Merry christmas!

This is what I was up to on Christmas Eve:

Four hours of solid baking invested here together with my sis, and I think they look yummy! After baking we had dinner with our grandma, and one of the most memorable parts was the exchange of presents. It goes something like this:

Cost of baking supplies for cupcakes: $30

Cost of dinner: $70

Cost of present for grandma: $380

Look on grandma's face when she opened the present: Priceless.

And yes, I know I am unoriginal (This is like a Master card ad that was showing sometime back), but I did use my Master card! Now excuse me while I go snack on my favourite Black forest cupcake...

The Lab's first overseas trip 15th -18th Dec '06

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Gift from Fairy Godma

From Fairy Godma (ahem, thats me lah!) to the lab in the spirit of Christmas,

I love the colors of the clips!

(Psst, dont tell the boss he does not have one!)

A new frog!

Today there was a surprise for me in the lab, it was a new frog (the bigger greenie)! It was given by my "Angel". Now who could that be? We are playing the Angel-Mortal game in the lab now, and everyone knows I like frogs, so this does not eliminate anyone from my list of potential-angels.

Thank you anyway! :)

Yay! Meet the finishers of 10km and 21km run!

I am so happy that all our efforts paid off and we did it! As you can see, I am still on the runner's high after the completion of the 10km run, but I need to sleep now to recover from all the adrenaline rush...

**Post note: I uploaded a photo of the group of us who completed the run, but I decided to take it down as I am shy lah.

Medical check-up and christmas chicken pox

I popped by to pick up my medical report today, and I'm so happy and relieved that I am in the pink of health! =)

The biggest surprise I had was that my body fat was reduced! There can only be two reasons: (1) All the exercising helped (2) The machine has gone bonkies as the reading was meant to be way higher! Sometimes just being in the optimal weight range for your height is not sufficient, its what you cannot see that is dangerous; some have too high cholestrol, or high blood pressure even though they are skinny as a pole.

On the way back to work, I suddenly recalled an advertisment sometime back by a bank that went something like what happens if you live longer than you expected? It really struck a chord with me, and perhaps it is time to start thinking of having enough savings for retirement which, trust me, it is really not all that far away.

Only thing left for me to do is to get my much dreaded chicken pox vaccination... I am so very afraid of getting a mini-outbreak upon the vaccination. Perhaps that is the best present I can give myself, just think of it as Christmas chicken pox! *Hahaha*

Run your own race

The day has come! We have finally collected our runners pack, which came in a handy bag along with the runner's singlet (Mine is too large though it is the S size!) and even a packet of pasta. This is because we are adviced to take more carbohydrates this week before the run; its soooo exciting!

The married life (3)

A surprise arrived for me to brighten up my Sunday;

Happy 75th month Anniversary Husby! =)

Say the magic words (4)

Repeat after me now, "I do NOT need that the bag", and say that to the shop person who offers you a plastic bag when you can easily carry your items in your hands (like the newspapers) or slip it into your other bag (with the reciept please, do not get mistaken for a shop-lifter!)

It saddens me to read that some Singaporeans cannot be bothered to save the environment, as they feel that it is after all their right to get that plastic bag. I feel strongly for the need to recycle the bags, and I stand firmly in my belief that if you do not need that bag, say no.

Save the environment please!

A case of mix-up?

Look closely at the ad, see anything unusual?

Is this a case of mix up? The lady weighed 95kg before, but wow she looks slimmer than now that she is 78kg! *Hahaha* For their sake I hope this is really just a mix up!

** POST NOTE:

Guess what, they finally got the before and after weight right! I wonder how many customers realised it, and were scared away!!

Magical brew

My magical brew to keep the sore throat away; it actually worked. Probably because I did not know that that was a portion for three and so I happily threw everything into the pot, and so I proudly say I live up to my name of gobble pig! ;)

A new site!

Finally a new site is found, and a new beginning...

Photo update: Taiwan trip Oct 2006

Please solve the mystery

This has been something on my mind for the longest time for the past week.

Look at the photo! There is no doubt that that is a frog on the pavement. It is the pavement near my bus stop, and quite a distance from the road. The thing is, it has been squashed, flatten, compressed, crushed! What ever you call it, the poor thing is flatten to the ground so much so that it looks like a motif in the cement.

How could this have happened??

• Could it be that someone was walking one night and oops, stepped on the amphibian?
• Or did Mr Frog decide to commit suicide and deflat itself?
• Or blame it on the haze, in this haze city the frog could not find its way around and got starved!
• I reckon the only possible explaination that makes sense to me is that this frog from a chinese medical hall, and was already dried and flatten before it found its way there.

Someone enlighten me please!

It's not easy bein' green by Kermit

Kermit has a soft spot in my heart, for reasons quite obvious to most!

And this is the song that made Kermit a star in a BMW advertisment about green cars: It's not easy bein' green. Click here to watch the video, and here are the lyrics:

It's not that easy bein' green:

Having to spend each day the color of the leaves
When I think it could be nicer being red
Or yellow or gold or something much more colorful like that
It's not easy bein' green.
It seems you blend in with so many ordinary things
And people pass you over
Because you're not standing out like splashy sparkles in the water
Or stars in the sky....
But green is the color of spring
And green can be cool and friendly-like
And green can be big like a mountain (ocean)
Or important like a river (mountain)
Or tall like a tree.
When green is all there is to be,
It can make you wonder why,
But why wonder... why wonder?
I'm green, and it'll do fine.
It's beautiful.
And I think it's what I want to be.

Ooo I have fallen in love with this song! He looks so poorthing sitting there by himself. There are hidden meanings within the song. Can you figure it out?

Monkey fell sick!

My mom called and said its hazy in back home in Malaysia too, and guess who was most affected? It was Monkey! The poorthing was coughing as my mom proclaims (now I want to hear how that sounds like!) and they rushed him to the vet. My parents had to wait for at least an hour there before the vet had time to see them, and after a jab and some medication Monkey was up and going. He is such a lucky dog to have my parents fussing over him! (Read: jealous other monkey here)

How I wish the haze would disappear soon; days without shine is just depressing... Maybe it has to do with the fact that my name has a sun in there, so I need the sun to function! Ahh.. Am I making sense? The haze is clouding my thoughts... =P

Hazy days

The hazy days are back again, and boy is the air all so polluted! It is scary too, that you can literally see it right there, and not to mention inhale it! Plus it makes the days look all so depressing! I hear that the PSI levels was 143 this evening, and I simply like the way Mr Miyaki says it: Its always worse in Malaysia! Hahahhah...

Although it was Mid-autumns last night, the moon barely shone due to the haze. Sadly my dear XiaoDingDang lantern died too. Has it to do with the haze??

As a result of the haze, I have not jogged the past week. Although there is only 8 more weeks to the run, I am not so terribly worried about it as I feel that I can complete it, its just a matter at what speed. Blame it on the haze right? So convenient!

Nobel prize winners 2006

It has been an exciting week in the Science field as the winners of the Nobel prize 2006 were annouced. Well, for some that is, because not everyone thinks that these prizes are such a big deal as it really depends on the judges. However, it is doubted as one of the highest accolades that a scientist can recieve, just like the Oscars is to the movie industry; in my books there is no doubt that these Nobel prize winners worked harder at it than the movie people! The winners get prize money too, usually Swedish Kroner (SEK) 10 million which is about SGD 2 million dollars!

The winners for the Medicine category this year had worked on RNA interference, a process that describes how double-stranded RNA can cause disruption to the gene transcription.

This process occurs naturally in many organisms inlcuding plants and vetebrates, and is currently being applied to biomedical sciences like gene therapy. It is really exciting for me as my Masters thesis made use of this technique, and understanding this process is fundamental to learning how genes are regulated and the developmental of organisms. What surprised me is the fact that this work is very new in the field, and the two prize winners published their work only in 1998; most of the time it has always been that they would award people whose discoveries were proven beyond a shadow of doubt.

I was really surprised that Roger D Kornberg won the prize for the Chemistry category; he is working on a complex known as the Mediator complex that is known to be involved in transcription.

The complex is the basis of my whole Honours and Masters thesis dissertation; I salute him! He was the sole winner of the prize, and this is must not go down well with some as there had been so many scientist working on this complex, but none shared the prize with him. Oh well, there is definitely competition. His father had won the prize in 1959, and he continued on his father's work to understand transcription better. They are the sixth father-son pair to have won the prize. Cool huh? It was stated in one of the interviews that his Christmas wish when he was eight was to spend a week in the lab with his father.

Hmm.. What did I ask for when I was eight? Barbie dolls? No wonder I am where I am now...

Mooncakes no enough

I finally bought my mooncakes last week, and boy was it crowded at Takashimaya where there were many stalls. Having set my sights on the snow-skin black sesame ones, I promptly found it at The Regent Hotel stall. They really taste as good as I remembered them, and surprise surprise, the green tea was very good too!

There were two other mooncakes I was comtemplating buying. One is the strawberry yoghurt mooncake from Marriot Hotel, and the other is the egg custard mooncake from Man Fu Yuan, InterContinental Singapore. Alas, they have been all sold out. Too bad, better luck next year then. The other unusal mooncake I tried this year was the Snow-skin with Mulberry. Yikes! I did not like it one bit.

Mooncake no enough:

From left: Shangrila's mulberry, Regent's green tea and black sesame moon cakes. So tiny, must ration!

And guess what? They are having mooncakes at NUH staff canteen too! I just bought some durain mooncakes from Goodwood Park Hotel, and nope they are not for me in case you were thinking that what a greedy pig I am. (I admit I sure sound like one!) When you are married, there is also your in-laws that you have to think about, and knowing that they love durain, I figure they would love this mooncake. The best part? I get 20% off by just being a staff, and hopefully make them happy! Reminds me for the HSBC ad where there are promotional rates for mooncakes with their cards: There was this hugh stack of mooncakes for the mother-in-law! *LOL*

Footprints in my heart

"Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart"


The past week I realised how blessed I have been to have close friends. Someone to meet online to share my day, catch up over dinner, go shopping or even a pleasant surprise in the mail box! To top that, advice for the horrible blue black I recently acquired and even medication too. Thank you all so much for the company and support, I really treasure our friendship! (I am sure you know how you are my dearies!)

As everyone gets busier these days, it is difficult to meet up regularly unlike school days where you see each other everyday. Some are even overseas now. Still I always believe that good friends should meet up every few weeks, and pick up from where they last met up. It will probably get even more difficult when we are all on different paths, for some married and with kids, others tied down by work and other commitments. I am sure we will figure something out then...

Till then, lets not take great friends for granted. Tell them they matter to you!

The married life (2)

"When the husband opens the car door for the wife,
it can only be one of the two things:
one is that the car is new, and the other, the wife is new"

Agree with it? Haha, in the past I would have absolutely nodded my head in unison, as I did not think that there would be guys who would always graciously open the car door for the lady. And this was coupled with those stories that after marriage the husband will no longer treat the wife as nice as they were dating; after all married already what, why worry?

I count myself very fortunate that the Husby has always opened car doors for me, right from the first date we had. Lucky me! ;)

And I do think that there will come the day that the Husby will not open car doors for me for the following reasons:
-We zip around in a scooter now. Ooo, give me a green Vespa please!

-Too many kids to worry about! Eh, no comments on that...

Time has flown by, and we have been married for more than six months! Though there is no big celebration nor big-ticket presents, I am very happy to get a cute and heart-warming card. Isn't it sweet?

My lantern

Like my lantern? Ain't it cute! Suitable for babies four months and above!

This is for the kid in me! Forever a six year old at heart! ;)

Say the magic words (3)

"How are you doing? How was your day/weekend?" How often do you say these words?

For me, these words hardly leave my lips, although I figure I type it out more when I meet friends online. It usually should be what people say when they meet, and I realised that it does make a difference when you ask friends and family, with sincerity of course. Do not say it if you have no wish to listen to them.

If you go overseas, this is a common greeting, and to this the usual answer is "I am fine, thank you". Now when was the last time any sales person here asked you that?

Run your own race

It is now officially three months to the longest race in my life, literally that is, the 10km Standard Chartered Run!

There I have said it; Now that I have annouced it, there is no turning back!

I love their tag line: Run your own race. This is because different people have different goals, some hope to do the 10km super fast; I honestly only want to complete the race. It is not even anywhere near a marathon in my case as the full marathon is 42km. Somedays I do get paranoid that I would faint half-way or something silly like that (get a tummy ache!). From what I read, the main dangers associated with such runs are dehydration and heat exhaustion which should not be taken lightly. For now, I am making sure that I stick to my routine of jogging in the evening to build up my pathetic stamina.

It is nice that all the lab staff are joining in the race, for the more the merrier and more motivation. Even my boss is coming along too, making a total of six of us. Our first jog with the boss saw us running to and around Kent Ridge park for a total of 50 mins! What a killer that was, and I had to crawl back to the lab at the end of it! Still, it was good practise as I am sure I would take about 90 mins to complete the race.

There will be more updates to come... Wish me luck!

The married life (1)

I've decided to have a new category, as its name implies, it is sometimes about my married life, but also about the married life in general. In addition, it commerates the six years we have been together, yay!

There is this one interesting article I came across about marriage success; it dealt specifically with scientists, and that really struck a chord with me. This is because the life of a scientist is not easy, and many hours would have been spent tolling away at the bench. If the partner does not understand the nature of the work, he/she may feel neglected. Whatsmore, the path from undergraduate to PhD to postdoc to research fellow before making it to assistant professor (only!) is indeed a long journey.

Rather than take the journey, at this present moment I choose to accompany the Husby as he makes the journey. Though there is no promise that the money will be great (it should never be about that alone!), there is surely the satisfaction of knowing that he can come back and share the day's failures and successes with me.

Here is the article for your perusal: Scientific success: What's love got to do with it?

Vacuum cleaner = Freo?

Last night as I was at my Sister's place, two funny incidents occurred.

The first was when I was packing my jeans into my bag, and the wedding band had fallen onto the floor with a loud "clink". I had only a vague glimpse that it was my ring, because the next thing I knew Freo rushed over to take a look and was right above the ring! She must have heard it and curiousity got the better of her. Ahh!! What if she swallowed it?? I quickly bent over to push her away, and thank goodness the band was still there. Imagine if she had decided to swallow it, that would be gross! For me that is, for I would have to follow her be on "poop-petrol"!

The second incident was after dinner while we were washing dishes. We realised Freo had something in her mouth, and was chewing like she really enjoyed it. Sensing that it did not seem like one of her chew-toys, my Sister opened her mouth to take a peek. Guess what? It was a small packet of wasabi! Fortunately for Freo it did not burst; otherwise she would be in tears I bet!

Henceforth, Freo shall be known as the "vacuum cleaner" as well!

Once upon a time (5)

26th August

Once upon a time, a boy and girl dated for a week, and one early Saturday night saw them at East Coast Park. Under the cover of darkness and the big sea before them, it was this day that they decided that they would be dating each other exclusively, or what is commonly known as going steady. There was still a lot to learn about each other, and marriage definitely was not on the cards at that point in time. In fact, the girl was often worried that the relationship may not make it pass the three month mark, as her previous ones had not.

But this relationship was different. The boy did not laugh at her insercurities, and they promised that they will always work things out, come what may. And so they celebrated the 3rd month together, and soon enough the 30th month together... Time flies when you are having fun!

The year now is 2006, and it is this special day again; this is the 72th month (six years!) that the couple is together! Incidentally it also marks the 5th month they are married.

This is indeed an unique occassion for this is the first time they can celebrate it as Husby and Wifey. Alas vast land and oceans separates them. Thank goodness for technology for keeping them connected!

All about blood

There was an incident that inspire me to write this, and subsequently I realised how little some knew about this. My uncle was over for lunch one Sunday afternoon, and was enthusiastically telling my Sis and I about a new book he has read about dieting (Though I never really believe that he needed to lose any weight). It was the Blood Type Diet, which I shall elaborate later. And he then proceeded to ask us what was our blood group. Both my Sis and I answered in unision: A+. He looked surprised and remarked: Mine is just A! I found it pretty comical, as the way he expressed it reminded me of my PSLE results were I wanted an 'A+' grade badly, rather than plain 'A's.

Then I asked around, I realised that most did not bother to remember if they were '+' or '-'. In fact, the most common reply was these signs following the bloodtype? Knowing your blood group (its either A, B, O and AB) is just one part of it. The other is knowing if your blood cells carry a certain marker (known as antigen) on the surface of your red blood cells, and it is known as the Rhesus factor. So this means that for me, my bloodgroup is A, and the '+' indicates that I have the Rhesus factor on my red blood cell. I dare bet my money and say that you are definitely Rhesus factor '+'. This is because less than 1% of the chinese population do not have the factor, and Rhesus negative is more common in Caucasians. Please tell me if I am wrong!

If you are however Rhesus negative and female, then you must take note that there may be complications during your pregancy. It is known as the hemolytic disease of the newborn, only in the case where the newborn's bloodgroup is Rhesus positive. But worry not, with a better understanding of science today, the problem can be solved by an injection of antibodies to the Rhesus factor. So there, hope you all have a better understanding of what these signs following your blood group mean, and its not funny to mix them up!


And as mentioned above, I was also curious about the Blood Type Diet, and googled it. From what I gathered, it was developed by a certain Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo; it dictates that there are certain antigens in blood that render each type different from the other, and one should eat food that are suitable for his blood type in order to achieve weight loss. There are two books Eat right for your type and Live right for your type on this. According to his theory,
-Blood type 'O' is the earliest human blood group. Therefore the diet for people with this blood group should be similar to our earliest ancestors: meat.
-Blood type 'A' was the next blood group to evolve during the age of agriculture. Therefore one should take in more vegetables and avoid red meat.
-Blood type 'B' is associated with the nomad, and therefore thought to be able to thrive on diary products.
-Blood type 'AB' is the most recently evolved blood type, and people with this blood group should have a diet intermediate between 'A' and 'B'.

Do I believe this? Nope, not really. Not until they find more evidence, and I definitely hope no one follows it! For the record, I still believe in a balanced diet, and I want my red meat!


Some pointless did-you-know facts:
- The most common blood group is 'O'. Over 40% of the population belong in the blood group.

My students

As a Master's student, I used to have to demostrate during practical classes for the undergraduates. Hence the "demo" and "demo-ee" relationship. I do enjoy teaching them, especially when the lesson is not too rushed and the students listen and contribute. In fact, there were three students that have emailed me or stopped me when they met me within the past two months, and its really good to know that they rememebered me even after they have graduated from university. Must have been all those times I tell them "My name is YS, but I dont live in Yishun" to help them remember me! But seriously,that means I must have left an impression on them right? And I would like to think that it may be a good impression!

This week, one of my students was all smartly dressed when he walked into my lab."Ah YS! You are still here!" He exclaimed when he saw me. It feels good to know that he knew my name, but the same cannot be said for me. I knew he was once my student and from which class, but what is his name again? (I remember now SJ! ;) )I admit my memory is no longer as good as it used to be, and there have been quite a few classes I taught in each semester for the past two years. Anyway, as I was saying, he was with his sales manager and now employed by a bio-sales company.

What was really comical and somewhat ironical was the fact that he was trying to sell our laboratory products for a certain application which I had to teach during their class. At that moment my brain only had one though: I hope I taught him all the right things! Later on that day, I received an email from him. He told me that when he meets up with his labmates from that practical class, they still remember me.

Now that leaves a fuzzy feeling in me; I finally understand why people say teaching is a rewarding job. =)

Once upon a time (4)

20th August

Once upon a time, the year 2000, a boy and girl had their first real date on the wee hours of this day. They had drove to the airport while waiting for a midnight show to start; sipping ice-blended coffees while watching the planes take-off. The movie was a borderline B-flick action movie- The Hollowman, after which they went for some supper at Holland Village. Oh how exciting and fun the first date had been! To the girl she had felt that there was just this chemistry and undeniable attraction between them. Plus they were on the same wavelength.

Could he be The One?

Fast forward to the year 2006. The same date is also a Sunday early morning. The answer to the question above is obvious, yes! He is the One and Only One for her! It is now the Husby (cross between Husband and Hubby) and Wifey at the airport again. However, it was for a different reason this time. With teary eyes and trying to fight back the uncontrollable sobs, she watched him walk past the gates at the Immigration and Customs checkpoint.

But this is no goodbye! It is merely physical distance of 15,503 kilometers (9633 miles or 8371 nautical miles to be exact) that separates them, but never their LOVE.

I LOVBE YOU Dearest Husby Dear!

Say the magic words (2)

"Good job, well done!" I hardly uttered these words to any one I am coaching, and I am actively trying to change this. Having met some of my students this week, it made me think of how it was like in practical classes then. I found out that it is important to praise students when the right time comes along; this helps them to build up their confidence. (Then again, there were also days where I will be like really to kill them all as they had not paid attention to what I was saying!) I must have done something right too, because I recieved a thank you card from them; now thats a real pat on my back!

Once upon a time (3)

4th August

Once upon a time, three years ago on this exact date and month, there was a girl who signed on the dotted line to be a Research Scholar/Graduate student with the university. Then there was an air of excitement in the air as she embarked on this journey; after all she had just obtained her honours and sensed that things could only get better!

Fast forward to two years ago on this exact date and month, the girl was still enthusiastic about research, although some things did not proceed as well as she had planned. But that is part and parcel of research right? Research = endless searching answers that may never appear... Futhermore her supervisor had high hopes and dreams of publishing the results, surely he must be right?

Fast forward to one year ago on this exact date and month, the girl was no longer excited about research. All the excitement had fizzled out and research tasted like a carbonated drink gone flat and tasteless. Those emotions were replaced by despair, frustrations and endless doubts of her ability to succeed in this field. Her confidence was slowly being eaten up by the negative emotions of failure, and she was clutching at the last straws of hope. Examinations that had seem a breeze in the past were now a nightmare. The problem had also escalated due to her inability to fit into the laboratory; she had few friends even though there were many colleagues. In her darkest hour, she felt very despondent and depressed and it was really possible that she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Thankfully there were close friends and family helped her pull through, what would she ever do without them!

A decision was made: she would choose to graduate with a Masters of Science rather than pursuing her PhD. It was still a difficult decision to make as many had adviced that by staying in the program for another two years, she would be Dr Tan rather than with qualifications that entitled her to only be a test-tube washer. (A certain prominent man who used to sit at the top of the EDB board and now at the A*STAR made the comment that a graduate with a Masters of Science is merely a advanced test-tube washer)

Fast forward to the present day on this exact date, month and year of 2006, the girl finally has been conferred her Masters of Science! The letter arrived in the mail last night. What a surprise it was, for it is really three years, exact to this date and month that she had entered the graduate program. Life has a strange way of going around in a circle, and now the circle is complete. Freedom, at last!

And yes, the bottom line is that she is now officially an advanced test tube washer!

Happy birthday to me (again)

More photos to add for my birthday:

Look who is peeping at my birthday cake at the end of the table! It is too bad she cannot have some!

Lovely tiramisu cake from Tiramisutra, with an equally entertaining box. I love to read all labels, and this was certainly one was an magical tale; why elephants though? Why not donkeys??

Now that all the cake has disappeared, excuse me as I am going to spend the day resting, reading my new books. Sounds boring? Nah, it really depends where and with whom.

Enjoy the weekend dearies, I know I will! ;)

Once upon a time (2)

Once upon a time, quite a number of years back, on a small island said to be just a red dot on the world map, something very important happened on this very day. It was a major event that changed the lifes of some forever. Do you know what it is?


21st July
On this day in 1964, racial riots broke out in Singapore between the Malays and the Chinese community. It was said to be one of the worst riots in the country ever, killing some 36 people. To think that Singapore was still part of the Malaysia Federation then. And therefore today marks Racial Harmony day, where schools instill into children the importance of racial tolerance and reflect on the different cultures that are inherent to the success of our country.

On this day in 2000, a Friday too, an event occurred that changed two lifes. A sleepy boy was late for early morning lecture in a university reputed to be the best in Singapore (Then it was not yet ranked among the top 25 in the world, or top three in asia). He stumbled into the lecture theature, scanning the many rows of cold hard blue seats. Lo and behold, a girl shifted her bag so he could sit next to her! A chance encounter, the crossing of two paths, it all started from that very day...

Happy birthday to me

Yes you read it right, I turn 26 in a day, and I am proud of my age. If you think 26 is O-L-D, you got to be kidding me! There is still my whole life ahead, and the age is really just a number only. With age comes confidence too, you know yourself better, and know the direction you are heading.

Somehow with each passing birthday what I want differs. In the past I would always look forward to presents. Unbashfully too. This is because I am one of those who see gifts as a form of love, it does make me sound so materialistic ya! =P



But this has changed over time. Now I value relationships more than any present. If a friend recalls my birthday, huarry! That is sufficient for me. (Hopefully i give you present you give me one too lar! *wink*) In retrospect, it is now the quality and not the quantity that matters to me; spending time catching up over a meal counts as quality time! Which is what I had for dinner with my sister, grandma and the Husby; yummy peking duck anyone?

Look who's in the bubble bath!

Look who's in the bubble bath! Garfield joined the family during a trip to Langkawi when I was 13 (yes I still bought toys when I was 13, and still am in love with them!). He had been sitting on top of my cupboard for a while, and I have always felt a pang of guilt having ill-treated him and leaving him there. Looks like every cat has his day too!

Monkey and friend

Just to share something really funny that my mom told me about my dog Monkey!

She called me one night and said that Monkey often escapes from the house and goes over to see another dog staying around the corner. One time she went there to find him and discovered the name of Monkey's friend:

Its Donkey!

So hilarious! Maybe they heard us calling for Monkey in the garden and decided to call theirs Donkey. What sort of a name is that? (Actually it's both Monkey and Donkey!) Hmm.. I wonder if it works if you dangle a bone in front of him to make him do work, and does he go hee-hor, hee-har! *Hahaha*

I seriously never thought someone will name their dog that! But come to think of it, I also have some unusual names to name my dogs next time: Taxi (Neighbours will think I have gone nuts, always shouting for taxi in the house!) and Tuna (maybe he will love fish too?). Share with me your ideas too!

Let's talk about dogs!

Meet Freo, the latest addition to our family. I think she is simply adorable; she loves to play fetch very much. Being a lady-like girl, she also loves to sit down in the shade and people-watch, never mind if it was in the middle of the pathway! If she could speak, she would probably ask for a fan to keep herself cool!

Here is the latest scoop on what is happening (or the lack there of) in my life:

The main reason for my absence is because I have been as sick as a dog (pun intended!). Its probably a viral flu, and has greatly affected my appetite. I have completed my medication, but alas, the bug has now seemed to progress to a bacteria infection. How I wish the annoying pain in my throat would disppear at a snap of my fingers! In addition, I am unable to breathe through my nose as it is blocked; just a little walking seems to leave me dog-tired (Extremely tired).

Did you hear about mr brown? I have always enjoyed reading his articles on Fridays in the TODAY newpapers, with his take on the latest developments in the country and his three children (especially on his autistic first-born, Faith). Unfortunately, his column has been taken off indefinitely. Sometimes the goverment should call off the dogs (stop attaching and critising someone) and just take it lighter as a fun read. The day may just arrive, perhaps later than I would like it to be.

Despite the flu, I made it to a dear friend's wedding dinner last night. What a nice date: 080706! The dinner was great, but would have been better if not for two things: Firstly, I never quite understand how people fail to understand what is stated in the invite. If it says that the dinner would start at seven sharp, surely that is an indication that you should be in your seat by then? I was there on time, and to my surprise, I was like the 4th person who arrived. Come on, it was not even raining cats and dogs, so there was no excuse for being late! In the end, the dinner only started at eight.

Which brings me to my second point: As my dinner mate had arrived really late, I had to make conversation with a certain professor who was seated at the table as well. The conversation was pleasant enough, but after a while we run out of the usual questions to ask and he therefore started talking about his family. To sum it up, he really put on the dog (To make an ostentatious display of elegance, wealth, or culture). I was amused, at the same time sickened to find out that he told his son that savings was unnecessary, because he will inherit from his parents anyway. Perhaps I will never have that in my life and therefore I feel envious. But every dog has its day (something that you say which mean that everyone is successful during some period in their life); mine will come someday...

And to end off, the FIFA Soccer World Cup finals begins in a few hours! Who I am rooting for? The birth place of samba - Brazil! But they have exited the game, and so it is now between France and Italy. France seems to be a favourite; I am voting for what some call the underdogs Italy. Now if only tomorrow is an public holiday, I would be like a dog with two tails (to be very happy)!

Pearlie whites

Pearlie whites

Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but pearls makes her a woman!

Perfect for the afternoon hi-tea with girlfriends or a chic cocktail party,

pearls make you stand out from the rest of the girls!

B grade, rice shaped, white cultured freshwater pearls, 2.8-3mm, on 25mm sterling sliver hoops with 5 hoops.

Say the magic words (1)

Here is one more new label, for the words that I hope to hear people say more often.

The magic words are "Thank you!" when someone pays you a compliment! More than often, we are gloating and drowning in glee that we forget to say thank them for the compliment. Or it may be that there are some people who do not know how to react to a compliment.

As for myself, I am not one who is used to compliments, and I tend to reply by saying something like "Oh but I think I can only wear this when I am not feeling fat...". That is so rude of me! I have to change that!

So here now, give me a compliment so I can practice the magic words! ;)


PS. There is a great difference in saying "The dress looks good!" and "You look good in the dress!"! For the former, it means you have great taste, but no necessarily look good in the dress, whereas the latter means that you are looking good! Now you know...

Once upon a time (1)

I have decided to start a new category called 'Once upon a time...' where I will recount some events in my life on certain dates. Although they start like all fairy tales, they are not stories as they are based on facts. I just happen to really like the once upon a time part!

29th June (2006)

Once upon a time, in a land not to far away, about a year from this present day, there was a girl and boy who are very much in love. The boy had bought the proposal ring, and had been looking for ways to surprise the girl. That very night he seized the chance and went on the bended knee to pop the question. Was she surprised? You bet! It marked the occasion where they were on the journey to become husband and wife, and to share all their life ahead together.

Fast forward to this present day, where the boy is now the Husby and the girl is the Wifey. The Wife had hatched a plan from the day she recieved the engagment ring, that she would get something for him that he will treasure analogous to she and her solitaire. While out shopping a certain item caught her eye. There! That would fit the bill perfectly!

The Longines evidenza series mens watch, based on a 1925 tonneau-shaped design with selfwinding mechanical movement beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour. One that would never need replacements of any parts or battery. What a beauty!

Polka Pearl

Polka Pearl

For the lady who loves to be different, and shine out from the crowd!

White cultured freshwater pearl set on a lovely pink button

held together by silver wires.

I think it can be improved by having a different color button, maybe one in red. But I love looking at buttons, and thinking of ideas to incorporate them into jewellery. Its fun to source for unusual parts!

TGIF and what I look forward to

It is finally a Friday! Defintely feels good that the weekend is here, and there is a break from the usual boring routine of work.

Just as I look forward to Fridays, I relish the arrival of Thursdays too. All because of the Urban section in the Straits Times papers. Yes, I love to gloss over all the latest fashion tips, and newest trend in town (Oops, beginning to sound like a bimbo!). Tuesdays is the IT times, while Wednesdays is the Health section; in my opinion, they pale in comparion to Urban. Its just like the Sunday Plus section of the comics; I must get a copy of it. The lack of it results in NWS: newspaper withdrawal syndrome; I can easily spend an hour perusing over each and every article in the Sunday's papers!

I am also in anticipation of the arrival of 15th of each month. Nay its not pay day (I most definitely look forward to that!), but its the day where new magazines are out on the stands! Cleo, Female, Her World, Simply her, Shape- I have read them all. It is true that after a while all the articles do look similiar, like 10 ways to lose weight, 10 must-haves this seasons etc (There is only this much to write about!), but it is the thrill of flipping and looking for great bargains.

For some women, it is the anticipation of sales that get them all excited. Well, this month should satify both the men and women. For the latter there is the Great Singapore sale (Its only once a year, miss it and you have to wait another year! *Gasp*), and for FIFA world cup is finally kicking off tonight (Miss the finals and you have to wait another four years! *GASP*).

Have fun the weekend dearies, be it shopping, snoozing, soccer!

A new beginning...

Blogging! Its everywhere these days, and there are so many to read from that it is impossible to track them all. Web log, thats the actual name of it. I like blog better, short, sweet and cool to boot! Therefore I am now a blogger!

This is a place for me to write all the fleeting thoughts that pop into my brain once ever so often, and so I will not lose all these thoughts. Its like I get these crazy thoughts late at night, about an event in the day that I can see myself writing about, and it keeps me awake because I cannot get it out of my head.

I've been wanting to start a blog since the beginning of the year, but the great procrastinor in me never made it happen. Well what do you know, today is the day! May there be many more to come. ;)

Warning: There will be tons of spelling errors in my blogs, as spelling is not my forte and I am so hopeless at it that I should be back in primary school! But what do you know, perhaps I am very mildly dylexsic (How do you even spell that?? Ah, found it, dyslexia) and I never know the order of the all the letters in a word.