark are back in sg now...they are definitely going thru a rough patch...i hope they will stay strong...condolences to mark and his family....

In the spirit of Halloween....

Something for the kiddies:

Lovely Surprise

Came home from work last wednesday and found this ~

Introducing the new PR chick.....

Yes I know, I have been slack...sorry sorry...don't abandon me...

This post is really abt answering some qns that i have been getting from friends over the last month...like "have u found a job", "what r u doing so early on msn" and the occasional "great! u found a job, how is it?"....

in short, to the above concerns, yes pple, i am officially gainfully-employed (again) as of 2nd Oct 2007...yippeeeeee

to be honest i wasn't sure abt the job...small company again...little pay....and the PR role i was offered is pretty unfamiliar territory...

but after a good couple of weeks with them...i can honestly say it's really FANTASTIC...the pple are nice...i get to learn from the current Marketing Manager...there are systems in place...and most of all, a lot less stress being that i am not ultimately responsible for the whole marketing dept.....pay is really really low...but hey, less stress so i guess it's kinda worth it...even tho i start at 7.30am...but i can swear to god i am seriously a million times happier than at that f***ing plc!

however there is an issue at the moment.....i am very comfortable with the workload...and altho i think i am ready to take up more...i really dunno if i want to...it's a very very fine line btw challenging myself and going back to those dark times where stress and sleeplessness takes over....

but it's not really up to me to choose...i dunno why i seem to be ending up in companies where the staff t/o rate is damn high...the Mkting Manager is leaving next week....i have been offered by the boss to take up her role with significantly more pay of course (altho he has not specified the amt yet)...and i can either choose to hire an assistant or do it ALL myself...the difference obviously is how much pay i want to get...

well, life is not always good timing issit...had it been one year later, i wld have put up my hand, no hesitations...but now, a little unsure tho...i really don't want to over-promise and under-deliver...yet i think i can do it...how how how....

the boss has already begun to test me...hopefully he will be pleased and i get to make the call on what i want....

Please God, can you let me have an easier 2008?

The Visit

Finally finally!!! After 6 long years later, Andrea dearest has decided to grace me with a visit!!! No no no... I am not complaining...so happy already...there's no space inside for anything else other than excitement!!

The poor girl so badly needed a break...and it was great that Serene came along as well...can't believe I got to meet her first before the others...hahah

Day 1 started out pretty good...made breakfast for all...(and discovered that i cannot talk and cook at the same time)...we then spent the whole afternoon at Freo...walked the markets, drank the beers, ate the seafood...even met an old secondary school classmate! pretty amazing story i tell u...the girl saw Serene first...but when she approached our table, Andrea realised it was an old classmate of ours...the girl even called out our names without blinking an eye, while i was like still thinking it was one of Serene's friends...i guess the most hilarous part was afterwards Serene admitted she didn't even remember that girl's name either...

all i can say is, Serene, u seriously crack me up...this incident is just the first of many to come... :) Probably the most memorable thing said during the entire trip was after i commented that I did not scale the Great Wall of China coz it was super steep...u actually replied that it's probably coz the ancient Chinese knew martial arts and have qing gong...they didn't need to walk down the tiny, slippery and steep steps... !!

*if i cld put an emoticon here i wld*

i think it would have turned out to be a pretty decent first day, have the poor dear not ended up puking her guts out the rest of the evening...oyster allergy it seems...poorthing :(

Thank goodness medication helped...or it could simply have been that she threw up absolutely everything...if not, we probably would have cancelled the trip to Margaret River...

"Selfishly", Mere was the self-appointed designated driver...yes yes, he wanted us chill...but i think (ie: know) he probably didn't trust us girls to drive...hahaha...when we came home he admitted that he didn't think we cld hack driving at 150km/h to overtake the trucks...duh....

Saw some pretty cool stuff on the busselton jetty...didn't know that you could fish for squid like how u wld fish for regular fish...ermm..then maybe it should be called squid-ing instead? Too bad the underwater observatory tour was later that afternoon so we couldn't check that out...but yah, i thought it was too far a walk anyways...the tram no longer runs on the jetty...so if we were to get to the observatory it was gonna be a 1.8km hike! i am freakin lazy i know...but it was also pretty cold lah!

Candy Cow was next....but hey, I just wanna say i am happy to be there...but it's not like its my mooooossst favourite place in the entire universe can? yes, i like fairy floss...(see above pic for fairy floss bigger than my head...raspberry flavour somemore!) yes, i think the candy & fudge making is pretty cool...but i dun eat them anyway...AND, i only WAVED to the guys making fudge coz he smiled at me first! serious!!

we were so tired at the end of the day that we just bought dinner back to the very very nice motel and ate in front of the TV...the nite was capped off with a couple of rounds of scrabble (forgot the mahjong set) on which Andrea won both times...tho we are still abit suspicious of "twirly" as a proper word...

the next morning was a mad rush of taking in what Margaret River has to offer...after a quick brunch at The Berry Farm with to-die-for boysenberry pie, scones with home-made strawberry jam and savoury scroll...we jetted off to a few different wineries, a venison farm (didn't see deer leh, only 1 insane dog) and most importantly, the Margaret River Chocolate Company...

i honestly thought they used to be known as the Margaret Chocolate Factory...but they must have grown bigger over the years...*shrug*...anyways, we got Pam her block of Rocky Road...which i might add, it's pretty small compared to those cheapo ones you can get elsewhere...but MR chocies are by far one of my favourites...i don't think she will be disappointed...only thing is...i just found out from Pam that Yousing loves Rocky Road too...oh well, that small block will be demolished in seconds i guess...hahahha...come to Perth next time lah..i'll take you there myself and you can go crazy shopping for chocolates....

the last thing we did before embarking on the 4-hour drive home was to go up to Dunsborough to the Whale Lookout...had to trek abit before we got to the clearing overlooking the ocean...met a few angmohs along the way...kept insisting the white sprays far far away were whales "playing"...*rolls eyes* honestly those sprays were nothing but sprays ok...dun lie to me can...BUT, we finally did see a whale...tho just a lap of the tail...it was lucky i suppose...it happend just as we were about to leave....

I think age has really caught up with us.......the Margaret River trip completely wore us out...we were all K.Oed that nite...

Slowly recovering from the trip, we got to a later start on Day 4...Mere had to go back to work so too bad he couldn't join us...we trotted down to Subiaco first thing and decided on a coffee brunch...Mere works in Subi so he knew of a great coffee place where I have been wanting to try as well...

If I told you that Stimulatte (great name isn't it?) has great coffee and that is why you should all go there...that would be such a lie...the coffee is great, yes, but that is not really the main thing...hehe...all i can say is that the SINGLE girls from Mere's workplace are frequent patrons of Stimulatte...and don't worry, guys can get their share too...:)

from there we went on to Leederville where Andrea bought a pair of cute sunnies...can never remember the shop name even tho i'm always there when i'm in Leederville...Andrea was tossing up between a pair of brown ones and a snazzy red pair...i tot both looked good on you anyways :)

Shopping in Perth...how can I not bring them to Harbour Town...where everything is cheap...ok, maybe not when compared to Singapore...but certainly not too bad lah...

Then it was to glorious King's Park...thank goodness the sun came out...it was all damn farnie at the whispering wall...you know, surprisingly, not many pple know that that semi-circle of a wall is actually one of those with the fascinating acoustic effect of being able to hear your friend sitting at the other end, metres away, whispering...

That evening, we had dinner in Northbridge...followed by a spot of Bubble Tea (the "infamous" Hot Lavender Milk Tea) at Farmosa...felt abit bad tho...Andrea and Serene came all the way to Perth...and we ended up having an asian meal and taiwanese bubble tea...pretty duh....but get them to tell u the story of WHY we had to go try the tea...makes for an interesting conversation...what was farnie was the way Serene reacted to the smell of the tea...dun worry, i agree..it stinks...

Sad to say...There are no pics for the last day of their trip...we simply had Shepherd's Pie for lunch and proceeded to Carousel for last minute chocolate shopping...

By the way, I just wanted to say here that 90% of the photos shown here were taken by the very talented photographer Ms. Andrea Goh...seriously, i think your phototaking rocks!

Below are some bonus shots that i hope you find cute...hahaha...check out the puppy tummy flab on the bottom right!!...

Damnit...shld have made that pic larger...nvmind...if anyone's interested let me know and i will send it to u....

This entry is dedicated to our dear friend Pam, whom for various reasons have been hard to catch up with and hence holiday plans were made w/o her....Andrea is holding ur Rocky Road ransom...u better go rescue him soon! Hope u enjoy the pics! :P

New Couch

Having lived in our current place for well over 3 years, it hasn't been (and will not be) given the interior decorator's touch...nicely put, the house is basic...but in all honesty, it sucks...

Don't get me wrong..i am fine living in "these conditions"...altho Mere might beg to differ...but there is really no need to deck out the joint when we did not have the (original) intention to live here for long...tho we didn't expect to still be here after 3 years!...we are procrastinators lah...

Our furniture are bits and pieces that we have bought/received over the years..our latest acquision is a "new couch"....given to us by the PILs becoz:

1) my FIL thought it was such a steal at $200 from the swap mart *roll eyes*

2) but it didn't match the PIL's furniture

3) our old couch needed replacing

the colour's not great but seriously, whatever....who cares if my furniture matched or not... *shrugs*....only issue...it's one of those microfibre ones...comfy for lazy asses like us...but bad also for pple with shaggy dogs...like us...can't win right?

we now have to resort to laying down the back-rest cushions on the seats whenever we leave the house...thinking that Shiro wld then be unable to jump up and get all comfy with the fluffiness...

how wrong are we....

I caught him snoozing on top of the back-rests one afternoon....not sure how he got himself up there...but so far, at least there hasn't been a repeat performance yet...otherwise, someone's gonna have an appointment with the cane...

Urbanites turned Farmers

Hi Folks! Missed us? Nah...didn't think so...hahaha...probably none of u even think we were gone...albeit only for one nite...but still...

We finally went up the the PIL's farmhouse in York (97kms outside of Perth Metro) on Saturday for an overnite stay... "long-awaited" in my PIL's view...but not for me...:P

"Are we there yet?"

I will admit right away that i wasn't so enthusiastic abt going...but yes, we HAVE to go some day...so why not now?I was really going to try to enjoy myself...i swear!

It's a beautiful place, granted...fruit orchards at the back and fields of wildflowers everywhere...but i cldn't possibly stay for more than one nite...for many reasons that shall not be mentioned here...let me just say, it's not simply becoz i am being a prima-donna when it comes to holiday accommodation...

Some of the activities that the urban farmer couldn't resist....

"I'm a lean, mean, grass-cutting machine!"

"A farmer believes in self-sustenance"

" Breath-taking sunset....A lovely end to an excellent day "

The happiest camper the entire time was probably Shiro...running happily (read: madly) amongst the tall grasses and wildflower fields...chasing bugs and sniffing at grass-seeds...

This was him at the end of the nite.....

The poor dog simply couldn't move...no matter how much u prodded or called out to him...

" Missing York already... "

Really thanks but no thanks...next time Mere can take Shiro up there alone...I think I am comfortable remaining an urbanite.....

Culinary Adventures

Not sure why...but I have had some "adventures" with seafood lately...

Just today...I was having some leftover chilli mussels from last nite...and I found a half-digested baby crab in one of them...I only made that discovery when the crunch between my teeth happened and i tasted roe....Nice!

Usually if this happens...i would shrug it off...possibly even thank my lucky stars that i got some yummy crab roe thrown in...(this is someone that happens to like chewing on cooked prawn heads for their cholesterol-laden brains and little black beady eyes that go 'pop' when u bite into them...)

After my incident with the baby crab...i kinda didn't feel like having the rest of my mussels...dunno....really feel like vomiting...

it does take A LOT to make food repulsive for me...i mean...i can honestly eat anything...(expect for bugs and creatures that you don't find in a supermarket)...

i will eat innards...i will eat fish eyes...i will crack the fish's skull to suck at their brains...so why the sudden repulsion...i actually dunno....maybe i am getting old?..

tell u guys something esle...something gross...

last week, my FIL saw this frozen conch for sale at the chinese shops...he said he wanted to try it...I didn't think it was going to be good coz i have always used the dried variety for soup...the dried version is tasty (tastes like abalone, serious!...) but I dun think the frozen one was going to be tasty at all...plus he wanted it stir-fried...i honestly never heard of anyone using the conch for dishes except soup...

Mere agreed that stir frying wasn't going to soften the conch at all...so he decided to steam it for dinner...with the usual...ginger, garlic, spring onion and sauce...the conch did soften...but it was completely tasteless, save for the taste of the condiments...so, in our opinion...the frozen conch sucked!...

coz the frozen conch was pretty large...we kept half for for ourselves for the following nite's dinner...now..not sure if u know what a conch is...it is essentially a large sea snail....shell-less...so perhaps more like a slug?! anyway...the portion that got kept, was the part where the 2 knobby long bits were..u know, like "feelers"...

I really dunno what happened...but i got seriously grossed out while preparing it for dinner...i was slicing it...and i kept thinking it is a damn SNAIL...i was really close to tossing it away...i was so scared!!!! see, you got to understand, i once freaked out and chucked a whole chinese cabbage away coz there were tiny neon-green caterpillars in it...yes, i cld have simply rinsed them off...but i was terrified...so when i was faced with this snail/slug...all i cld think off was chucking it away...but i knew i shldn't coz it was like nearly $20 a kilo lah!

So i pep-talked myself...it's dead...it's not a snail snail...it's like abalone...etc...i was nearly done with the slicing...when i realised the damn thing had intestines!!

my god...i wanted to die...i had to pull them out and rised the slices to make sure that there were not remnants of the snail's crap (literally!)...how gross is that..snail's intestines! i mean pls...it's almost like chicken intestines can?..but it's not chicken...its a bloody snail!

i must stress, i have cleaned out chickens and fishes before...blood and guts dun faze me...but snail's innards?!!?!...errghh...thinking abt now just makes my hair stand....

i honestly am off seafood i think...but how? We might be going to the Oyster Bar for our anniversary...Oh, haha...that reminds of a worm-in-my-oyster story...but i'll save that for next time...

Foodies

I know at this point in time I shouldn't even think of "celebrating"...but it's the weekend...and we have nothing better to do...so we went to EAT loh...our "dates" have always revolved around going to a restaurant anyway...

Mere kindly reassured me that tho i have joined the ranks of the unemployed (for the time being), he can still afford to feed my face...reeaaaallllll nice issit he?

Mere picked this place that he had no idea where it was except that it was around the Fremantel area...yup, no idea...we only decided to go there after we hopped into the car, so yes we could have checked the web...but we don't usually lug our laptops around like some pple i know...

Thankfully Mere had the common sense to heard towards the river and just drive along that stretch...found it pretty quickly...pretty quirky place...next to the river bank and near a flyover too...so when the band plays..the sounds reverberating off the concrete kinda gives the whole area a pretty cool vibe...

Apparently The Left Bank is pretty popular...but as I was not a born and bred Perthsian...i had no clue about this place at all...the only Left Bank i know is in France...

Like any Freo restaurant...seafood is the predominant item on the menu...everything was pretty pricy and honestly, seafood doesn't interest me much...especially "normal" stuff like fish and chips....

Knowing Mere, I knew that we will be ordering the tasting plate...and coz I knew the servings were going to be pretty small, I ordered a oyster and seafood chowder to share...

Verdict? I was right about the food portions...don't get me started on food portions...having been here for so long...I have grown to expect large servings on even larger plates...if I can finish the food..it's not generous enough!!..yeah, its the fatty talking...but really, why is it that prices have increased so much over the last few years, but our plate sizes have shrunk?? Don't give me the crap about healthy eating ok...if i want to eat healthy, i can make my own salad at home...

The chowder was ok...but not enough stock...it's like the chowder was watered down and then liberally salted...yes, there were quite a bit of seafood pieces in there...but the taste was really just so-so...

Thank goodness for the company tho :) Great company makes even the crappiest food taste like heaven...

Altho the experience wasn't as great as I expected...I will go back again...I believe in second chances...who knows, maybe the cook was off sick that day? Maybe the ingredients were not as good that day?...or simply, I think I might order the lamb shanks next time...hahaha...and I shall remember to leave some space for dessert too...

I shall leave you with a pretty picture of us foodies...

Yeah Yeah...I am fat becoz I love food...tell me something new ok?...

Life as I see it right now...

It's been, what, 2.5 days since I left that place...how am I feeling?...haha...pretty relaxed and happy actually...

I get up at whatever time I like...without my usual panic of how much time I have left to slap on moisturiser and make-up, thinking if I still have time to put on mascara without poking my eye out...running to start the car up...deciding which pair of black shoes to wear...

I've been very good...no TV at all during the day...so, no Cath, I haven't been watching Oprah & Dr. Phil..hahha...I didn't even touch my DVDs...

Afternoons are spent having a quick lunch at home or out at the shops...ducking into the supermarkets for a few grocery items or even at the cafe having an ice-coffee and strawberry shortcake...mmmmm....nice as it may sound...but I do find sitting somewhere with a magazine pretty boring...i'll rather lie on my bed to read to be honest! So, i'll usually be back home in less than 2 hrs...

While at home, i'm parked in front of the comp for a good portion of my mornings and afternoons....the job hunt has been pretty ok so far...nothing exciting...but yes, there are stuff are there for me... but i think i must have hit the download quota...the connection is so slow...i am growing old just waiting for the page to load....damn optus!

it's nearly 5pm now...time to do another of my most favourite thing in the world...i think i haven cooked dinner in months... now that i am home...i can be bothered to make yummy stuff for dinner!! So happy just writing about it...

On tonite's menu is Emperor Chicken and a simple dish of stir-fried garlic chives and chicken gizzards...ok..enuf of me rambling on...need to go steam the chicken liao...

Tata ~

Don't bother polling...

Firstly thank you for all you "helpful" people who did cast your vote...i'm sure striking lottery is really an OPTION...that choice was simply put in to see which of you are seriously out there to help me...tsk tsk tsk...turns out there was none...

Anyway, the main reason why there is no need for the poll anymore is that I have taken the decision to quit. Things were actually sorta looking up and so....yes, it's pretty sudden...even for me...

My company (ex-company, rather) hired a HR professional months ago...her task was to speak to each and every employee on what their job role was...only a couple of weeks ago, she finally got to our department...honestly I really dunno what is the point of hiring someone to draw up your job scope...considering, aren't you already hired? if your bosses dunno what the hell you r doing...ain't something seriously wrong?

I didn't know exactly what to tell her...as in, should I hard-sell myself or not...coz I don't even know what the objective is...how to play the game? anyway...it was pretty antagonising...but after 2 super long discussions..she finally came up with my role description...very detailed...right down to the nuts and bolts of what I do on a daily basis....

Now, this role description, to my understanding...was only a "draft"...it will be sent thru to Management (ie: Towkay, Towkay Neo & Jing Li) to get approval..meaning i assumed that they will have another discussion with ME..to see if both Management and I agree that these are my responsibilities etc...I mean, you don't need me to tell you that this is the appropriate way to handle this kind of matter right?

At the same time..my Jing Li wrote me a role description as well...based on how he thought my role should be like...we agreed to have a discussion this week to talk about it...

But...my role description written by the HR professional turned up on seek.com...tho the company name was not mentioned...how i know it was for my job?...well, firstly, the agent was the same one that got me this fucked-up job...and she was so lazy that the ad was word for word as what the HR professional wrote...save for some stupid typos and the fact the ad was to advertise for someone with 3 times my work experience...

how fucking under-hand and unprofessional...seriously why did I waste my time with them at all?!

Maybe they are trying to hire a more experienced person to help me...maybe I'm mistaken, the ad was not put up by my company at all...maybe maybe maybe...i have discussed the possibilities with Mere...the bottom-line is they are still unprofessional and why should I work for this type of people anymore? Besides...i am not quitting just for one stupid ad...the ad was simply the last straw...

For some reason...when I get pretty worked up...my mind tends to express everything in chinese or cantonese...as in...i dunno why..english words can't seem to give me the exact description of how i feel and what i would like to do to people who annoy me...don't worry...no hokkien vulgarities involved...don't see how someone esle's maternal genetials come into play on how i feel....

hence...i am sometimes lost for words on how to express myself in formal writing...i can't exactly use the words "stay in your stupid company any longer my life will be shorter leh" in my resignation letter right?...

So Mere kindly offered to draft it out for me...I didn't use his in the end..coz in summary, his was really pretty harsh...and, it's basically not me...so we compromised...and this what i submitted this morning:

honestly waaaayyyyyy milder than what Mere would prefer...like what Dana told me..."don't burn you bridges"...but hey, no bridges there..and also..this mild version probably got my towkay steaming from his ears already...(which btw, I'm told...he hasn't spoken a word since I left...ha!)

Before I submitted my resignation this morning...I cleared up my desk and threw away all drafts, files and paperwork that I was working on...it's MY work...they didn't like it...so everything into the bin...I also deleted all my digital files...of course, I know IT can possibly salvage them from the depths of the server...but i renamed them all to either "draft", "draft1" or "text" or something really "useful"...if they want to spend time opening all the files before salvaging...be my guest :)

In a word of fairness to my jing li and towkay...i honestly don't think they knew about the ad at all...i confronted my towkay this morning when i gave him my letter...he was really lost for words...asked me to wait for the Towkay Neo to come back...no fucking way! I'm outta there...why should I wait...wait to be told that yes, they are replacing me becoz they thought i was crap?

I know deep down my towkay knows that the towkay neo did it...not the first time btw...i was the one who did the previous round of ads...we advertised even before the person was told to leave...and yes, that person found the ad..and sent a stinker of an email to everyone in the office..."watch out, you could be next" was the warning...ha!...just didn't expect that it would be me...

i left not sobbing but with my pride intact...as far as i'm concerned...i know i am not at fault and if the other staff members hear of this...Managment will be blamed and seen as despicable...i probably did hit the nail on the head with my letter as well...if not, my towkay whom is a really nice, gentle, kind person...won't be still red in the face and steaming at his ears...

My Jing Li did call earlier to let me know he thinks that i was very unfairly treated and that the towkay and himself are trying to find out exactly what happened...i said my peice...i don't feel the least bit upset...

How I am feeling now?...just a little bit du lan..and wish that I will find out if the Towkay Neo will get told off by the Towkay...hmmm...i will check into that...but as of 3pm this afternoon....i know the Towkay Neo still hasn't stepped into the office...so we shall see...

My plans for the next few days is to chill out a little...and continue with the job hunt of course...

who knows...i might come back to singapore for a while...just had a look at my bank account..had more money than i remembered...luckily...