Till then ...

It was a happy day for dad! Finally, it's time to be discharged from the hospital ! He thanked those who have taken care of him and the staff there seems very happy for him too. Even though he will be scheduled for an operation in November, but he is taking it quite well.

We will be departing to Taiwan this Saturday and I could visit Taiwan now with lighter heart.

Till then ....

Get well soon ...

Have been so busy and tired lately that I have not much time to check Facebook or write any blog entries.

Dad has been hospitalized since last Wednesday and I have been rushing to hospital after work. During the weekends, I would stay in his ward to accompany him as much as I could. I was grateful for hubby's help to drive me to the hospital now and there.

CK and myself brought the mini DVD viewer and some DVD movie titles which might interest my dad. (some Kungfu, adventure or comical DVDs) He has already watched two movies yesterday which was good ! At least, it was not too boring for him. I have tried to introduce a simple fishing game on Ipad to him but he was not interested.

Dad has been a pretty active and independent person. Even now at 73, he is still alert and likes to meet up with his friends for coffee and chat every night. Guess his friends are going to miss him for the time being and hopefully he is able to rejoin them in his nightly coffee talk with them very soon.

During weekdays, it was pretty hard to cook any home-cook food for dad.
From his constant comments over the very blend hospital food, I have cooked three dishes for him just t boost his "morale". CK has also cut some fruits for him.

Another decision to be made .. Presidential Election 2011 !

Yet another decision to think about before 27 August 2011 !
One thing we can be sure of, a Mr Tan from our four Presidential Candidates will definitely be elected !

I could only locate two blogs of the Presidential candidate for reading.

Dr Tan Cheng Bock's blog
http://www.tanchengbock.org/

Mr Tan Kin Lian's blog
http://tankinlian.blogspot.com/

Project 79

Congratulations to the three young ladies for publishing this E-Book !
A lot of hard work and many hours must have spent on their project!

An introduction as extracted of the young ladies from their E-book.
Chua Shi Min, 19, the team leader for “Project 79”, also serves the post of the writer or this this E-Book. Being an online novelist for three years, she finally fulfills her dream of officially publishing a book, though an electronic version, it is still satisfying
for the young lady.

Ye XiaoXia, 20, the photographer and website-cum-book designer for “Project 79”.
Being a “bookworm” who like to read a lot, she set her future career to be in the publishing industry. The unique book cover and website design, are all works by her after going through the painstakingly times.

Zhuo Dandan, 21, the videographer and video editor for “Project 79”. The series of
teaser about “Our 79 Stories” are also hard works by her. Having to using image to tell a story is a challenge to her, as she’s yet familiar with making a teaser with limited resources.

(Click for larger version)

Cover of Project 79 e-Book in classic black and white

A write up on my two primary school pals and me !

I like the chinese write-up better, how about you ? (Thank God we have Shirley as our "spokewoman" !

I managed to chance on this website ! Hey, if the young ladies managed to fulfill to publish the E-book with NLB into Hardcopy version, I'll be grabbing a copy for sure !
http://www.np.edu.sg/friends/dayblog/post/Project-79-Tanjong-Pagar-Railway-station.aspx

So glad we "accidentally" became part of Project 79 !

Are they freaks or what ?

As I started to tackle the piece of beef patty burger on my plate, I was rather regretful of my choice. I have just heard of from my colleagues over lunch about Indonesia cattle abuse. Very glad that this act of sin was exposed over the media, yes, one good thing that the media can play it's part!

Clearly, I do not have the courage to open the link to watch the video. I did opened a video once that was circulated in FB about killings of whales in Japan for food that sent shivers down my spines. Just by reading an article of how animals over the world was being abused and used was enough to give me nightmares! The Newpaper ever had this article about the fur industry. It was horrifying !!! They actually skinned the fur of a certain breed of dogs when they still alive for their furs in China ! I am totally against fur industry ! Why are people so cruel ? Try cutting off a small patch of your skin and see how painful it is !

It doesn't matter whether pets were being abused or our food source like cattle were being mistreated, they are living things that feel much pain and fear like us. For food that we consumed, humanity must be given to the rearing process and finally send them to the slaughterhouse for a fast and humane death!

When I was much younger, I was ignorant of many things. Food on the table was often taken for granted. They were just plates of delicious food that I have paid with mere money and would enjoyed eating them. The basic needs of filling one's tummy has been long been forgotten since we have attained so much to care where our food sources came from. It was only these recent years that I have paid more attention to this issue to know that food is so scarce in the world now. We must be the luckiest bunch around to be able to have piping hot and varieties of food around us... readily available.

Somehow, I recollected an episode where I was given a treat by someone who is much older than I am, many years ago. She will be very conscious over left-over food and would try to encourage us to try to finish the food. At that time, I thought she was quite strange. Why force people to finish the food ? She is so well-off, why did she has to do that ? Doesn't look very nice on her to do that ... Now that I know her intentions, I thought she is a very wise person. It was not about the money at all, it was about the wastage of food !

Joo Sheng and Co

Went to Joo Sheng at Victoria Street to meet up with Ruth. Ruth's dad could not carried on with his existing business as he was not well. I went there to give my support to this pal.

Joo Sheng & Co sells all sort of table cloth, cushion covers, tissue box covers, bedsheet covers with lace trimmings on them. She will be ceasing her long-time business today!

I have the opportunity to stay in the shop and watched my couple friends as they sold the cloths to walk-in customers. There were quite a number of "old" customers who were really sad when they knew that the shop is closing down! There was this malay lady customer who asked for Ruth's uncle the moment she came into the shop. She must be a frequent customer of Joo Sheng. I saw that she has bought quite a number of bedsheets and table cloths! Another chinese mum and daughter came into the shop. You could tell that the daughter was quite sad and repeated twice that she has feelings for these items since young !

It was very heart-breaking to watch all these but at the same time you feel very heart-warming especially for uncle's faithful customers ! Uncle, please get well soon ...

Ruth and Ivan, this is a difficult and tough time for you both but seeing you both working so tirelessly for your dad is truly admirable :) Yeah, babe, you still look young and pretty *wink. When all these craze is over, let's go for a break over dinner.

(If anyone is interested in the items, you can contact me .. I'm doing this absolutely with zero commission but as a love for my friend)

I've bought about 7 table cloths for mum and aunties ... given to my mum and she loved them.

A closer look at the different types of table cloths ...

Post cooling day (8 May 2011)

The results were out pretty late ...those who were concerned over the outcome would probably stay late to get live reports !

I stayed half way through ... really too tired for all results to be released. The election's Returning Officer, Mr Yam Ah Mee, wasn't making it easier either with his monotonous announcement. However, he has became famous overnight .. well, anything can happen nowsaday.

Whether you like the outcome, it has been confirmed. However, the good thing is that there are more "voices" to represent the citizens in parliament. Frankly, I supported this idea for checks and balances for any policies made.

Some of the polling statistics in GRCs were rather close. Seriously, I was not surprised at all with the results. There have been too many complaints and grievances over the high costs of public housing, overflow of foreign workers, unsatisfactory public infrastructure, astronomical ministerial salaries and high costs of living. Some soul-searching has to be done to ensure that no Singaporeans are lagging behind.

Personally, the deepest regret of this election is the booting of George Yeo whom I respected. It was the most intense and hot GRC to be contested ! I am glad that I am not in that constituency to make that tough decision !

Let's wait and observe the situation for the next 5 years, starting afresh from today.

A rare national bonding (7 May 2011)

After the cooling day, it was time to cast your vote !

My poor hubby got to wake up at 4:30am to West Spring Secondary School to help out in the GE. So I went alone to Hillgrove Secondary School, which was about 10-15 minutes walk from our estate.

Along the way, there was a long queue of vehicles along the stretch of road to either Lian Hua or Hillgrove Secondary Schools, . There were voters who came on foot like me too. This was like a national bonding activities with young and old coming together on this important day that could mark a twist in Singapore's history !

The voting process was orderly and well-managed. It has been a long time since I entered into a Secondary school and I must say that the school was very well-maintained and beautiful. Anyway, that was beside the point, I cast my vote in just a minute.

Every voter only has one precious vote and this precious vote determines the future of a nation. Casting of a vote took only a minute but the building of a nation took years. I am sure everyone is looking forward to the election results tonight ! Stay tune !

Finally a day away to vote !

Currently, the hottest topic in Singapore !
Which party will you vote on 7 May 2011 ?

I believe for some, the answer does not come as swiftly as before.

My first voting was in my early 20s, it has been more than 10 years before I have such opportunity to vote again! And for so many years, this year has been the most exciting! Except the folks in Tanjong Pagar, the rest of the Singaporeans will be busy casting their votes tomorrow !

The three beauties politicians certainly add on to the excitement. They are Tin Pei Ling from PAP, Nicole Seah from NSP (kinda of a hot favourite with marriage proposal from her supporter and reportedly a watch endorsement from Citychain which she subsequently rejected) and Angela Oon from WP.

Times have changed too with social media splashing with stories and comments from common folks. Comparatively to the older generation, this must be rather unthinkable to voice out your thoughts in the open.

Competition is definitely intense this year.

That reminds me, I have not thought of who to support.

Such a pity

CK bought SHE's latest live concert DVD. After watching the entire concert, I couldn't help but admired the three energetic ladies on stage. They have sung almost 48 songs. For those who listen to SHE's songs, most of their songs were fast-paced ! They not only danced and performed on the huge stage but also moved around to the extension stage which were closer to the audiences ! Most of them are reaching their 30's, therefore it can be quite a challenge. Overall, it was a fantastic performance !

The three ladies have mentioned that this might be their last concert together, I felt a chill down my spine! This world concert was performed before Selina's unfortunate incident. No one would ever think this really might be their last concert together !

I love this group ! They must be the longest singing group ever-formed in Taiwan. I love their songs and dance moves but most of all, I love the genuine friendship that they have. The three ladies looked very pretty especially in MTV and concert. I couldn't help feeling very sorry for Selina. She might be label as a "Sweet Princess" amongst the team members but she is really a singer who can laugh at herself or crack funny jokes on stage or behind scenes. Hope she will recover soon.

Japan, New Zealand and Australia

CK and myself have been discussing whether to visit Japan or Taiwan in early October just a few weeks ago. Guess now the answer is very much clearer.

It was devastating to see videos of the merciless tsunami waves "devouring" everything that dare to stand in their path !

It somehow reminded me of those Hollywood disastrous films we saw from time to time. It was just so unbelievable that all the ploughs, houses, cars were destroyed ruthlessly by the undeniable super power of nature ! In fact, the cars looked like toys being tossed around in the waters ! The nuclear plant and radiation matters seems to aggravate the situation !

Lives were taken and properties were destroyed, the ailing nation of Japan certainly has a lot of challenges ahead of them. A beautiful country which held many beautiful memories for tourists who have experienced their unique way of life, language and food. I still missed Hokkaido with all the vivid scenes that were still quite fresh on my mind ! We prayed that the people of Japan will be able to overcome their loss soon.

One of the friendliest place on earth, New Zealand ! There is a certain attachment to this beautiful place since many years ago. Firstly, my nice ex-boss in Lucent Technologies is a New Zealander or they fondly called themselves "Kiwis". Secondly, I have been to Christchurch twice where the recent earthquake struck the quiet town ! When I saw the ChristChurch Cathedral being destroyed, I felt like crying !!! Sentiments just overwhelmed me because I love New Zealand and the Kiwis ! God bless the Kiwis ! New Zealand happened to be our honeymoon destination too .... that kinda explained the attachment.

Australia !!! My first "Ang Mo" country I visited with my parents many years ago! A country where the people are not as friendly as the Kiwis but nonetheless, I have so much fun and memories in Down Under! Those cute little sheep keychains which we brought back years ago ... sheep searing ... Myer and Target departmental stores ... my hearts goes to the Australians.

Often, these disasters made us ponder over the vulnerabilities of life. We should really enjoy life and treasure the people we loved around us as much as possible.

WELCOME back to Sunnyland !

Got a call from Cheng Cheng during lunch time ! Could not recognise her voice ! I guessed it was quite noisy in the cafe too.

Very happy that the chewy family is back in Singapore ! It has been a long 3 years !
When they have settled down, we would meet up.

3 day course

I have applied for a 3 day course called "Fundamental to Good Management" at IPAM.
It was a fulfilling experience personally for myself.

This course gave me insights into what a good management means. It does not mean that having a fanciful title over others made you a better superior. There are many other factors that are seriously lacking in one if they do not know the critical roles that they have to resume.

We are all a part of a dynamic working force in this world. How many Superiors actually bother to find out what matters in a working environment to their subordinates ? We were asked to do one of the many quizzes individually and came together to develop into a group ranking consensus.

This is what our group came up with. The NUMBER 1 factor that matters most to working people is "Full appreciation for work done" !!! Just a simple "Thank You", recognition of work done, a praise meant so much to a worker ! It does not necessary meant monetary award !

Anyhow, our group consensus is pretty near to the "suggested" answer provided by Professor Myrtle based on some findings for the past 40 years.

1 being most important
No 1 --> Interesting work
No 2 --> Full appreciation for work done
No 3 --> Feeling of being in on things
No 4 --> Job security
No 5 --> Good pay
No 6 --> Promotion & growth
No 7 --> Good working conditions
No 8 --> Loyalty to workers
No 9 --> Tactful discipline
No 10 -> Help with personal problems

Anyhow, the survey was dependent on your current working situation. If you are a graduate new on a job, "Good pay" or "Promotion & growth" might be on top of the listing. On the other hand, if you near retirement, "loyalty to workers" might be your top choice.

If we are all given such a survey for the superior to know about our working expectations and perspective , it will be wonderful.

Anyhow, there are quite a bit of topics that were covered in 3 days from leadership behaviours, delegation, motivations, mentoring, coaching etc.

95% happy ?

I was rated a high 95 percentage of being in a stage of happiness by CK !
Seriously, this is over-rated ! I would have rated my happiness stage a 75% which I find that it is more realistic. The scale might jump to another 5% if my current working environment is more ideal. Anyhow, I am glad that someone thinks I am a relatively happy person.

There are times when I feel so down but I am always glad that there are friends to cheer me up. I did not specifically tell them what are the problems or whether I am troubled on the day if we happened to meet up. Somehow, I will feel better after the gathering.

Coming back to CK's high statistics ... he said the lack of 5% which made up the 100% was due to my sudden change of temperament once in a blue moon. What does he exactly meant ? It just meant that I think too much into people and things and it made me feel so miserable. There is some truth into this but that still did not constitute to that unrealistic 95% statistic.

To me, as long as I have not much problem with my health, I have some savings from my pay monthly, I have some friends to chill with, I have my hobbies, I have my family and Jojo, I am more than happy. These things do not come easy, it takes time to build from stretch and could be taken away easily. A friendship of more than 20 years does not come in an instant. It took 20 years of youth to know each other and to be able to reach an understanding point. However, it might take just a while to cool off the relationship if we did not constantly make an effort to keep in contact.

I believe everyone has their own happiness. It is just how you look at happiness. It is also very worrying why Singaporeans have such a low happiness rate from a statistics report years ago. Are we having too much materials expectations that we overlook things that are priceless like relationships ? Singaporeans on the average has a relatively blissful life with a roof over their heads and 3 full meals a day. I guess the richer the economy is, the basic needs like food and accommodation is taken for granted over more thirst for money and superior social status.

U would think I am a silly-billy .. but I can get very high and happy over a photography session with friends ! Or even very contented over a well-cooked steamy hot maggi mee! I could not explain why I am so, but CK behaves about the same way as me except maybe about the photography session !

I can get very high over home decorations too. I think it is because I enjoy doing things I like. CK thinks it is a waste of money buying Daiso $2 budget stuff but to me, Daiso is a heavenly place to shop. There are some stuff there which are priced so reasonable compared to other shops.

Everyone will fall ill sometime or another. I have seen some of my loved ones suffered in their old age. It has ever trigger to me that while we are still young and able, we should not feel sorry for ourselves. Instead, we should try all means to stay happy.

Frankly, I am not that happy at work recently, but I did not want to think about it too much. Sometimes, you just wonder why people treated you in a way you do not deserve to be treated. At that instant, I just felt like quitting or transferring to another department. Coming back to reality, you know you cannot be too strong-headed or impulsive because you have bills to pay for. So for me now is reach office in time and go off in time ... there is a happy dog who will come to the doorway, with his little snub of tail wagging .. waiting for his mummy to come home !

Portable Mobile Charger & an awesome can opener !

My cousin Eris gave this iphone gadget to me :)
You have to charge the portable mobile charger first. If your iphone's battery is running very low, you can attach to the portable mobile charger and start charging your phone. It's helpful as iphone's battery depleted very fast especially if you are out for the whole day.























My mum bought this can opener for me. I swear that this is the BEST can opener in the world !!!

Just hook the rotating blades (unlike the traditional can opener, the blade was "hidden" so that you won't hurt yourself). Rotate the can-opener one round around the can to open it.


The can was opened without any fuss. There are no sharp edges on either sides of the can or the top of the can ! Plus, the can opener is still very clean !

The appetite seems to be coming back ..

I was really so motivated by Fang's niece who has lost so much weight within quite a short span of time. She is totally transformed to a slim lady of 49kg !!!

She has a very strong motivation of losing weight as her wedding has been scheduled next year. Where should my motivation comes from ? I am really not sure. I guess for health reasons, that should be my greatest motivation.

We have spent sometime talking about her diet regime.
The bottom line to lose weight is basically to cut down the carbo-intake and reduce your food in-take as much as possible.

For Asians, rice is a daily staple food. Somehow, I find it quite easy to cut down on rice intake. For me, it is the tempting chocolates and ice-creams that are harder to forgo !

I am doing quite well in terms of having fruits for breakfast for almost 3 weeks now. Oh, you could get quite hungry by 11am ! Anyhow, my appetite is not good during those weeks because I was sick ! Now as I recovered, my appetite gradually comes back. What a let down !

Occasionally, I will have to give up my diet for some feasts like Birthday treats etc.

Still, my consumption is not as huge as before. The feeling of not been stuffed like a pig feels great too.

Oh, I love this phrase, so consoling (no offence pleas):
I may be fat, but you're ugly, and at least I can diet.

POOR me !

It has drawn to me that being able to earn one's own keep is wonderful !
Why did I say that ? Well, I have been living in "poverty" for at least 2 months now. Have been drawing less than half my usual pay and they are only enough to cover my expenses !

Cash liquidity has always been a problem that I need to improve on. Accordingly to some Financial planning reference books & expert's advice, we need to have at least 6 months cash that is easily available !!!

Let's say my new resolution in 2011 is to establish a higher liquidity !

Thank you

BC, thanks so much for this 4 tier tray ! I was actually thinking of getting one. You are indeed very observant by just reading my blog & Facebook photos of the cupcakes !! A BIG Thank you.

Not only that, but you have gotten some kitchen towels & a pack of little cute snowmen for cake decorations !!! HUGz !

Silent support

There are times when life is not a bed of sweet-smelling roses. It doesn't matter if it happens to you or your close friends, it pains your heart.

The older you are, the more you thought of how life should be. The more you see, the more experiences you will get out of life. We are all constantly learning at different stages in our lives no matter how old we are.

The laughter behind every happy moments and celebrations,the hidden sorrows cannot be concealed. Perhaps only time can heal ...

At times, we just do not know how to console our good friends. The only way to show our friendship and concern is really just our genuine blessings in our heart and mind that they will overcome this great sadness in their lives.

Grumpy old lady within ...

It has been a silent struggle within myself for the recent months. Sometimes, I wonder if I am encountering what they said "Mid-Life Crisis" ?

Yes, considering that the age of 37 matches the word "mid" and I am facing a struggle within myself. I couldn't bring myself to say that I am facing a Crisis at all. That would be so unfair since I still have a job to do, a house to stay in and family and friends around me. How bad could that have been ?

I did sit down alone to sort out my thoughts. Why am I behaving slightly eccentric nowsaday ? Slightly more impatient now, slightly more retarded now, easily irriated now, less compassionate now, more critical now .... it suddenly drawn to me that I have been too idle ... or no objectives in life. At times I felt that I am just wasting my life away. Are there something more meaningful that I should be doing instead of lamenting about life ?

I am truly inspired by Raymond and many other ardent volunteers of Noah Arks. Some of you might have known this non-profit welfare shelter for animals (not only dogs). They have shifted the whole operations in Singapore to JB after the lease has expired. Anyhow, I was happy that they have found a larger and cheaper land to house all the unfortunate animals. I was so touched by what he has done for the unwanted and abused animals that I have decided to make regular donations. Jan and myself have made food donations annually but I will follow her footsteps of donating on monthly basis. You can download the form from their website (http://www.noahsarkcares.com/)if you are keen. The form is called "Animal Sponsorship Form"and it was easy to fill up.

Noah Arks is not supported by any Government form and it is solely surviving on public's donations. I have also make a point to pull along CK and invite Jan one of these days to Noah Ark itself. (Jan has been there and she was very impressed by the new freedom that the animals have found there) If you are interested, give me a call and we can arrange to go there together. If I could not be a volunteer in this good cause, the least things I can do for these animals is just mere money.

Jojo Tan is indeed a very blessed and pampered doggie compared to the strays. Hee, you can imagine I have "told" Jojo what nice & responsible "parents" he has (sounded like "小孩不笨" ? Selina's tagline in the movie to her 2 kids) ... he just look at me longingly with his cute little face and tail (I think he thought I am trying to tell him treats are on the way).