Best Thing to Do for me now

27th February 2006, Monday

Yawn...back to work on Monday again..chronic lack of sleep but the weekends had been fruitful to a certain degree...

On the work front JxMMy is back and as they said "Two's a company, Three's a crowd".
We definitely felt crowded out with his ominous presence...well just gotta live with and made me relished a wonderful fornight I had without him around...

There was a major change in landscape in the Bouna Vista area as the Circle Line is going into next stage. The sheltered walk-way and bus stop extending from the station to MOE seems like changing tide and shifted a bit outwards which drew alot of speculations from unsuspecting commuters and workers heading to work.. Not entirely inconvenient like when they removed the actual overhead bridge and replaced with a temporary one, but after seeing the same bus stop for like 6-7 years now, I'm just not used to it...Even the "ma-ma" shop residing in the bus stop got shifted and been replaced with a much shabbier version of the actual shop...quite interesting if you ask me...

Had a dream last night of me reciprocating what my female colleagues had done in the past half a year, packing my stuff from work as it was my last day here...
Wow could be a grim premonition for something that might happened in the future, and despite details are vague but I could remember giving Bobby one of my figurines as memento...
I think I was neither over the hill nor sad about leaving my job in the dream; just like it is something that just got to be done that's all...

My Manchester United won their first piece of silverware in 2 years with the English League Cup/ Carling Cup over a hapless Wigan Athletic by trouncing them 4-0.
Though many anti-Man Utd whistle-blowers would comment that it is like one of those "Mickey Mouse" cup which major clubs don't give a hoot, it's an achievement nonetheless...

Last evening had a wonderful time with my lass immersing in an activity which I regarded as "Best Thing to Do Now" as we just lazed in my room, watching Japanese dorama series without the care of the worldly worries and even had root beer floats as desserts...
I am really envisioning that to become a weekly if not once a month event as we are more comfortable lying on our giant Sealy mattress watching from our 26 inch Samsung LCD TV...the thought of it is giving me goosebumps all of the sudden...

The dorama on the platter last evening as "Gokusen 2 (ごくせん)" which the follow-up to the Part 1 which is adapted from that popular manga/anime series about Nakama Yukie (One of my all time favorite Japanese actress) as the bumbling but very passionate teacher, Yamaguchi Kumiko who had a rather shady background been the successor of the much feared yakuza group, Ooedo.
After the affair was exposed in the Part 1, she was subjected to ostracization by all high schools and had to teach kindergarten students. However a strange twist of fate, she was posted to this renowned school where the disciplinary supervisor is the same one she had before and an arch-nemesis of hers.
She has to handle the deliquent class of the school for the remaining 3 months before they graduate without any major glitches along the way..But with "Yankumi" around, it is almost impossible...

After "Nobuta wo Produce (野ブタ。をプロデュース)", we have sort of quite addicted to seeing Kamenashi Kazuya from the Johnny's group, "KATTUN" and he was reprising Matsumoto Jun's ice-cold Sawada role here as Kodagiri Ryu. And he led a bunch of eye-candies including his KATTUN mate, Akanishi Jin, Hayami Mokomichi (last seen as Hermes' brother in "Densha Otoko") and Koike Teppei (of the group WaT) which despite pleasing to the eyes are not really endowed with acting skills for a bunch of misfits like Matsumoto, Ogura Shun (the first time they are together in the dorama before "Hana yori Dango") and Narimiya Hiroki.

We caught like 5 episodes last evening and never failed to have our funny bones been tickled and Yukie's comedic ability is once again well displayed and the supporting cast playing their parts.
Many were whining that it is an exact duplicate of Part 1 which is actually very true but it is a great way to spend your Sunday evening nevertheless to let your hair down and forget about the Monday blues...

As I said I am hoping for many more of such occasions after we got married and she has moved in...

Japanese word of the day:最もよく~sai-mo-yo-ku~ (Best) I think we enjoyed so much is because of the lack of opportunities to do so all these while

Romancing With a Splurge

26th February 2006, Sunday

It's my little sister's 23rd birthday today....Well I know she would read this post sooner or later, happy birthday!
I would get you a gift if I was not so tight in budget...heehee well it's the thoughts that count as they said.

Well with the preparation of the marriage, I am always tight with money..now still sweating over the prospect of how dear the quotation would be from the contractor that came last week.
Both my lass and myself are hoping for below 6K which would left us a breathing space to get other stuffs.

Yesterday we did went to check out the mattress that she had been raving about since early last week.
Our destination is Robinson shopping center within Centerpoint and they had this "Bedding Central" on the topmost storey where many brands were trying to compete to out-sell each other such as Simmons, King Koil, Omazz etc.
But my lass' ecletic taste as well as "recommendation" from her wealthy friend, Faith, it would be Sealy or nothing else.
This renowned American brand is been harped as the top tier among its peers and had been providing sturdy mattresses to Four Seasons Hotels all over the world as the sale-lady, Ai Peng who had been serving us kept stressing.
She also mentioned that our local songbird, Stefanie Sun insisted on buying Sealy mattress and nothing else.

However it was not all attracting me at the beginning as she cajoled me to try all the mattresses on display and seriously I felt no difference except all are sturdy and good enough..
Then looking at the prices, I just could not consider anything else...it was way off the original budget we had planned and it definitely need serious consideration on whether to speak another word to that hospitable salesperson.

So at the stone bench just outside the departmental store, we had an intricate talk on whether we should really invest on such a mattress which they would guarantee for 10 years in terms of spoilt spring.
I already knew my lass is already deemed set for this therapeutic mattress as she has always been particular for a good sleep.
In additional the company is having a one-time after New Year sales which would end in 2 days (perhaps 2 days to the year 2030) when they cut the price effective by half; and with the Robinson credit card my girl just subscribed recently we would enjoy an additional 20% off with some more rebate, making the price unbeatable for such quality.
However even so with that king-sized one we had chosen, I still do not think I could reveal the price here as well.
We chose tro pay via monthly installments so as not to feel the pinch of the high cost at one go...
My lass was overwhelmed with excitement with a mattress she has regarded so highly for...so as long as she is happy...

We then strolled to La Tendo which Ferris claimed on MSN in the morning that 19 cartons of goodies came in yesterday with more this morning,
I already knew I would "bleed" from the aftermath of the Wonder Festival but when my lass caught an eye on an exquisite "My Neighbor Totoro (隣りのトトロ) Bus Stop Statue" they had brought in, been both big Studio Ghibli fans, we just couldn't resist to splurge for it.
It would be a wonderful addiiton to our existing Ghibli collections which we had planned for a dedicated corner in our room.

So with such spendings, we would now ponder on ways to fill that large concave crater found in our bank accounts with meticulous savings for the next year or so...

But most importantly we ended our day with a happy and satisfied smirk...

Japanese word of the day:費やす ~tsu-i-ya-su~ (Splurge) Hope my wife to be would not demand a Sealy mattress for our baby cot in the future...

Satisfying the Raging Desire

23rd February 2006, Thursday

One of the biggest frailty shrouding my life is that if I want something badly I would find all ways and means to have it especially when it's within my capability to possess it...
Usually its about materialistic items of my desire, rather than something too ordeal a task to attain such as a 5-figure, high flying career...

As you know by now the La Tendo merry crew of Wonder Festival hunters returned with what i felt a rather impressive haul despite them feeling indifferent.
They managed to acquire almost all the hot comodities in terms of event exclusives despite the miserable quantity which forced them to jack the price to deter bystanders and only the true-blue collectors would foot that amount to get their "treasures"...
I thought myself would be one of those hardcore collectors who would be going all cost to get an exclusive I had ranked third on my wishlist before they departed.
However a pair of miniature figurines which was selling at cost price of 1500 yen (around S$21) would be retailing at $180!!
I know that the price jacked in the event itself and was selling now at around 10000 yen on Japanese auctions but still the price to me is still absurd...
However with the fact that they made all the way to Japan to seek such nice novelties for us hungry collectors back home which were left salivating at the nice photographs on the internet, I felt at the end of the day it was right that they tried to maximise the profit for such limited exclusives.
After much pondering and upon looking at the actual item, I was in a fix because the devil side of me asked me to go for it while the angel too was too smitten by the delectable figurines to align with his evil counterpart. Fortunately the ultimate conciousness working in my brain as well as discouragement from Ferris who too was well dejected by the high price slapped on another exclusive figurines he had wanted, I kind of decided to let it go and will keep track on which 3 suckers would actually spend that obscene amount for 2 repainted figurines (I'm not taking away the odds that I might be one of them).

That was a type of unattainable desire which kind of slipped through my fingers known as "no money to get something that is there".

However I am more gutted to with another unattainable desire known as "I got the money but still can't get it"...
Always knew Chan had an astute eye for things on retail blazened with good luck he possessed to enable him find the things he badly wanted.
I used to have those in my 1st toy hunt in Japan and kind of subsided as the number of trips increased...perhaps it's beginner's luck...
He managed to find a couple of items that had been released ages back and in my last trip back in September was not able to help him get those.
Other than that, not meaning to taunt me, he showed me a piece of "mail-in exclusive" magazine figurine I had been yearning to complete my set with he managed to scalp in the event itself. However that was the only piece which left me stranded and badly gutted on not possessing...but fortunately I felt if anyone should have it beside myself I rather let my close friends have it...
Plus all the exclusives he amassed from the event, I felt he had an impressive haul himself with a carton of item still at the courier headquarters waiting for delivery...

Nonetheless it was a quintessential to hand my wishlist to Chan instead of just the La Tendo people as his astute observation helped reap rewards for me for getting almost everything on the list...except... the top item...urgh...that's a part 3 to a series of nice trading figurines based on a popular RPG game...and with an even juicier part 4 previewed on the show, I am more determined to get it, therefore by the end of the evening to add salt to my badly opened wound with blood still flowing, pus accumulating and me getting dizzy for massive blood and haemogoblin loss, I had to seek higher powers to get that item which in the first place my good friends from La Tendo should ensure they had got it in stock...

sigh..guess I am just sore about everything at the moment....

Japanese word of the day: スリップ ~su-ri-ppu~ (Slip Away) Felt unjustifiable for something I wanted so badly slip away, well c'est la vie I guess...

Cranky

22nd February 2006, Wednesday

For no apparent reason, I'm suffering from a bout of crankiness this midweek...
Not really mood swing nor anything serious bothering me, just not myself this day starting from the morning which is servely affecting my work momentum...
The "white elephant" equipment was down for oracular reason and I managed to find out that 2 tiny droplets of water was hindering the entire functioning of the robot and got that rectified but by then a lot of precious time was lost when I could be diverting focus on something else.

I then realised that I had left my keys stuck on my cabinet for like 2-3 hours without my realization... the valuable stuffs such as my lunchbox (with my lunch of course), my sharp-pointed end comb, my mouth refreshner and most importantly my well-scarred iPod, "Poddy" could have been stolen...

I had wished for a breather to update my webpage which had been stagnant since last afternoon but a lot of intermittent interruptions was invading my zone the entire morning...

YM e-mailed us from work to whether meet-up for a lunch during the weekend, most probably to shared her woes or excitements of the new workplace..but she had crossed the boundary for 2 "No-no"s of mine (by the way I had at least 2795646476 of those)..
1stly, she wanted lunch on Saturday while Saturday is strictly for religious pilgrimage, though this Saturday I had a date with my lass to Robinson to check out a mattress made of diamonds...
2ndly, she suggested Sakae Sushi..seriously I had given up the idea of eating this Japanese cuisine locally when the standard is not even close to what I can whet my tastebuds for in Japan, and of the lot Sakae is apparently the worst for me...

After a good run in the gym, i felt rejuvenated but still was not to my usual performance, kinda looking for knocking off so that I could vamoose my way down to La Tendo to check on their haul from the Wonder Festival....

Japanese phase of the day: 私は自分自身ない~watashi wa jibun jisei nai~ (I am not myself) But I am sure I am no JxMMy neither

Travelling Mates

21st February 2006, Tuesday

Had dinner as mentioned with Matthew, Ferris and Karen last evening at the "Mr Bean" just across the shop.
The food was quite acceptable and economical for Matthew's (the "boss" of the night) wallet sake and we had a hearty talk which transcended into as late as 11 pm in the night with work beckoning for all of us today...
The usual rumblings about anime and incidents with strange customers at the shop, wedding plans (since the 3 guys are groom-to-be sooner or later) as well as travelling overseas, Japan being the most mentioned.
While we do missed the likes of the enigmatic Chan, the conniving Reedy or the bumbling Vincent, the chat between the more level-headed individuals in the group is always leading to somewhere and of last evening I think I found some reliable travelling companions for future toys hunts overseas.

Before this, there had been an unofficial pact between me and Ferris about going to the next winter Wonder Festival in February 2007 though he was also the one always backed out on such agreement due to budget constraint. But with a year to plan and especially for me who would most probably go when the mind is set, the 2007 trip is well packed up and in the bag.
Karen once more being tied down to work commitments could not oblige and as usual we cajoled her to come out with medical excuses such as wisdom tooth extraction to take a week break from her school which during normal semester will not allow any teacher to go on vacation as they do not have flexible paid annual leaves.

We also sprang the idea of going to the a cool wintry Hong Kong at the end of the year for my maiden toy hunt there which had been in the back of my mind for a while and should be much less dear than the Japanese one for sure.
And it sure looks bright for me to find a reliable source of companions for future trips and I could envision the whoel lot of us stuck in Akihabara, spending one entire day, rammaging the "treasures" well hidden within the premises.

All this rattling is cool but not condusive to be held on Monday evening as I got home just before midnight, slept at 2 am and now 3 in the afternoon, I am feeling groggy due to a lack of sleep with a RT session coming up later..yikes...

My curse of newly acquired stuff spoiling continues and this time is my Casio Edifice active dial watch which I got from an online retailer barely a year back taking the brunt of a carless swing of my wrist which hit the elevator's facade and suffered a great crack on the otherwise elegant glass face.
My heart sores upon looking at my treasured possession and tried hard to replace the face despite it was stated that it is not part of the warranty which I am still enjoying since the watch is barely a year into the purchase.
It seems like I could only rectify it at the distributir at UBI!!! Good grief, I wouldn't want to go so fast East just to get such a trivial issue settled but that seems to be the best available option till my mom gave me a call that she has enlisted a help of a neighborhood watch retailer to replace a new face for my watch despite that not been an original face and it is prone to seeping of water...luckily I don't intend to swim let alone dive with my time-piece and make sure the watch will only be worn under sunny or fine weather....

It seems lik all the issues are under the water about my lass' Italian stint and as planned she went to the bridal shop and hope they could accomodate the timing for the photo shoot and suddenly I felt 3 months might not be sure a long time afterall...and truly hope she returns a more nourished person both financially and knowlegde-wise but not physically...

BY smsed me before lunch, once more beckoning me to join her at the rival research institute, staking claims that some of the new employees who like her jumped ship to the new place seems to get an promotion in grade as well as in wage renumeration.
It sure sounds honey-coated sweet and tempting, well I would really consider but after April when the performance bonus is been issued....

Japanese word of the day: 協定(Pact) Well come February next year, Ferris would most probably forgotten about our pact as he was commited to a trip to Istanbul to see his latest Turkish idol craze Baeyong Sehart

Confirmed Italian Job, Feminine Contractor, Passed 2.4 & Poor Signature

20th February 2006, Monday

Once more a manic Monday with work liniung up from the moment ot start to 12, as I tried to expedite everything through to hit the gym as usual.
I can't even do my usual "breather net-surfing" and today's an important day for the galor of Wonder Festival reports to be flooded in from the hordes of Japanese "otakus".
While changing up in the gym, my lass broke the news that it has been confirmed that she would be sent to Italy for her company enrichment scheme to endowed her with knowledge of the new technologies.
As she promised that she would reject if the stint is more than 3 months and her wish came true as it would be an one-time 3 months affair based in northern Italy (somewhere near Turin where the Winter Olympics is hosted now).
So I had to brace myself for 3 months without her for close proximity starting April/May but more crucially would be the fact that we had to get things for our wedding very much settled before her date of depature.

With that in view, we had moved forward a major step when one of the shortlisted furniture contractor came by yesterday afternoon for a preliminary discussion.
Introduced by a relative of mine (brother of my mom's sister-in-law who is a renovation contractor himself specialized in tilings, walls and general facade and most probably will handle the reno for our 2 toilets), this husband & wife pair came with kindled enthusiasim and professional to every request been put through.
It started with the shoe cabinet and my toys collection display shelf in the living room area and when I just initiated my plan for him, he got an instant response and sketched it down on the paper to my satisfaction at that point. It is always easier to communicate with someone who can recieve ideas clearly and I guessed he got that through years of experience in contracting.
Then the master bedroom where the pair gave us a lot of ideas to conserve space yet produce something stylish and comfortable.
By then I realised that the wife seemed to be more strong-headed and took much of the brunt of comments and enquiries while the gentle husband was more reverted to a reserve mode, giving technical aspects of the design etc. and he is a wee bit feminine for the contractor world (a.k.a Phua Chu Kang).
At the end of the session we were shown the type of wood finishing we had intended for the furnitures and it seems like Zen style dark walnit has became too common for our liking and a type known as "zebrawood" which basically has alternating dark stripes but yet look elegant. We had our eyes on a new variant to the "zebra" series but still had to look at an entire piece for better idea how it would be like as furnitures.
They promised to give us the quotations as soon as they could and we were keeping our fingers crossed that it would be well within the budget for all the furniture so that we need not go through the hassle to talking to other shortlisted contractors.
Later in the afternoon, we dropped by at our neighborhood electronic appliances retailers to scout on LCD TVs and DVD recorders which we are interested in to put in the room..therefore things are looking pretty rosy in terms of the renovation aspect of the wedding.

My Saturday started with me hitting the nearby bank outlet to get a new ATM card which had been chipped at the sensor area (hey if you had a fat ass with a total inertia & mass of 90kg sitting down on you day in day out, you will be well brittled over time).
This particular bank opened at 10.30am and the beeline was formed much like a truncated version one for the Wonder Festival and I was not too keen to waste time lining up.
However the queue was been served rather instataneously and I thought of renewing the bank account book with the usual practise of signing on to the authentication region.
I had not been too good with autographs and been usual the dubious one for like years now and it looks different every single time.
It was no wonder the bank staff had to verify with me once more...which might be a recurring thing in the future if I still could not standardize my signature.
Talking about bank and signature, "Catch me if You Can" was shown on Channel 5 last evening and it was a brilliant show with endearing storyline and wonderful acting from Leo Cuppucino as the suave doppelganger who despite his tender age was splendid in assuming many professional role to loot as much money as he could and of course Tom Hanks as the stoic FBI agent who was high on the fact on chasing him down for years. Something only Spielberg is capable to produce and splendid supporting cast as well including Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen and Jennifer Gardner as a hooker...
My lass who had been chastising me for years for not bringing her to watch this film on cinema (when I would say to wait for DVD release and when it was released, I said wait for local TV screening which cam true) slept soundly in my room all the time the show was screened...

In the afternoon, I tried my best to be at La Tendo as early as possible but even at 1 plus, the store owner, Matthew was stuck in traffic.
It was fun helping out in a Saturday afternoon when you got really busy with the vigourous flow of human traffic and a wide variety of customers buying all sorts of stuff...
In appreciation to our help, Matthew wanted to treat me, Karen and Ferris (basically the remaining La Tendo clique who have to stay in Singapore) for dinner.
I wanted to be on Wednesday since I would most probably go over for a first hand look at the haul they had from the trip especially what was in stall for me.
However due to some rhymes and reason, the rest felt Monday would be more ideal for the treat (most probably hawler food anyway), so later on I had to go all the way down to town area for some nice chicken rice with my friends...which I should not be so sour over, as they could be the only source of company served on the platter when my lass went for her Italian job...

Last but not least, I was surprised yesterday morning when I made it for usual Sunday RT, to find out that our Phase 1 actually did encompassed the Chinese New Year period therefore yesterday session was the last Sunday for Phase 1 and it would officially end by Tuesday..hooray..but no hooray, meaning I got to earn $18 less from SAF...
So we were ushered for IPPT and seriously the chance of anyone passing from the weight loss group is as much as our local soccer team making into the World Cup, so many just went through in motion and as expected I failed to clear the "killers" from static stations, Standing Broad Jump and chin-up.
Nonetheless I wanna guage myself how well I would fare in 2.4 km run and not surprisingly after religious gym sessions, I managed to nail it within 12 minutes though there is room for better result...now just hope they don't send me to other groups in Phase 2 for my passing of 2.4...

Japanese word of the day: 署名 (Signature) My signature was supposed to be written as "kakoi", go figure that out...

High "Pod"ability

17th February 2006, Friday

TGIF!!
What a rollercoaster week it has been for me but at the work front it was revitalizing to work in tag with Bobby alone and we worked very much like a well-oiled engine and despite some glitches, we managed to resolve it, very much without the dire need of a character known as JxMMy...well can look forward to yet another week on our on...

Attended the make-up session for my RT yesterday evening and was not a wise choice...
Not that it was a extra "tekan (tormentous)" session which I believe I should be in the right condition to take anyway but it was way too light..so light it made going for the training redundant...
With the Phase 2 Weight Loss, you have like an entire platoon of a strength up to 70 overweight personnel.
The poor PTI, seeking redemption from his CSM perhaps from some kind of error he commited was to be the shepherd to guide his band of merry plump lambs to walk all around the camp..yes just walk...brisk but still walking...
The idea was non-stop walking for an hour but it became really mundane and many fellow RT-mates were not too pleased with it.
It ended less than an hour and we did 2 sets of 12 situps and got out-processed..yoohoo!
I do not want to be a whistle blower about the training schedule which should please many people involved but such kind of training will not shed any weight from us, less making us pass IPPT.
Seriously I did not have a speck of perspiration at the end of it and I felt I should had hit the gym for my jog earlier the day instead. I guess I was sweating much more profusely during the mass warm up session...

At the brink of sleeping last night, I caught this usual Taiwanese game show on CTi Ch 51 on local cable network which involves a lot of dices and hoaxing.
Then I saw my goddess ....the one and only Celest Chong...urgh....where have you been all these while???
Since crossing over back to Mediacorp, Celest has been keeping a very very low profile; not even any news about future projects...
I sure missed her presence once awhile on my gogglebox..then it was a realization that she had been enlisted to star in a Taiwanese drama (blasphemy!!) and been filming for a long while in Taiwan...
Then as she and her fellow cast was sneak previewing the synopsis, she was teased to have many intimate scenes with the male lead, the lesser half of the cheesy boyband incarnation known as "WeWe" who recently changed his look with a more rugged (& lecherous) goatee.
I nearly went ballistic upon hearing day and totally soured up with jealousy..but at least I used to like that actor and luckily not an ape known as "NoNo".

Well there is something I have been desiring more than Celest recently, much down to the fault of my lass who had been adamant about getting hers very soon...
Yes it's the 5th generation iPod with the nice slim chassis and a cool color LCD screen which is well capable to play videos.
With either 30GB or 60 GB, it sure has capacity to hold large video files and much more mp3s than what my 3rd Gen 15GB one can hold.
I thought I could be oblivion with the delectable new iPod series the geniuses at Apple Computers had been churning as my 3 year old "Poddy" has served me well thus far...

iPod Mini: too flashy a color and capacity where too small for my liking
iPod Shuffle: More affordable for boys and girls (especially Malay ones)
iPod Photo: For WHAT?
iPod U2 exclusive: cool black and red but they charge more for something like the usual iPod, which is totally wrong
iPod Nano: Has the best selling point to entice me but like Mini, the capacity is not enough for me

Of course the normal iPod series had been increasing their storage capacity while decreasing their retailing prices as the newer generations arrive... but still I never contemplated on getting a new unit till the battery of mine goes erratic (which in the first place did not deliver what it promise) to go down to the most 5 hours of play time.
I had basically utilised my 15GB totally and I am tempted to increase storage space for a bigger jukebox...

My lass had always been an admirer of iPod, much for its design rather than performance but never could find spare cash for one...
But somehow a trip to the Apple Service Center at Orchard Cineleisure a couple of weeks back made her "gian" like never before and with the bonus kitty arriving at the doorstep at the end of this month, she seems sanctioned to get what she has always desire all these while.
And for her what she wants badly she must get it... be it a notebook or a 3G handphone or a MP3 player or Backside Boyz concert ticket or even me (nauseating pregnant mothers please refrain from reading this), she will find ways and means to get it...
Much like yours truly..heehee

Therefore I had been bought into the idea of a cool 5th Gen iPod and for us if financially capable we will get the top end one..since a difference of 30GB only means a jack up of $200 or less.
My lass had been banking on her company's privilegde plan which only entitles her a measly $60 discount she had been harping so much about.
That didn't appeal me that much and I had to see whether there would be a big fat surprise in April performance bonus to gauge my budget.
Then last evening came a letter from the Ready Credit card company I had been subscribing for the past 3 years and near to its expiry I was thinking of cancelling once and for all after a bad experiencing when I didn't know I had owed the bank just 10 cents and it got snowballed to $150 over 3 months! Fortunately managed to talk my way out of paying that absurd amount but I had never used that card since drawing money in Japan back in 2003; yet had to cook up cock-&-bull stories to dodge the subscription fee every July.
However the newsletter this time include a special package for It products of your choice..be it a cool PDA or a top range 3G handphone and there it was the 5th Generation iPod.
The bundle comes with a JBL on stage speaker I can do without and with a total savings of $200+ which can be tempting.
Plus it is a 24 months instalment of a rather comfortable sum, it means I need not pinched on my budget to get one...
Then again we all know how this monthly instalments scam works and interest rate is definitely there and if one can afford it, pay it at one go...
I could try to sell away the speaker (if there's a market for a brand new one) and redeem some rebate on the overall cost.
Then trade in my old "Poddy" for some Apple vouchers for usage to buy some auxiliary items; therefore the whole deal seems attractive...

Well let's see how it goes then...but I do fancy the idea of watching anime video files on the go especially with the limited amount of time in my hands...

Japanese word of the day: りんご~rin-go~ (Apple) Steve Jobs and guys sure know how to sell their products while others failed in vain...

After the Festivities...

16th February 2006, Thursday

It's time to get down to work after the 3 months long of festivities from X'mas to New Year to Chinese New Year and finally Valentine's....

From March to perhaps August, holidays are few and far in between and would be a great time to start getting to gear for the next work year (which starts in 1st April) and the performance bonus in mid April surely is a vivid indication of how your company values your presence...
Last year was a bonanza and if it could be repeated this year (Dua Bek Kong..Poh Hor ah!!), I would be blissed with extra money to help me in my sacred project at the end of the year.
If not at least I am expecting that amount that justified my work performance over the past year or at least what my supervisor has put in my well-decorated appraisal.
Then again I am working under a dictatorship of an Old Hag who deems us laboratory biologists as "dispensable"..not happy with the renumeration package can always find greener pastures without consideration of all the hard work and contributions we had put in over the years..
Sigh..morale is low as it is shared among every single person here as I had overheard during lunch 2 days back from a lab whose staff I had always thought are leading a jovial life at work..obviously I was wrong...
Let's not make this another rant session on how poor my company is when comes to reward its staff...
As my motto goes by:

I'll work the amount I am been paid; nothing more nothing less.

If you had been an ardent reader of my blog (you must be really bored or void of sanity to do so anyway), you would know I treasured "time" and "money" dearly above everything else.

Been a miser, the latter has always been a bane that put me in endless douldrums as I always tried to budget everything with that measley pay of mine...
Like others I would love to live the high life and buy all the goodies I want but I hard to dug deep especially recently it seemed like I had been splurging indiscrimately on my toys collection when I should maintain that shoe string budget and the V-day celebration was a good $30 above my originated budget; not to forget 2 unplanned lunch session with my colleagues for the departures of YM, Lance etc over the past weeks.
I had not set extra cash for such "impromptu" indulgence for the 1st 2 months of this year so I was glad to have some "Ang Pow" money as well as the returned investment money for our failed T-shirt venture (which has yet to arrive by the way).

It seems like the wedding bill is mounting which is why I am hoping my lass would be more stringent with her spending habits and help me out financially in certain aspects, though that drew frowns from my mom who think I am totally insensitive over it...well as long as we both are happy, I guess I could ignore what others think...

On the flip side, my education loan is coming to an end by June which was planned but it sure was soothing to see the loan sum decimated to nothing on my bank accounts...

By the way, Chan and the La Tendo gang should be setting foot at Kansai Airport anytime soon after a wee hour flight.
I was green with envy of course despite I had been to the Land of the Rising Sun for more than a single hand of fingers could count; but I was sore about not enjoying the low exchange rate of 100 yen to only S$1.40...which had not been that low since a decade back...

However time is not a luxury of mine these days.
Seriously money lost can be earned back but lost time is almost irreplaceable...

Time is ticking down in front of me and the scheduled renovations plan need to be executed soon as planned...
Firstly finding the suitable contractor to hand the project to.
Of course we wanted something stylish yet durable because we had heard of heart-staking stories of people been ripped off from unscruplous contractor not adhering to what the customers wanted and worse still, had a famous Houdini escape act and left work to be done...
Which is why I am glad to have my parents who seemingly experienced with some contractor contacts and know-how while constant hounding by my lass sure urge me to get things done...
At the end of the day before everything is set and done, we had to be sure of every detail was well magnified and examined as one mishap I doubt I had that financial capability to overhaul the project...Fortunately we are only renovating 1 master bedroom, 2 toilets and a display shelf at the living room...I am sure Matthew would be sweating with 10 times more pressure with a house to be build from scratch....

Time is surely a hot asset which I had to handle with care... I must really plan what to do on my free time away from work with other hindering commitments like RT, I am down to my backbone with time remain to do things for my own satisfaction which is why I am thinking of time to save from even a trip to the bank to replace my ATM card....

I know people would despise the fact that I am not slogging as hard as I could when I am in my prime to earn a whole truckload of money to enjoy with an early retirement..but seriously how many viable cases exist at the end of the day...
I treasure a lot for time to spend for myself as well as my loved ones and friends; and I am sure I am living a life of content and happiness than most of my slogging peers...

So before I end, a word of wisdom from me...nay..not really but something to take note of time and again..
"Live Life to the Fullest!"

Japanese word of the day: 計画 (Planning) Takes a lot of ingenious to plan and save time; but of course spending less time on my blog could be one of the best way...

Woeful 3-Hour Dinner

15th February 2006, Wednesday

I am officially having phobia about lame Valentine's Day dinner by any restaurant after the miserable fall out of what happened yesterday...

What supposed to be a romantic dining session for the 2 of us hit a very lousy turn of events and now I am flabbergasted by the ability of some restaurant//cafe/bistro/canteen/tuckshop/deli/whatever-assfreak-places-couples-went-to-eat to serve on time and properly in our little island anymore for this occasion...

To commemorate a fine day out, I brought my Canon Ixus 400 and shot a nice parting shot with the full moon hanging over a blue sky, with the day breaking out of the dusk...



Was a bit caught up at work with the absence of JxMMy (which find actually as the tag team of me and Bobby is running smoothly to get everything settled at the shortest time possible with a bit of chemistry between us); therefore was late to meet up my lass at City Link.

She was suckered enough to buy a Peranakan-style pouch which holds 2 V-day cookies which seriously is maybe worth 50 cents each and that low-quality pouch itself worth as much as a "New Folder" you created with your Windows OS; but she had to be gullible enough to pay that well-known aggressive local confectionary franchise (with "Bread" and "Talk" in their name) $4.90 for the whole packet..it did get to me that she could just give me that money and I go get some ready made Famous Amos which should taste much better...
Anyway not to ruin anyone's day we headed among the crowd in the congested City Link to Millenia Walk via Marina Bay Shopping Center... Along the way couple cuddling with one another with the notion to spread the message of love on this very day or perhaps to highlight their talented showmanship...

Reaching Millenia Walk, we had like half an hour for her to pick something nice and comfortable from Chalone which boasts luxury undergarments and lingerie collections from Europe which was recommended (make that swindled) by a friend of hers.
If you had not already known but a shopping trip to the undergarment department for a lady is an intricate session with a lot of trying and precision recommendation from the store experts and then another long period to ponder on which one to get...
Fortunately my lass knew of the time constraint fixating us, and took the few she had in mind and spent the next 20 minutes or so to try them out as soon as she could.
I was left behind in a vastly empty lingerie shop, wondering what I could do not looking too prominent.
Seriously unlike normal fashion retailers when I could follow her to the fitting room and give her opinions; I couldn't rammage through the selection on the display shelves which seemingly entitles me the title of "Perverted".
As much as a hot-blooded guy as myself I try hard not to stare at the advertisement posters littering around the shop with those Caucasian models in shimmering underwears which never fails to arouse one's.....imagination...
.However queer as it can be, within the time span when we are there, there were only 3 more customers came in and out and 2 of them are guys...
One a guy in smart office attire seems to come by to exchange a pair of knickers for someone else (or could it be his?)
Then a supposedly gym instructor, looking all beefed-up with a title "Personal Instructor" on his shirt came in to get a pair of erotic looking G-string which he later told his colleague as a gift for his wife (woo yeah, someone getting lucky tonight..and I'm not talking about the wife)
So in the end, my lass managed to make her decision and I duly went to the counter to foot the bill seen below...

I wonder why I am still wearing Crocodile underwear which cost a few dollars....

With less than 10 minutes to go from the time we supposed to appear at the Bistro we had a great distance to cover from Millenia Walk to Middle Road but with some brisk walking and some intimate tussle which often leads to my lass accelerating in a fit and me trying hard to catch up...

Then we came to "My Secret Garden" which was a pleasant surprise for her who was expecting fried dumpling noodles at Sunshine Plaze beside La Tendo since we are heading the same direction.
The place was well loaded with patrons both on the outside garden and the L-shaped interior, even Ferris and his girl, Annalisa (or is it Annabella?)

I had made my reservation for a table indoors but it bewilders me why the waitress led us to a balcony like pavilion by the side with an urn as a decoration...



Directly behind my seat is a half burnt mosquito coil which smell greatly disturbed me and my lass exchanged the seat with me but still it did not take away the fact that on a windless, humid night, that place is not really the most ideal for someone who detest humidity as much as eating coliander leaves.



As we waiting patiently for our cold appertizer of soba with caviar to be served, my lass kept enticing me with the fact of changing my iPod which she is quite determined to get herself with the 60GB 5th generation model which has capacity to hold both video files and mp3s which cost about the same as my 3rd Gen one which she had enquired about the fact that I could go through an official Apple evaluator to trade my old iPod for vouchers for future purchases of Apple appliances...Tempting as it can be I need to find that extra cash especially the total expenditure for this evening featuring in my credit card bill soon...

The entire time we were, we noticed couples holding hands together, chatting heartily over the course of the dinner but perhaps that's the only thing they could do to console each other to get a grip of oneself as one endeared the hunger for food to be served...
The much delayed appearance of our food was starting to get to me, not even a nice V-day video card my lass had got for me can sooth me..
Just then the cold appertizer made it's overdued appearance:



The quantity is not enough to satisfy an infant, let alone a 180 pounder like myself and that caviar is not even close to the succulent ones we had in Hokkaido but then I realised we are not in a Japanese restaurant to be begin with.
The waiter was prompt enough to serve the drink in this set, a bubbly non-alcoholic beverage with a sour raspberry submerged within:



Then we realised that every table was automatically installed with these couple of items but the hot appertizer was not in sight. My lass signalled to me that the elderly couple behind me was fustrated with the waiting (who isn't) and starting to make noise which led to the manager coming over to have a apologetic chat with them However via eavsdropping, they were actually friends of the manager and the auntie commented that the restaurant was like a "madhouse" ..how aptly a title it was...
The waiters were all over the place except placing the food on our tables!!
It's not that they were understaffed, 'cos our finished plates were off our tables at such uncanny speed The Flash would even admit defeat..
Something is wrong with the production from the kitchen and you knew that the planning when they decorated their ceiling with helium-filled heart-shaped balloons to add on to the ambience except the balloons started to fly everywhere in the restaurant including the kitchen as well as the behind the huge fan at our extension area...

Anyway after a good 45 minutes and assurance by an experienced-looking waiter our hot appertizers arrived..but first the extra mushroom ravioli I had ordered for my lass since she's not too thrilled to have goose liver nor snails... It had to be the most appertizing dish of the night with that thick creamy suace over the unique triangular pasta filled with nice mushroom...We were too busy to have it to even take a picture of it...
However it was another half an hour for the rest of the hot appertizers to arrive before which the waiter had served us the main dish...which I regretted not asking him to put down as well



This is the 2nd time I had escargots and to me it tastes very much like oysters and the butter and herbs did help to reduce that taste a bit.



A French cuisine which neither of us had the luxury to enjoy before but this pan fried goose liver isn't as awful neither was it as sumptous as we had thought.and the mango garnish on the side actually does well with it though my lass found the texture a bit too soft for her liking...

As mentioned I was ruseing over the fact that we did not grab the main dish when it made its way to our table and so another 20 minutes for the main dish to finally arrive...



I was quite skeptical whether I would like this dish as the other main did not appeal to me a bit but this turned out quite nice as the roasted lambloin slices is nicely made to taste a bit like steak and the usual suffocating taste of mutton is kept to the minimum that even my lass dared to have a few slices.
The mash potato and spinach in the middle are nice compliment and the sauce makes the meat much more delectable.



I was right that the salmon would still retain it's fishy smell but the parmesean cheese on below it help to take away most of it and the little garnishes like scallops and asparagus are nice as well...

Despite the measley portion, we were pretty full at this juncture (of course the long wait between each interval spoilt most of the appetite also) and looking at the watch it was around 10pm , my gosh we had eaten for like for 2 and a half hours even though the actual eating time is maybe around half an hour or so with the rest just waiting...
Knowing that I was eager to leave the humid place, my lass quickly requested for the desserts to be served to the waiter that clear our dishes...
But NOOOOOOooooo..we had to wait for yet another half an hour and for some god-forbbiden reason the table beside us with the couple coming much later than us got the dessert just when they were finishing their main dish...Then I realized it was preferrential treatment as that guy seemed to be a friend of the staff...
This really got to me at this point and I just wanted to down the desert and made my way home with work beckoning in hours time...I then stressed to a novice waiter to serve the dessert fast and was snubbed by some impatient obligation, as we sort of knew the waiters had a bad night thus far as well as many other were disgruntled about how slow dishes were served etc.

So after the desserts were served which we didn't even bother to take anymore pictures and we had to grab those ninja-like staff to ask for the bill...

Guess what it's another half an hour before the bill came and I was at the edge to lose my cool and when the fleshy Indian lady came to settle the bill for the manager's friends in front of us I let her know our plight that our patience had been severely breached and taken for granted and it turned out she was holding our bill all these while but instead of passing to me, she gleefully went around chatting with people...
I was incensed and piqued which led me to storm off the bistro even before the apologetic staff wanted to hand me a gift (which i presumed to be chocolate or something)...

So there it was 3 woeful hours at this god-damn poorly organised place..I dunno how it would be like in non-V-day time but the service was badly percieved by me and I doubt I would step back to this secret garden anytime soon...

We intended to take a cab back but with the time creeping to 11pm, all the scheming cab drivers would be hoping for either "On Call" fee or the midnight charge coming in half an hour time...
Totally enraged, all sweaty under the humidity, sleepy and fatugue after a hard day work and regretted spending so much money on such a lousy dinner that made me disenchanted about celebrating this showy occasion...

My lousy night did not end without some bugger pressing the emergency button on the MRT on the way back, halting the train at Ang Mo Kio for a good 10 minutes or so....my wretched life is completed!!

The final picture showed my heartfelt sentiments at the end of the night's run of events:

Japanese word of the day: 我慢~ga-man~(Patience) Seriously doubt even the most holy being had that patience to wait the food to be served at this atrocious bistro which by the time Rome has been built and perhaps destroyed

Where are the Flowers?

14th February 2006, Tuesday

If I am not wrong it was on this day back in 1941 when the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Singapore during the 2nd World War which still sent the older generations who had experienced the dark era into unsurpass incense..but 65 years into the future, we celebrate the money-sapping business propoganda known as Valentine's Day...

St. Valentine's Day has a strong Catholic influence to it, therefore originated from Rome and widespread in Europe during the Medieval era and it was only crossed the Atlantic ocean to North America when the day involves exchanging of vows of love and adorations on cards and also other gifts, most notably chocolates. It spawned into a day which retailers and corporates targetting vulnearable females to the latest fad which in return resulted in their poor soulmates having to spend money and effort to conjure some innovative yet lavish celebrations, to out-do one another... a big problem shrouding the society as it gets more sophisticated...

I'm not anti-V day and I had been celebrating it for the past 5 years since I met my girl; it's just that it is something that could do without as we had already enough dates on the calendars to be in concern with (anniversaries, birthdays, X'mas just to name a few).

Our celebrations for the last few years always seemed to involve the "movie-dinner" axis.
The movie part is okay as V-day is never a public holiday thus not jacked-up price from the cineplexes but the dinner is always the crux of it all...
It is always mind-boggling to think of a place that would outdo the previous one yet not resulting a crater in your wallet...
You had to make reservation weeks before as well for those "hotspots" such as my bistro/cafe for this year, "My Secret Garden" which received such overwhelming response that only those bothered to dropby to pay a $50 deposit is guaranteed a slot..or in retrospect, it could be a ploy by the cafe to make them look so much in high demands so that you would not actually cancel the reservation at the last minute when you find somewhere else better.
I had some unpleasant experiences during V-day dinner in the past including an order of 4 "chibi (tiny)"-sized soft shell crab for a friggin' $20 at Akira family restaurant in Emerald Hill as well as feeling hungry after the entire dinner line-up in both Rosette & Jack's Place the last couple of year which did not justify the money I had forked out; therefore this year I truly hope to have a sumptous yet filling dinner...

I had stopped giving my lass flowers since last year on her request (YES!!) as a measly 3 stalks (which I usually get for the meaning "I Love You") would already mustered a good $30 on this very day which in the end would be well-withered and returned to mother nature unless you made into dry petals as air refresheners...I surely pity the sucker who order 999 roses now...
In fact I could forsee the demand of such superficial gifts as flower waning over the years as local women had became more practical and would be only interested in something much more lasting ...like let's say diamonds... *GULP*
This is evident that i see no lady carrying no flowers on the train and street on the way to work thus far...

Being perhaps the world worst miser, I had always tried to scrimp in terms of buying gifts...
My first V-day gift to her is a pair of Hello Kitty/Dear Daniel plushies from McDonald's fast food which I got for free anyway as a ex-neighbour of mine worked in one of the outlet...
I couldn't remember the gifts for the next 3 years or so except a bracelet she insisted I get for her which in the end she lost it while working part time in a local cafe franchise as a waitress...
Even the 2 books I bought for her last year was from a $50 voucher for Acmabooks my supervisor gave us each as a reward for our hard work the year before...
I know I am a darn cheapskate, but didn't I already spent a huge sum on the dinner?
Well this year to reward my wife-to-be somethig of more substance to make up for a non-existent X'mas present which she promised would require quite a hefty sum... *cold sweat rolling down my cheeks*

As for the people around me, only couples of certain age bracket would actually celebrate this occasion with the likes of Ferris, Bobby and CS all ready to indulge on their other halves' request and perhaps the latter just need to spend more QUALITY TIME...
As for people like Matthew, he said he is always busy and dinner would be resolved at the hawker centers and Vincent on the past Saturday warned me not to mention the word "V-day" in front of his wife as it would lead to some unwanted repurcussions on his side...Meanwhile Tay-chan would just try to find business opportunity for the occasion, bringing in V-day related toys and novelty items to make a windfall.

My lass told me to uphold this celebration even years into our marriage which means more mind-boggling sessions to find an ideal place to dine in the future...

Japanese word of the day: 空腹 (Hungry) I really wonder does it mean that a couple indulging in romantic V-day dinner need not be fed properly?

Productivity = Zero

13th February 2006, Monday

On Saturday I was like a dragon unleashed from captivity for a long time as I spent quite a bit at La Tendo which coincides with their lareg stock at the end of the week.
As our Hindu friends had a great festivites with their annual traditional Thaipusam celebration which led to a large portion of the roads around Dohby Ghaut been barricaded to faciliate the procession, La Tendo also sees a increased amount of human traffic that has been gone missing for a while and sees their newly-installed membership subscription increased ten folds with more and more loyal customers came forward to recognise their friendly toy shop which had been more than capable to provide them with their hobby needs.
I hung around the place till 10 plus in the evening (as usual) and was surprisngly with the fact that that was the identical timing I left for home the evening before.

My lass who had a wild (hopefully not) time at karaoke box with 2 of his male colleagues (*eyebrows raised with doubts*) decided to dropby for the night despite she only came back at the wee hours of 1 am after her singing indulgence concluded half an hour before.
We couldn't chat too much into the morning as in a matter of hours I would need to head for my usual Sunday morning RT session.
A shortage in manpower sees the young PTIs (physical training instructors) bundle the whole group of us with other groups and just required to fulfill 2 rounds of jogging round the tracks of around 20 minutes each (despite the 2nd round lasted only about 15 minutes)
With my much-improved physique due to my frequent gym sessions, I was not even breaking a sweat despite sprinting for the last 4 minutes of the 2nd round but my urge to out-process is still shared with my RT mates.
We were duly released by 10 plus which by then my lass was still cuddling in her blankets, taking an opportunity of a good rest she is in dire needs especially the tranquility of my room which unlike hers which is facing the common corridor thus prones to usual commotion in the morning which usually disrupts her sleep.

The day was well-litted with various incidents that led to heated discussions or even arguements though not as detrimental as it would be...
First of all, yesterday was the 15th day of the Lunar New Year and my lass had a strict religious practise of only vegetarian diet ion 1st and 15th day of the month despite me cajoling her out of it as she would not be able to savor all the good food my mom had pain-stakingly prepared.
She did followed my mom's advice to serve her dues for half day, thus breaking it by noon...

Then there was the events bound to happen on the wedding day itself...
My mom looked up the lunar calendar which had indications of timings of different degree of auspiciousity and found out that on that day itself, only from 9 to 11 is ideal to do the usual "fetching-the-bride-back" ceremony.
With the lunch banquet lingering in the early afternoon, if a drag (with high possibility) in timing we could be done to matter of minutes to prepare for the banquet itself.
My lass is bitter and very much paranoid over the fact that we would miss a time for a photo shoot with the "brothers" and "sisters" which she has badly wanted to have.
As for myself I wouldn't want to worry about something that is still sometime away especially with plenty of other issues to delve on; but one viable option is to switch the banquet to the evening so as there would be ample time for everything but I am really reluctant to make that change especially with my mindset etched to the original plan.

Lastly my lass had not been too pleased for my procrastination on designing our furnitures espcially the wardrobe as we would have to talk to prospective contractors in a matter of weeks.
I duly obliged to her demand and came out with a rough sketch of the wardrobe but fatigue overwhelmed me and I took a nap before even started with the rest of the room-plan...

I had intended to update my hobby webpage which had been stagnant with new updates especially with an influx of new collections..but this Sunday seemed ideal for lazing around, watching Japanese dorama and variety programmes which both of us enjoyed and even took a rare stroll around the neighbourhood as she required some white "mahjong paper" for a presentation which I always thought my place had an adequate supply tp provide her a couple of pieces...
With the fact that it is close to 9 in the evening on a Sunday evening which many Chinese would actually get together for a final reunion dinner, we didn't expect to get her what she wanted, not even from convenience store, 7-11..but eventually we did got it and had a nice time chatting about our past, present and of course the future...

Unlike the outburst just 7 days before, I sent her back, fully satisified for a great day for just the 2 of us and knew that we might have such luxury in the near future if she was really to be sent for overseas stint at Italy but even not she would always be preoccupied on the weekends...

Anyway this Monday didn't started to badly even at this point especially with the prospect of not seeing JxMMy for 2 whole weeks surely is a great perk..and a nice Valentine celebration to look forward to tomorrow...

Japanese word of the day: 散歩~san-po~(Stroll) Wouldn't mind having a nice stroll once awhile together as long as there's nice breezy weather at all times and not round some huge park which led me to have blistered soles...

Career Path....

10th february 2006, Friday

As you know it hadn't been the best of week for me..though not drastically down in terms of mood but just some trivial issues and changes in life that got into me...Plus haven't been really productive to do stuff I supposed to do...kind of procrastinating now and then...very much back to the ill-discipline self I was well known for.

Last evening my lass called me at around 9 plus, just returning from work which supposed to conclude just after sunset..but you know her famous slave-driving company which we shall not lambast on one more time...

Being not much of a phone chatter nor really in the right frame of mind to play "teasing" game with her, I just wanted her to have a good rest to gear her up for yet another long day at work.
She then broke a news which she already know would cause an uproaring reaction for me.
It was that after her boss had changed her to the normal 9 to 5 job from the shift system she is in now; it seems like his admiration for her work attitude opens doors for her to progress in her career and with new technology been introduced to the company, her boss made an enquiry, probing whether she would be interested to head to northern Italy for a 6 month training stint to familiarize with that technology.
Not totally void of sensitivity, he knew that we are getting married in October and with the stint set to begin at late April, it would be head collison course with the actual ceremony in mid October.
Before she could finish her sentence I was like a litted cannonball and went ballistic to "command" her to forget it...
She was prepared for such volatile reaction from me so we didn't end up quarreling that would aggravate the entire situation.
Seriously even I am in a good mood, I would still pull the plug for this notion...It's not that I am all against her from making a great yard towards her career in this field but over the course of the past few years, her fickle-minded self had been tussling inside whether to continue pursue a job more suitable for a male counterpart or focus more on her sideline which bestow her with flexible time so she could spend more time with the family.
However I know how her persistent her management could be; if they are interested in a certain personnel, they would try all means and ways to coerce them to commit themselves unless that specific person quit...
Then knowing my lass, she would actually be very attracted to the opportunity and I want to let her know that whatever decision she make, she would have my fullest support...a pact we made before we decided to spend our lives together.

But...and a very big BUT... I am not that magnanimous or accomodating in nature..in fact I could be the world's most selfish bastard...
In the end of the day I wanted myself to be the happiest and if she really did head for Italy for 6 months, I would be bitter over it...especially in such a crucial time when we are going to embark a new life together.
I had been advising my buddy about long distance relationship these days are very much non existent with the advance in communication technology but it is easier said than done...
What "absence made the hearts fonder"...all bullshit...seriously there had been plenty of cases when relationships are wrecked when the other party is not by your side at all times... the classic "Jing Jing & Edmund" case been a model example.
I know it's cheesy to say that I could not live without my girl at my side at this point of time but it is quite true, she has become a part of my life as like my family, my job, my hobby and everything else that matters a lot to me.
I am never a very independant person, nor I am very comfortable to changes which is why I haven't been job-hopping as much as I should for economic progress
Therefore if this issue was to be brought up perhaps 5 years after our marriage, I might still be reluctant to let her go unless our yearning to spend time with each other fade like most would after years of seeing the same old thing day after day...

The timing of this stint is also ridiculous and with a lot of details of the wedding needed to be settled by both of us, her absence is a ludicrous and I doubt I am matured enough to settle everything on my own...
Plus if she is to be so accomodating, I would envision her going for overseas stint more regularly and she became indispensable to the company and by then our relationship would be seriously strained...
Not that I mind about the financial aspect of it as she could be the breadwinner and I am a "stay-home" dad...

Well at the end of it, my mind has been totally wrecked on what to do...I called her a bit later in the night, hoping to tell her how I feel about it in a composed manner but was dumbfounded and ran out of things to say eventually.
I truly hope I never had to handle such situations but in a relationship sacifices needed to be made..so if she really wants to go, there is nothing much I can do as well...
I am still hoping for the endless time we spent time watching our favorite shows or movies together every weekend....

Japanese word of the day:犠牲 (Sacrifice) I wouldn't mind catching that Danish cartoonist that raised the irk of the entire Muslim world as a sacrifice to make my lass to stay my side always..damn I'm gibberish...

Taboo...

9th February 2006, Thursday

Well at work with the 1st day without YM, everyone tried to get on with lives except there had been various taboos going on here and there...

Firstly is that one of our equipment had to break down at the end of yesterday just as we called it a day and usually YM would be the one liaising with the service guy, but she did handed over all the contacts and we took over that role ourselves like children starting to be more independant.

Secondly the new project which our supervisor is so zealously embarking on kept hitting obstacles and once more no result was seen after several attempts and without YM, you had one less pair of experience hands to tide the situation through.

Then I had a few items awaiting to order and in the past with the rapport I had developed with my departed comrade, I just needed to say a code or something and she would know what to order. Fortunately Triana was "seasoned" enough to handle my request.
Speaking of my Indonesian colleague, she seemed rather aloof to anyone's depatures; very much like getting on with life which should be the case but she could still be rather blur about certain things at times.
Her new tag-team partner Iris, is more nervy now that the senior figure is not there to guide them; and she seemed to be the ideal choice to take over that meticulous role from YM if she, if expected, is to stay for a long period.
Our supervisor had to don that sparkling clean lab coat for the longest time ever to actually get down to the details in the hands-on so as to guide the new ones through.
Bobby seemed disorientated these days and at times really bored as the demand at the service side was insufficient to be shared among the 3 of us and he could spend hours staring into space which really pissed him off.
Hopefully with the new project kicking off, he would be more preoccupied but I am not surprise that he would be the next in line to leave when a better prospect arises with better monetary package.

As for the grand sage of the lab, JxMMy was like himself always but pretty much kept to himself once more, perhaps singing a little requim for the side of him that died when one of his original love interest (no basis) had finally left after so many years....or inside him he could be in delirium that the last of the "3 Witches" who simply spit on his path over the years had finally been removed and he is immuned from backmouthing within the lab.
Well it's JxMMy, no one will know what he is thinking.

This just in as I was composing this post, the "Holy Trinity" seemed to be in relative jovial working mood perhaps they shared the same "greenhorns" tag or perhaps they are closer in age.

The lab had been dead quiet with YM's departure as well as she owned the portable radio set in the lab,therefore no music now available to entertain everyone over the other side which sould be surely and sorely missed by the staff of the neighbouring lab who more than once over the past year and a half, pleaded us to switch the radio on and let the music be their only source of morale support while under ample stress working on their experiments. I would surely missed Joe Augustin in the morning when he is on Power 98FM, with his own brand of humor, parallel to none by anyone in the local English radio scene at the moment.

Being a nostalgic person, I would always remember the good times and perhaps bad as well over the course of the last 4 years with the girls and now no one is around to share that with me on daily working basis (not that I had time for those as well)...Let's hope JxMMy stayed off my course as I had no one else to rant to, perhaps BY on our way back as she has finally been able to go back at 5.30pm daily...

Got the call from CS' friend Adrian yesterday afternoon regarding my portable HDD and it seemed like his lobang is incapable to solve the issue with the tools they had on hand in the shop and needed other expertises which might incur a cost of around $200+ if they succeeded to retrieve the data I badly wanted...

However the price quoted has been way off my budget (as deep inside I am hoping for less than $150, any much more I am very reluctant to pay especially with the financial state I am in now).

A brand new HDD just cost a fraction of that price, so I had to brace myself to bid my files goodbye, especially some for my webpage which I gradually found out that I did not upload to my database and without back-ups, I just might have to start from scratch...bummer...

Not a great week definitely, and sure hope the weekend brings in something to smile about...

Japanese word of the day: 悪態(Curse) In JxMMy's absence, some of the equipments would actually worked better but the greatest taboo is with his return, alot of equipments would tend to go haywire...

End of An Era

8th February 2006, Wednesday

Today marks the end of an era known as the "Power of Three" once quoted by a attachment student in our workplace.

After serving 7 good (or maybe not so good) years since her graduation from polytechnic, YM would be saying her swan song to the company where she laughed alot, cried a lot, made some good colleagues, cursed some lousy ones, wretched about the poor wage & benefits packages, picked up skills she had never even heard of since she is from Chemical Engineering side rather than Life Science to begin with.

Since the famous confrontation broke up mid last year, it is inevitable that the dynamic trio would find the workplace suffocating and took turns to make their departures.
LF headed to another lab within our vicinity, despite having to work overtime (without extra pay of course) and even demanded to serve even on weekends, she seemed happy to be able to command the running of the lab since she is the most senior staff there.
BY was snatched over to a rival institute and found work much more refreshing from the mundane, routine stuff we had here.
However in both cases above, there wasn't much change to the renumeration package and only BY had got a $500 per annum welfare fund which she could spend on virtually anything instead of the rigid holiday package of $300 offered over here.

Meanwhile YM who all of us assumed would be a long-serving member of the lab (taking JxMMy as an exception) had surprised many when she had been actively looking for greener pastures and Singhealth at Singapore General Hospital managed to find her work experience and her sustantial CV essential for their I-supposed bioinformatics job and even recognised her part-time degree in Information Technology which she clinched in 2004 from Informatics and offered her a lucrative contract she could not refused.
Despite the fact that her actual final day is on coming Friday, our supervisor was kind enough to reward her off-in lieu for those been "gobbled" by our unscruplous admin.

So it seems the final point of support for the "Down with JxMMy" association has now broken as well, leaving me fighting a lone battle...
Beside that, YM and I had been building a rapport over the past half a year since BY has left or even before that in regards to some work matters which I'm skeptical I could relish that with the likes of Triana and Iris.
Then of course the colorful commentary about the various characters at work would be sorely missed as I doubt I could share those codenames with the younger brood.

However I might be the one who would missed YM the most as there would be BY who had treated her as a soul mate for the last half a decade and despite been working in a new environment (which is just across the road) would always keep in contact with her, lunch and head for gym sessions together.
YM once cried in fustration for missing her old war-mate by her side at work; I'm surely BY would too for not having something to talk to daily as she could not find the same camaraderie again.
Then there would be YM's eldest sister who is working in our same workplace and without her sister around, she would seem to lack an able aid for her to pick her daughter from her child care center in her absence.
There is also Liz, from the neighboring Seban lab who always find opportunities to chat and complain with YM whenever possible.
YM, who is the belle of our lab had seemed like nectarines that enticed the wrath of many admirers in the past ; and despite the fact the adoration sort of died down in the past few years, I am sure those "band of brothers" would be astonished that their "One-time Goddess" is gone from their sight forever.
Last but not least, JxMMy who we assumed was "eyeing" on her when she first joined the lab and was devastated to hear that she had a boyfriend might actually be affected about her resignation as he could not send irritating e-mails to her anymore to ask for replendishment of consumables.

Well all in all, despite not strong in the theoratical side of our work, YM has been a meticulous worker and her ethics and experience is at times irreplacable and at the end of the day, if our company could reward us better for the years of slogging and loyalty, the turnover rate wouldn't be that high and many good workers might still be around...

So long to the power of 3..thanks for the memories, and I have to prepare to forge on to a brand new era at work....

Japanese word of the day: 三つ~mi-tsu~(Three) Let's welcome the arrival of the "Holy Trinity" of Bobby-Triana-Iris who at least are not affected by JxMMy's presence

Me, The Grouch

6th February 2006, Monday

What supposed to be a nice dinner with the family with extra-commendable delicacies from my Mom with a savory fruit-"Yu Shen" and more shark's fin to mark perhaps the end of the New Year celebration in my family ended in me without any warning, throwing a pique which really irked my lass, got myself all drench in a cold, windy night as I sent her home and badly short of sleep which resulted in me creeping out of the warmth of my bed at around 6.30 in the morning.

I think it was down to fatigue that innoculated such grouchiness which kind of exploded out of proportions when I kept insisting my lass who is drowsy herself to stay over (sort of like a tit for a tac for what happened the evening before). So I wasn't too happy to force myself from my sleep to send her back despite her insistence that she could go back on her own...
Well no excuses but I can be an @$$hole at times...

Well as mentioned went out with CS yesterday as he drove me in his new family saloon, a chrome greyish-blue Nissan Sunny as two of Singapore's worst topographer actually tried to figure out how to find the shortest route to Sim Lim from Yishun.
Along the way, CS hurled a question which he had in fact asked me months before over the phone about whether I ever doubt that I would be too hasty to make my choice of marrying my lass as she might not be the one...
It led on to the fact his relationship with QTee is definitely on the rocks and showing signs of breaking apart...
She needs a lot of love from him: he needs a lot of love for himself...
She wants to settle down; he just wants to have more time playing games...
She felt he has lost the "sense of security" she once envisioned in him; he gets tired to squirm his way out of everything...
I don't know but seems like my buddy seems to have second thoughts about whether to salvage his relationship and seriously I had only seen his lass for like once and couldn't pass an accurate statement on her; and I for one is advocating for a long running relationship which involves a lot of patience and tolerance, so I do hope the pair wouldn't break up a beautiful relationship to end but then again it is always more than meets the eyes.

Anyway we got to Sim Lim and met a couple of his colleagues along the way, one of whom is a guys named Adrian who was supposed to help me get my HDD fixed except his "lobang" does not open on Sunday, so my wait continues.
This chap who has his contract been terminated by his company has hot passion for building his PC and looks like a legitimate expert in computer hardwares with passion for the art running through his veins, much more than CS himself.
Now been laid off, he is jobless but well-abled to be supported by his parents plus he had health problems so not working is perhaps a good choice.
So I spent a good 2 hours or so walking around the IT-frenzy mall with computer geeks trying to coup some good deals..
Me myself had been interested to get a LCD monitor as it was one of the item on my "must-get-before-shifting-to my-new-room" list and found a 17 inch silver chassis Samsung rotatable one really delectable but CS advised me that if there's no urgent need for it perhaps I should hold my horses and wait for a forthcoming COMEX, a popular IT show coming in March.

On the way back, CS who is always loaded with juicy, scandalous tales about people surrounding him told me of a tale of a stalker in his company who had an unrepressible lust...I mean crush for this PRC technician. The problem is that this technician is rather close to our dear old Pepsiman and rumors had been spreading like wildfire that they were actually an item and CS is "stepping on 2 boats at once" which outraged CS and it was a last straw when that stalker is on his back, hoping to finally affirm his staunch ideology that CS and that Chinese lady is actually an item despite umpteen rebuttals.

Got home, managed to find my buddy online and he managed to call me via Skype and we had a chat about this precarious situation CS is facing, perhaps we both had been yearning for such a topic to chit-chat about for ages.
It came to my mind that absurd as it seems with his own relationship hitting a stump and he seems to have such "amiable" relationship with female co-workers whom I asked him what is so good about this China girl and he was quick to say she is stunning in person despite plain when at work...
and I do know Pepsi has a thing for pretty things (don't we all)...
And why would he be so worked out over such a trivial issue with a loser stalker sprouting nonsense to begin with unless deep within the chasm in his heart, he might had contemplated....damn I better not go on far as QTee might actually infiltrate this blog and I became the culprit to sow the seed of discord between them...

Anyway the art of maintaining a fruitful and everlasting relationship is an ordeal task... I was really fortunate to have a girl who could tolerate some childish anticsI had been well-known while CS and QT should really work things out for the better..no point rushing into marriage when one party is not prepared...believe me once he has completed all the games he had meant to play, he would think that would be the ideal time to tie the knot...that would be like NEVER!

Japanese word of the day: 悪い気性 (Bad Temper) If my lass is QT I doubt she would even wait for me to actually start throwing my tantrum and left me for someone who is the best boyfriend in the world and obliges to all her needs, gives her a sense of security and even bring her to Geylang for frogs' legs porridge.

Mood Swing

5th February 2006, Sunday

Yesterday was the 7th day of the Lunar New Year also known as "人日" (The Day of Human Beings literallY) which is to commemorate the birth of the very first human beings (doubt it's Adam and Eve) which was why Chan spent the whole of last afternoon, greeting every mothers' son a happy birthday.
We, Chinese also have the tradition to indulge in a festive cuisine of raw fish, shredded vegetables, minced nuts and sweet sauce we known as "撈魚生" which the La Tendo gang had intended to go for after closing the shop last evening whereas Karen would be joining her family for their own as well.
My family would be having a home-made version this evening, so all is good....but I would have authentic Japanese sashimi anytime though...

Not stock arriving of late which is a disappointment to me but didn't stopped Karen for spending quite a hefty sum yesterday mostly on "One Piece" items while the unpredictable Ferris spent a good $150 on a gargantuan plush of the imaginary rabbit character in "Chobits", which really blew our heads of with his latest acquisition.
And due to so-claimed immense response to the reservation at "My Secret Garden" for Valentine's Day, the staff actually called me to ask me if I would be comfortable to dropby to pay a $50 in advance to officially chopped the seats...I was rather reluctant but with the place a stone throw away from Sunshine Plaza, I actually condescended and asked Ferris would wanna tagged along and it was a wise choice as I had only $4 cash in my wallet and my ATM card is badly chipped so the reader had problem reading it and I had to borrow money from the lad...I felt like a loser for a moment...Ferris himself made a reservation as well so we would be seeing each other in rather uncomfortable romantic set-ups with our respective other-halves...

I made a rather early departure and found my way to my lass' place when she had a rare day spent entirely at home, recuperating from a sore throat while downing a bucket of cashew nuts...right..that is the best remedy for the illness...
Actually she is suffering from a bout of foul mood which she admitted is a result of pendulum-style mood swing and insisted I stayed over to help her tide it through...
With the fact that my RT session actually began this morning and I had to struggle to wake up at around 7, I couldn't oblige to her pleads but managed to hear what's been bothering her..which is basically the same thing about no family warmth on her side but was glad to find it with my family which would be hers as well....
Then she started emphasizing the fact that she always obliged with my requests to stay over at my place and I failed to reciprocate but seriously last evening was with a very valid reason...
But in the end, under the dim light of the crescent and with the refreshing,cool evening breeze blowing we had a hearty talk to wrap up a week which sees us "sticking" to one another, absent in a long long while.

Talking about RT, it duly began this morning as I joined hordes of physically incapable NS-men to the Khatib Fitness Conditioning Center which is a good 15 minutes walk from my place due to the entrance can only be accessed from the main gate while the rear one is at close proximity to my place.
Since this is my 2nd year running I know what to expect of the first session when they would actually do an orientation of the training schedules, rules, facilities etc.
I was glad to see a couple of familiar faces who had endured that 20 sessions with me the last time round and we all shared the same sentiments to be ready for anothe 19 sessions to come..this year without the New Year break we managed to enjoy the last time round, so meaning we definitely have to complete the whole thing...
Without the OC who is always on the ball this morning, we had a rather simple and speedy explaination and got to be released at around 10 and guess what we were actually the last batch to be released...so you can imagine the RTs aren't as daunting and time-sapping as imagined...

Will be meeting CS later as we make our way to Sim Lim to get my HDD fixed (finally) except the shop is not opened on Sunday..URGH!

Japanese word of the day: 気分~ki-bun~(mood) My mood now is not too glad for not managing to finally solve my HD problem but would be well soothed if I managed to get an affordable 17 inch LCD monitor for today's trip...

Meticulous Annual Leave Organisation

2nd February 2006, Thursday

It's always great to start work on a Thursday as basically you just need to endure 2 days before the weekends come again.

Back at work, the mood is slightly subdued, perhaps due to the fact that everyone is still recovering from the post-New Year festive mood and trying to accustom to the usual working momentum.
It is not help by the fact that the entire workplace is equally deserted with many personnels still on holidays and the demand for our service is barely a fraction of what we had weeks before.

Hey I'm not complaining..I get to "tuang" around a bit and catching up my usual webpages on the internet as I had not been doing it as frequently as I like over the festive period. And my first gift of the year of the dog is my MSN messenger in the office is working miraculously once more so my 10 friends on the list could drop in a message as if they are free to do so....

Back to sweating my butt out (literally) in the gym once more and my decreased in stamina during the half hour jog on the threadmail is understandable due to the 5 days break and it seemed like many others came in to shed a bit of calories off after uncontrollable feasting days before as well.

Since applying that urgent leave yesterday, I am down to 25 days of annual leaves for the year and how precious they can come by as in any cases with events cropping up, you can apply the leaves entitled to you.
For my current contract status I am eligible for 18 days of leaves from which only half can be brought over the following year ...To me it is always good to have ample leaves to fall back on..especially for the latter stage of the year.

For 2003 and last year, a hefty bulk was expended for my Japan trips and back in 2004, I took like zillion of half days to accomodate my driving lessons and practical test attempts in the end I am still able to bring over half of the leaves allocated.
This year I truly hope I can adhere to the practise and gather enough for a long honeymoon which is set to be in autumn 2007.

However this year things might be quite tacky with a lot of wedding preparations to be occupied with and annual leaves are to be taken, therefore I have to be even more stringent in wasting annual leaves for trivial purposes like lazing at home or even to watch important World Cup matches (with the matches beamed from Germany, you would expect unearthly hours here in Singapore).

Therefore yesterday's impromptu leave is a "no-no" for now meaning I had to extingusih that thought of taking a day off after Valentine's this month.
In March with my solemnization on the 20th which might require us to entertain our Japanese friends before they depart on the 21st, I would need to take 2 days there as well.
So I would have to endure the coming months without public holidays, and resist temptations to take unnecessary leaves

Another factor that prevent me at times depends on the leave statuts of my co-workers.
The newer staff like Bobby, Triana and Iris are quite resistant to apply for leave although they are not bound by probation period over here unlike other places when they would be barred from leave taking for their 1st half a year or so.
It is understandable that they need to be always around just in case of new things to learn and pick up.
With YM leaving in a week's time (she would be unofficially ending her 7 years stint here on Wednesday as she would be taking the off-in-lieu our supervisor has endowed her with for her last 2 days), the other senior figure in our lab is JxMMy and 2005 is a year shrouded with health issues with his spouse when he was compelled to apply for several emergency leaves but then we all agreed that our supervisor would grant her love child unlimited time off from work even if all his leave is expended.
However that would clash with his self ideology to be a mainstay in the lab at all time to serve all the ingrates needing our service and make it as a stage for him to perform his passion for his work, therefore he had been stingy about taking leaves, not that he has got much need in life as well...
Despite so, I just checked today that he would be taking 2 days of leaves in the middle of this month when he would be going on a week and a half long ICT (YIPPEE!); more of a reason why I should not take leave for my post-V day rest as Bobby would be running a solo show if that is to be true.

Well nonetheless, leaves are needed to be taken or they would be invalid if you held it till the end unuse and no chance of monetary exchange as it was the case before. Which is why the likes of our supervisor who is entitled a good 28 days a year would always have her leaves been labeled void as she would never leave her post for so many days in a year even when she is gone for overseas seminar/conference when even so she would be entitled conference leaves.

There are many kind of leaves as well available and one of which that every company should welfare their employees is the marriage leave which in my lass' company case is 5 consecutive days while I wonder how many my company would actually award me for my years of contribution to the institute...
Well at the end of it even with all the leaves been expended, there is something known as medical leaves... I know it's unscruplous and it is the last resort but many people even myself had done before...

Japanese word of the day: 休暇(Leave) If Holland make it to the World Cup Final, I would really feign illness to catch the live telecast