my longest FB comment-thread ever

ha. there is a correlation between funny food and bleeding noses.

which tetris block are u?

You Are the "I" Block

You are dominant and a bit aggressive. You tend to assert yourself into situations and just take over. If people expect you, they are grateful for your presence. If you show up unannounced though, you tend to throw a bit of a wrench in things. You are brilliant and competent. You always have your facts straight, and you are very persuasive. Some people find you a bit intimidating at first, but once they get used to you, they can't imagine life without you. *check out... whoo~!*

What Tetris Block Are You?

HALLOW'n party!

come dressed up and join us!

"Your word is a lamp to my feet, And a light to my path." ~Ps 119:105~

the case for smiling

got this from facesinplaces...

i thank my God that i have something to smile about every single day of my life. =) =) =)

julie, julia & gladys the cooking mama

Meryl Streep is Julia Child and Amy Adams is Julie Powell in writer-director Nora Ephron’s adaptation of two bestselling memoirs: Powell’s Julie & Julia and My Life in France, by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme.

Based on two true stories, Julie & Julia intertwines the lives of two women who, though separated by time and space, are both at loose ends...until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.

my favorite most disastrous cooking experience:
when i first entered secondary ONE, mommy was worried that i would fail Home Economics, and so she very kan cheong-ly attempted to teach me how to fry an egg.

here are the steps she advised:
1. heat up the oil
2. when the oil is close to boiling, crack the egg.
3. pour the raw egg white and egg yolk into the frying pan.
4. in half a min, viola~! egg is ready. serve with black soya sauce!

easy right? so here were the steps i followed instead:
1. heat up the oil
2. when the oil is close to boiling, start to panic and wonder wat was the next step.
3. oh ya! crack egg! crack the egg
4. pour everything into the frying pan. (INCLUDING the egg shell)
5. spend the next half minute scooping out the egg shell!
6. in half a min half hour, viola~! a pretty messy egg is ready. serve with black soya sauce...

moral of the story, it's fun learning how to cook! as long as u're not in charge of tasting the food, nor washing up. zzz.

XLB's still my love.

i thank God for my 9-5 job, cos if not, i would be spending my days...

1. waking up at 10ish
2. savoring macdonald's big breakfast and sipping hot coffee
3. working out at the gym
4. eating high tea, or my fav xiao long bao~! (with manymany ginger!)
   
5. catching a late afternoon movie

**********

on a side note, i googled 小笼包 and the eating method is interestingly thus:
由于小笼中含有大量汤水，所以吃起来务必要小心。
1、首先，将小笼包夹入小碟中，要小心不要将其夹破。
2、在小笼包侧面咬开一小口，略微吹凉一些。（小笼包汤汁较烫，故最好不要直接入口）
3、吸吮其汤汁。
4、连肉带皮一起吃下。（在吃前务必吸干其汤汁，不然极容易汤汁四溅）

轻轻提，慢慢移，先开窗，后喝汤。

And for my engrish speaking friend... zzz.

1. Gently pick up a XLB with the chopsticks and make sure that you don’t break the skin. You can do so by holding the XLB in the middle.
2. Nibble the side of the XLB to allow the hot soup/broth inside the XLB to cool down a little.
3. Drink of the soup/broth inside the XLB through the small opening. (This is the best way of savoring the meaty, juicy, and flavorful broth/soup inside the dumpling.)
4. Add some ginger and vinegar (as you like) to the dumpling and eat the rest.

Voila! No more broken dumplings and wasted soup, and definitely no more burnt tongues and stained shirts. *wink*

languid.

learned something new today:
Languid: an unwillingness or inability to exert oneself due to fatigue or physical weakness.

Languidness / Languor: or Fatigue (also called exhaustion, lethargy, lassitude, and listlessness) is a state of awareness. It can describe a range of afflictions, varying from a general state of lethargy to a specific work-induced burning sensation within one's muscles. It can be both physical and mental. Physical fatigue is the inability to continue functioning at the level of one's normal abilities. It is ubiquitous in everyday life, but usually becomes particularly noticeable during heavy exercise. Mental fatigue, on the other hand, rather manifests in somnolence.

e.g. i feel languid, all the time during workdays. =)

my off day (part 3)

got my nails painted! i am staying away from housechores for the next 2 weeks!

haha the fingernails are now in a shade of pink, i would call "bimbotic pink". from far not too bad, but close up... bad choice! *arghs*

my off day (part 2)

my off day started even earlier than the usual time i wake up for work! cos it's mmt's graduation and we're going off to convocation! although there were only 2 admission tix, i dun care, i die die want to squeeze myself in! hahaha...
and my reward? FOOD (again)! catering was from kriston, which serves really really solid laksa. this was my 2nd bowl. i was desperately trying to convince myself, it's not really that much right? their serving was quite small. =p

~yay! family of graduates!~

on a side note, we parked the car at maju camp, i cant help but snap a pic of... national security. hehe. (click to enlarge)

my off day (part 1)

my off day started on the eve. went home early, cooked some cha soba for snacks while waiting to head to BBQ at downtown east later in the night.

BBQ at off peak timings of the year really was good. wasnt too crowded and less kids running around! we had great company, great food, but the highlight of the night was actually this! i muz have been a cat in my previous life/subconscious mind/alter ego, cos i simply lurve FISH! it was a catch from the pasir ris fishing pond!

~marinating and marinated big fish!~

~the guys and the gals (with the Hotel Intercontinental cake, yummy)~

tonkatsu!

according to angela, it means "pig cutlet" in japanese.

pepper lunch in taka was closed and in replacement there was this bright and very colorful display to watch out for the next big thing.

so this is the next big thing, a black pig *oink* specialty shop. almost every dish has pork in it. and pork not juz from any tom, dick or harry pig. it's from the BLACK pig. yes, duno wat's the diff though.

but as usual, i do not have the courage to go in.. so if anyone does not mind pork from black pig and has tried this, pls let me know if it's worth trying. heh.

it's a moonie day!

combined CG cum mooncake celebrations cum overnight PM... it's amazing how we can ever manage to squeeze so many activities in one night.

nonetheless, we made do with the space we can find and attempted to carry some lanterns to create the mid autumn festival mood! hahha!lesson learned: i will NOT get durian mooncakes again! arghs! *runs far far away!*

dying trade

叮叮糖！ we seldom see such trades around already, dun we?p.s. uncle is selling at simei east point busstop, if u're craving for some memory lane sweets, do pop by!

dinner @ shOkudO

~the company~

our usual tues meeting was replaced with dinner! which left me thinking, should i be elated or sad? dinner was set at shokudo, which serves not really very nice food, and pretty pricey for the quality of food they serve.

in the end, it turned out to be a pretty fun time. managed to convince aaron, peter and tim to 'share' our food. so i ended up eating the whisk egg udon (my all time fav!), oikonomaki (or however it's spelled), 1/2 a spring chicken (i ate the wings), and desserts (mango and green tea with red beans!)
and the highlight of the night... aaron paid for my food! yayyay! he said anything above $50 i pay. it was $50.45! wahahaha~! so i had to fork out 45 cents!!!! only that he koped my change as well... nvm, $1 is still cheap for a sumptuous dinner!

yet another TV series

what do you see?

october october...

The October Crisis: a series of events triggered by two kidnappings of government officials by members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) during October 1970 in the province of Quebec.

Black October: or also known as Black Monday. The stock market crash of 1987 was the largest one day stock market crash in history. The Dow lost 22.6% of its value or $500 billion dollars on October 19, 1987.

Oktoberfest: a twelve-day festival held each year in Munich, Germany, running and is an important part of Bavarian culture.

Red October: a fictitious Typhoon class submarine in the Tom Clancy novel The Hunt for Red October and the film which followed. She was built with a revolutionary stealth propulsion system called a "caterpillar drive", which is described as a hydrojet system in the book.

**********

to me, October is simply the 10th month of the year and entering 3rd quarter / the last 3 months of the year. technically, i am supposed to fulfill 3/4 of the goals which i've set at the beginning of the year. hmm, have i?

i wOn!

"Congratulations Nuffnanger!

As our valued Nuffnang Glitterati member, you've just won yourself a pair of tickets to catch the movie: Surrogates!"

i lurve Nuffnang! and i lurve freebies! =) =) =)

twanging thoughts.

we all work 5 days a week. that will amount to 5*52 = 260 working days.

give and take say, 15 days of annual leave and some 5 days of MC (very underestimated!)? effective working days = 240 working days.

SO.

if u were late for 5 minutes a day, that will be 5*240 = 1200 minutes = 20 hours = 2.5 working days a year!

you 'eat' the company of 2.5 working days!... ... WOW.

mOOnies mOOnies

this, is a very unsuspecting green box. but inside, is gem!
i am looking at the green box every 5 sec (somewhat like checking the rear view mirror), but i can't touch it cos it belongs to weiwei! have even gone to the extent of placing them at anqila's desk so that they're out of reach! =(

the Mini White Lotus Seed Paste with Champagne Truffle and the Mini Green Tea White Lotus Seed Paste with Tiramisu Truffle!

**********

oops. i ate it. =\

they say DIAMONDS are a girl's BEST FRIEND!

500-carat diamond found at South African mine

JOHANNESBURG – Petra Diamonds Ltd. says a diamond the size of a chicken egg has been found at South Africa's Cullinan mine.

The diamond may be among the world's top 20 high-quality gems. It was discovered Thursday at the mine northeast of Pretoria, South Africa.

Johan Dippenaar, the company's chief executive said in a statement Tuesday that the 507.55-carat gem was of "exceptional color and clarity."

No value has been give yet for the diamond, which weighs just over 100 grams.

The mine also produced the largest diamond ever found, the Cullinan, at 3,106 carats in the rough. That finished stone is set in Britain's Imperial Scepter as part of the Crown Jewels.

church converted into magnificent bookstore...

should i marvel at the magnificence of modern-and-ancient-melded together? or should i sigh at the fact that the very intention of the church was never meant to create a bookstore in the first place?
Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” ~Mark 11~

my very own paddock club

not on the ground, but 30 odd storeys above where the action is! *VROOM VROOM!*

look! i even have tis 'hanging tv', of which i can change channels from time to time to "Boys over Flowers"!

surrOgates

From the director of Terminator 3: Rise of the machines, the filmmaking trio re-team to explore a future in which humans live in isolation while only communicating with their fellow man through robots that serve as social surrogates and are better-looking versions of their human counterparts.

People are living their lives from the safety of their own homes via Robotic Surrogates. Sexy, physically perfect mechanical representations of themselves.

It’s an ideal world where crime, pain, fear and consequences does not exist. When the first murder in years jolts this utopia, FBI agent Geer (Bruce Willis) discovers a conspiracy behind the surrogate phenomenon and must abandon his own surrogate, risking his life to unravel the mystery.

**********

If Surrogates are available now... my surrogate'd better look like tis:

and WHY?

1. cos i can conquer the dance moves of "DOLL DOMINATION" without spending the next 7 years training up my abs, or breaking my bones.
   
2. in line with the 2nd night race in singapore, my nicole surrogate will get me a seat in the PADDOCK CLUB of the singapore formula ONE gp! for all you noe, i might even get a chance to hold grab lewis' arms!
   
3. look good even make up. period.
   
4. and of cos not to forget the usual routines that my pwetty surrogate can do for me, e.g. wash the dishes, do the laundry, iron the clothes, make the bed, etc etc etc......
   (no pics available, cos i dun really tink the real nicole does these stuffs anyway...)
   

**********

Catch Surrogates in cinemas 1^st Oct 2009!
(i am catching it, wat abt you?)

FRYDAY

it's friday again.. and fridays always are the happiest day of my week, cos the weekend is here!

it's been a busy busy week.. been trying to finish up the September things to do at work so that i can chiong afresh come October, which's gonna be an even busier month. =(

as i sit in the office waiting for my dabao lunch to arrive, i shall juz update an entry or so..

• sunday: met up with aries @ bugis. he (and his bling bling diamond) is cool. bot a dress at Tang's with hubby's shopping vouchers. it's always nice to shop and not pay with my own money! i lurve shopping!
• monday: public holiday! headed down to JB for some cheap and good crabs (re: here). pepper crabs, chili crabs, all kinds i LIKE!
• tuesday: no leaders meeting, and sadly, i fell down on the way home (re: here). BUT that didnt deter me from going hm for a change of clothes and heading to vivocity's shops! but the pain kinda took my attention off the shops and i ended up browsing for yummy mooncakes at the roadshows.
• wednesday: boss requested for some urgent info at 5.30pm. zzz. thank God i was mood to go out, so headed home to continue to work. although halfway thru i fell asleep on top of the laptop. heh.
• thursday: had dinner @ canele with cindykoo, sitiharon, and CL. carbonara and strawberries crepe: yummy! but we forgot to take a pic of ourselves tis quarterly meeting. boo. cya girls next quarter den.
• friday!: TGIF! i am heading for CG later! wat abt you? =p
• saturday: formula ONE race!
• sunday: bday celebration dinner!
  

my new fav!

Put your arms around me
When it gets too hot we can go outside
But for now just come here
Let me whisper in your ear
An invitation to the dance of life

I’M GONNA PARTY! YEAH... ...

我的咸猪脚

"tis the countless time i am falling down. zzz." "there goes my flawless 美腿" "am i suffering from some muscle disorder?" "i need to decrease my center of gravity / boob size / weight / etc."

and finally...
.
.
.

"CAN I TAKE MC TMR?"

p.s. pic taken AFTER shower. the BEFORE was even more bloody. oh my poor leg.

mOtivatiOn?

"The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it. Exercise, lose weight, test your blood sugar, or whatever. Do it without motivation. And then, guess what? After you start doing the thing, that's when the motivation comes and makes it easy for you to keep on doing it."

~John C. Maxwell~

crab crab crabs!

on a long weekend. yay! btw, it's RM 36 for ONE crab! whoo~!

thick and fierce

the soul food that never fails to cheer me up the most... FOOD! and tis time round, it's the Carl's Jr's THICKBURGER. Thick and Fierce. I like. (pardon the puffy eyes. =\ )

and i've almost seem to have discovered the art of eating without growing fat(ter):
1. have your heart rate increase to dangerous levels on a friday night.
2. receive 5 smses on a saturday morning telling you nothing but bad news.
3. receive another 5 bad ones on your way out from home (from the very same pple u are abt to meet).
4. struggle in your heart that after all that you've said and done, things/people remain the same and never seem to turn out right.

i guess such intense 'activities' of the heart also burn off fats too.

for meow mel.

meOw!

a girls' night out

2 Sep 2009 @ The Manhattan Fish Market PS

or at least that was wat we thought... until aaron loh and his group of friends came along. erm, some of his frens did invoke some scary memories though, e.g. nick tan.

"coco before chanel" didnt really take place, but i'm glad we opted for the food (and laughter), rather than all of us sitting side by side looking at the big screen.
it's always nice to hang out once in a while. lurve the fellowship! =D

bittersweet. should i? should i not?

juz attended a meeting to inform us that we will officially be terminated from the current company as of 1 Jan 2010. for the first time in my life, i am being terminated/sacked/fired/dismissed. =( =( =(

and in exchange, we will join this new entity with seemingly better benefits, prospects?, and of cos greater responsibilities.. is that something to rejoice about? =\ =\ =\

perhaps i should seriously consider being a stay-home-tai-tai. my husband can support me. heh.

reasons y i need to lose weight. zzz.

it started 30000 feet above ground... my day #1 lunch.

and obviously i got very busy eating all kinds of street food (or at least that's wat i term them)

mee mee and more mee for the carbo girl!

day #2 sumptuous lunch! 7-course!

day #3 sumptuous lunch; overlooking the waterfall! how romantic!

dumplings and XLB and guo tie! my fav!

and finally, i'll stop by starbucks in every country i go... somehow they have 1-for-1 starbucks over here! half the price! whoo!
i am officially a very happy (but fat) girl!

gone bananas over peter!

overdue photo which i have wanted to post up for the longest time...

siew got peter wat's known as a banana keeper - $2 from Daiso! (they really do have innovative stuffs man..)

but well, dats beside the point. hmmz, i guess all of us the "aunties" (i.e. weiwei, kimmy, siew, mimi, and me?) do really dote on peter alot.. being the youngest boy boy in our group, i muz say he really has won the hearts of us all, even SIEW got him something while shopping. *faint

well, he's gonna turn 21 soon.. enjoy your celebration, my fren. and i pray for the greatest measure of blessings upon his life. he's gonna go far. =p

perperperperperperperperperperperper

our dear trusted perper has been toiling day and (sometimes) night non stop, from the east to the west and back, and finally he has reached 99,999km mileage! *applause!*

just when i thought the odometer can only fit 5 digits max... i was wrong! tadah! 100,000km (and still going strong!)and a very contented me.. i was donning the add-5-cm-to-my-height hair.. but apparently i juz can seem to capture it. =(i *heart* my taxi & my driver!

geography lesson

another one of the internet emails-pass-it-on jokes...

**********

The Geography of a Woman:

Between the ages of 18 - 21 a woman is like Africa or Australia. She is half discovered, half wild and naturally beautiful with bushland around the fertile deltas.

Between the ages of 21 - 30 a woman is like America or Japan. Completely discovered, very well developed and open to trade especially with countries with cash or cars.

Between the ages of 30 - 35, she is like India or Spain. Very hot, relaxed and convinced of its own beauty.

Between the ages of 35 - 40 a woman is like France or Argentina. She may have been half destroyed during the war but can still be a warm and desirable place to visit.

Between the ages of 40 - 50 she is like Yugoslavia or Afghanistan. She lost the war and is haunted by past mistakes. Massive reconstruction is now necessary.

Between the ages of 50 - 60 she is like Russia or Canada. Very wide, quiet and the borders are practically un-patrolled but the frigid climate keeps people away.

Between the ages of 60 - 70 a woman is like England or Mongolia. With a glorious and all conquering past but alas no future.

After 70, they become Albania . Everyone knows where it is, but no one wants to go there.

The Geography of a Man:

Between the ages of 15 - 70 a man is like Iraq......ruled by a dick.

it's 5pm...

and i am counting down to after work. not that the activities after work are more exciting, but well, it at least beats having to stay in an office with aircon close to my freezer at home, and have lotsa neverending work. =(

anyway, it's strange, but yes, i am looking forward to the pioneer mrt station duck rice. and a time of dwelling in my safe haven, in the far west. i am juz praying very hard that admin does not take long. else it will sap up wateva refreshing of the soul experienced earlier on. =(

i need a change in wardrobes!

and tis might be a fun thing to wear! hehe.

Out of Gladys's 710 Facebook friends:

did this amazing statistics for my FB account... nothing much though.

Out of Gladys's 710 Facebook friends: i actually have 710 frens?!?!?!?
Most common name: James (8 friends)
Most common zodiac sign: Gemini (60 friends) gemini's bdays fall on which month?
Longest name: Raymond Delon Poh 雷蒙帝龍 erm not too sure who he is though; he added me...
Shortest name: Yi Li i call him "li", even shorter!
Female/Male: 47% / 53%
Single/Taken: 33% / 67%
Average age: 28 years old do i really have such old frens? i am only 21... =(

=( =( =(

day 1 is gone and i've spent:

$3.00 on breakfast,
$5.00 on lunch,
$5.00 on dinner,
$30.00 on bday presents, &
$9.80 on cab.

i can surely eat... =( and there goes my $5-a-day goal. =(

it's 1st september!

There's:

• the usual month end closing rush: waiting waiting waiting...
  
• brand new monthly resolutions, ooh i am inspired by chloe's resolution: to spend only $5 a day! u can do it, girl! i shall attempt it as well!
  
• new faces in the office: welcome jane!
• many pamphlets on the early bird ordering of mooncakes! double yolk here i come!

**********

ring out the bells again
like we did when spring began
wake me up when September ends...