Recipe

I'll share something with you today. The recipe for Chicken Rice...so simple you won't believe:

Ingredients List:
Chicken
Ginger
Garlic, Spring Onion, Coriander, Chilli
Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, Sugar, Salt, White Pepper

Chicken
Ensure pot has enough water to cover the chicken completely. Bruise 5-7 cloves of garlic and 4-5 large slivers of ginger and add that to the water. Boil Chicken for 20 minutes in the covered pot (25 minutes if Chicken came straight from the fridge) on high to medium heat. Turn off the fire and leave chicken in the pot for a further 10 minutes before taking it out.

Sauce for Chicken
Mix soy sauce, a little bit of sesame oil, a teeny bit of sugar. Add a touch of white pepper and it’s ready to be poured over the cooked chicken.

Garnish
Coriander (roughly chopped) and spring onion (sliced lengthwise; makes it nice and curly!)

Rice
Cook rice as per normal. Use chicken stock from cooking the chicken instead of water. Feel free to ladle in the garlic and ginger from the chicken stock or put in a new batch of garlic and ginger. Add salt before cooking the rice. You can also put in a chicken stock cube if you like (It’s not cheating; I did it!)

Chilli Sauce
Blend chilli and garlic. I usually use a 50-50 ratio but it’s up to you really. You can also include coriander in the blend. Add soy sauce, Japanese rice vinegar (or lemon juice) and sugar.

Ginger paste
That’s just a ginger and spring onion blend. Mixed in with canola oil and salt.

EASY ISN'T IT?

anybody whom have ever been away from Singapore for more than 6 months usually become quite an expert in dishing up Singaporean hawker fare....

maybe next time i'll share somemore "secrets" with you...secrets which anyone of us who has ever been a poor uni student before will know :)

seriously, for those of you who have never left the comfort of your parent's homes, do you know:

• what flour goes into carrot cake that makes it so chewy?
• how to successfully rid the stench from pig stomache when you want to make kway chup or peppery pig organ soup?
• how to make the broth for mee siam from scratch?

you get my drift....

and no, i'm not bragging...all i am trying to say is that you guys have it good back home...if i crave anything that resembles Singaporean cusine, i have to either make it myself or, settle for something cooked by Malaysians, which can be nice, but just not the same...no foodcourt ta-bao for $3 ok...

The only thing strangely that none of us (not that i know of) could ever replicate, was ta-mee...u know, like dried mee pok with fishball, mince pork and mushroom...with chilli! if there is really a secret for it..someone please tell me....

Of Cheap Airfares and Presents...

yes, i'm only updating my blog coz i have some spare time today from being away from work....i'm just so tired i couldn't bear thinking abt sitting at my desk for 8 hours today...though, i cld be bothered to get up at 7.30am to text my manager and tell him i wasn't coming in...ha!...but in all seriousness, i do have a migraine and a really sore spot towards the mid-left on my back...

Bring on the Cheapie Flights!
I have not had so many vistors in a short span of 2 weeks. Goodness, i think i've caught up with more pple in Perth this past fortnight than the last 2 years combined. Not surprisingly, these happy visits have tossed my otherwise mundane perth life into chaos...i am still recovering from the late night of coversations over tea and chips...

Oh, i do have to give my congratulations to Kevin and Nancy. The sneaky bugger finally proposed while they were in Perth. How apt! I am just so thrilled for these two...everyone's been waiting for them to get hitched! :)

Jun's currently in Perth for her first ever visit to Australia. We met up for a simple bbq dinner at my place last night. This was soon followed by heaps of wine, chocolates and strawberries...Just a taste of how wine-tasting can be like down at Margaret River i suppose...I think Jun's over her allergy to alcohol but she can do better!

I will be catching up with Aileen tonight and hopefully Emily over the weekend. We'll see how we go...i do have an assignment to complete but we'll see...i'll choose meals and drinks over research and writing any day!!

Surprise!
If we weren't married, we would have been dating for 13 years on Sunday. I think after so long, he's finally EMBRACED the element of surprise.

I honestly can't believe he would have bought me a gift and really nice one at that. Someone from the company of turquoise boxes must have naked pictures of him somehow..if not, how on earth did they make a repeat customer out of him? hahaha...nonetheless, i am one very happy person...Thanks dearie!!

He has sworn off more annivarsaries except our "real" one in September. Ah, we'll see.....

No Facebook..EVER!

hate to break it to you guys but i seriously doubt I'll ever get down to owning a facebook account...yeah yeah i am breaking my promise...whatever!

BUT, I've started twitter-ring (if that's what it's called these days)...haha...soooooo much better...no need for the patience of buddah to upload photos....AND if I do have the PATIENCE of buddah, i'll just upload said photos here...

by the way, just wanted to *ahem* recommend a trashy reality TV show that has captured my attention for all 4 seasons already...go watch Ladettes to Ladies...i'm sure you'll find the clip on youtube or something...totally hilarious...i wouldn't normally recommend shows to anyone back home coz you guys are already way ahead of us in the tv stakes, but this..haha! you don't get nudity and vulgarities on free-to-air do you? Anyways, go watch and tell me if it isn't the most funny thing ever! (Dana: have you watched it? is this the place you really want to enrol in?)

Speed (Up)Dating

Yeah yeah yeah...i DO REALISE i should update more often, i should get a facebook account, i should stop wasting my gym membership, i should save more money, i should clean the house more, i should spend more time doing meaningful stuff, blah blah blah...


if i did all of the above and more..i might as well go save the world and the economy right? let me be me...hahah..

so, starting from where i left off in Oct 08:

• Our birthdays were totally uneventful. I can't even remember what we did to be honest...Our friend had his big three-oh though..heheh
• Went on our first holiday in what, 2 or 3 years? Beijing now has a lot more to offer than the usual sights. If you do get a chance, do visit the little cafes and shops on nanluoguxiang (South Drum Lane) near the now-famous Lotus Market. Trip highlights include our nice little dinner of fried scorpions, silk worm larve and other oddities...lowlights? well, for the entire trip, we only managed one photo with each other..brillant!
• Mere did very well in his exams if you must know. He even has a CPA cerfiticate to prove his place in the top 2.6% percentile *beams*.
• Talking about school..makes me angry that Curtin upped school fees by 3.5%!! damnit!!
• i've signed up for a sewing class...please don't let me break the needles again...after which Mere and I are thinking of attending a Bahasa class...please lah, we are not those poseur types..choosing French or Italian lessons can..we are practical people..Bahasa is a good-to-have in our work...
• Mere is on a rampage...healthy living and all that...its working for him..but the salads are boring me to tears....i may start a i-hate-lettuce campaign soon...hmm..on deeper thoughts, i think it's just his ruse to stop me from eating out so often...not happy!
• Talking about turning 30, our friend finally bought his CAR last week. :)
• I'm trying to find another dog that looks like Shiro...
• Oh yeah, and coz we loved our trip back to Singapore in Dec so much we are coming back again soon. June 24th's the date and coz we are only back for a week, please clear your diaries and think of places to go ok?...lesbian nights optional..

nah, don't say i never update arr....

1 down, 1 more to go...

well, another 2 more papers for us if you count his...at least he's finishing up on this friday...so i don't have to get my own birthday dinner from KFC like i did a couple of years ago...besides, it's a friday so no KFC!!!

someone's pretty uptight about the upcoming exams...
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"don't like that lah..can give me a nice photo or not?"

well, at least it wasn't the middle finger....

someone else can always study and sit the CPA exam for you....

my next one's an open book so i am feeling pretty relaxed about it...my plans for the rest of the week is to complete an assignment (nearly done!) and hopefully consolidate my notes in some semblance of order before the open book exam...

the exam is be done online...you have a whole week to get it done but you only have one shot....originally it was going to be released from the 3rd Nov onwards but i will be flying off on the 2nd and seriously, no stable internet connection in Kolkata apparently...so i requested to sit for the exam earlier...the lecturer's so nice...he opened it early for everyone! hahaha...

on that note, folks, i'll be away for 3 weeks from the week of 3rd Nov onwards...don't miss me too much :) As usual, I'll get my stop-overs in Singapore (good ol' SQ)...so listen up pple....take out your diaries/blackberrys/whatevers and take down these dates...

• 2nd Nov, Sunday - Back for one day, flying off at 9pm on 3rd Nov, Monday
  
• 7th Nov, Friday - Back for the weekend with a colleague..flying off on 10th Nov. Monday

Pam, we can celebrate your bday early on the weekend? or would you prefer to spend the celebrations with someone else? :P

I know there's a very small window of opportunity and everyone's really busy...if we can't meet up we can't meet up...i'll be back again in Dec :)

Oh Oh...before I go, I thought I'll leave you guys with this photo taken at Taboo when I was back in Sept...luckily i don't look fat-faced in this!! and i do have to apologise for that guy's nipples..really marred the otherwise lovley shot...-_-

Just Because....

hello to you..YOU who can still be bothered to read this nearly-dead blog...well, today's a decently good day...coz i've just handed in my first uni assignment and i got home early so i've decided to post this entry..and guess what, i'm also going to post up some photos! yay....

first let us back track to March 2008...when i was back in Singapore for my dad...here are some super long-awaited photos from then...

our lovely friends who used to reside in Perth..they have all now deserted us for sunny Singapore and Brisbane

and their kids..."melvin junior", "little catherine" and "roy junior"...i'm sure u can match them up with their respective parents...now all we need is a "little karen" for a complete set!...

and here's catching up with some of my most favourite people in the whole wide world....luckily no pictures of us at Luna...only this decently glam shot at Fashion Bar...

wait...i lied..i do have pictures at Luna...but..ahem...since i'm trying to maintain a PG rating here..it shall not be published...let's just say it involves a gi-normous wall mounted poster and air (ass) kissing....

There were obviously more photos with the girls as well, but sorry...i'm vain...i look terrible in those photos...so while i'll give them to you (someday), i won't be posting them up here too...:P

Fast forward to May 2008...my first work trip to Vancouver to meet our global marketing team...great trip i got to say...work-wise it was definitely fruitful...and the food and shopping was simply awesome as well...here's a pic of all of us at a cooking school...great idea for a team building event but not so sure about the menu...blue cheese with chicken...hmmm....

i also shelled out about 100 bucks for my first ever sea-plane ride...it's a 20-minute plane trip which basically starts by taking off on water and landing back down on water as well...mere reckons it was super cool when he did it in Indo visiting Newmont's Batu mine site so he insisted i try it out in vancouver...well, i wasn't as excited as he was but i got to admit it did provide a very breath-taking and unique view to vancouver....already one of the most beautiful cities i have ever been to, the bird's eye view just made it so much more wonderful....

so cute right...a heart-shaped freeway...

ok let's bring ourselves back to current time...last week i attended my first ever user conference in the Philippines...pretty shocking considering i have been with this company for nearly 3 years...duh...so here's me with $1,300 worth of excess baggage...

i was basically there simply to make sure nothing went majorly wrong...and if things went awry then i've got to fix it...so, sadly, there wasn't a lot of time for me to go shopping or do any interesting for that matter...i was staying right next door to a massive shopping mall for crying out loud...and yet i only managed to pop in for a couple of hours on the last morning that i was there...

BUT i did get to do one cool thing tho...and that was to try the local delicacy - Balut. My first attempt at balut was at a restaurant...looks good doesn't it...but bear in mind this dish is aptly named "balut surprise"...

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TADAH!

Don't be grossed out just yet!!...let me explain...balut is an egg with a semi-formed duck embryo...it's usually a 16-day old embryo..any older and you'll get feathers and beak...what you are seeing here isn't the duck embryo at all..it's really only your regular hard-boiled egg with slightly more prominent veins than usual...presumably coz there is (was) an embryo in there that was feeding off the nutrients from the egg itself...


"balut surprise" was decidedly a very westernised version of the real deal...so after dinner, we requested to go find a street vendor and taste it for what it was meant to be...

my very willing-try-everything colleague peeling open the REAL balut...

and here's mine after eating/discarding the yolk and egg white...

(you can't actually eat the white as it is very very hard..hence the name balut, meaning "stone")

...now you get the embryo at the bottom...

ok, i guess you can be grossed out now...:P

a bonus of most of my work trips is that i get to have a free stopover in Singapore..how can i resist right? i had a really FAT weekend...eating and eating and eating...and drinking and drinking and drinking...

what capped off a really fabulous weekend was my time at Wine Connection with my favourite bunch of people again...best friends in the whole wide world!!!!

Eying - Thanks for always being the life of the party..love your vivaciousness always!! Hope Hei wasn't too bored..
Siheng - Don't panic about your wedding plans...it will be fine...so nice to meet your wife finally..hope we didn't scare her to much...hahah
Jason - I've never had someone who has ever been so anxious to celebrate my birthday..this is certainly the first!! Love you to bits for that!!!
Mok - I'm so glad you are always there when I come back...unlike some people...(just joking!)...wish you all the best in your new job and i certainly hope we can work together!
Andrea, Serene, Dana - What fun would it be at Taboo without you guys...our Mr. Popular would have simply ditched me after introducing me to Jackie for the 7th (or was it 8th) time in just as many years...

See you all again in November!!! Hopefully i would have more entries by that time....

It Suddenly Occured to Me....

It has dawned on me that perhaps if I don't update soon...a few things would happen:

1) Blogspot may permanently shut down my blog and being the padantic hoarder that I am...it would completely devastate me if ALL entries were gone...forever

2) Andrea may die without ever reading another update from me....how can i ever bear that thought!

3) I may forget my login and password.. .which would then render this blog useless...which then might make option 1 happen....which would then make option 3 happen as well....*it did TAKE 2 tries before i managed to log in*...

such is life...

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?