Heated Lash Curler That WORKS! Bought this from Sephora at Orchard Ion for S$30. Effective and painless to curl my short eye lashes! (Need to apply mascara first before it can curl) Posted in Singapore Spring Cleaning My room (and life) needs spring cleaning. Too much has been accumulated over the years. I don’t know how many of you are like me, hoard lots of stuff in the room, can’t bear to throw and thought it could be of use some time in future. 4 days at home nursing those nasty bites (blisters are still there), I threw away at least 10 boxes of stuff… be it Home and Decor magazines (wish they have digital version e.g. pdf), out-dated computers and IT books, free souvenirs like notepads, banks’ / Telco’s correspondences  etc etc… I was doing whatever I could to eliminate any possible source of spiders. Found no spiders though. Lots of old stuff like letters and cards got read over again… after a long, long  time. There’s still a pile of stuff and my wardrobe needs to be taken care too. Just a while ago, I was sharing with my mum that those bites probably happened when I had my shoes on, on Monday. The bite locations were areas not covered by shoes. I speculated it could have happened when I was at the elderly care centre last Monday. You know what she said to me? “Never mind where you got bitten. The spiders should have bitten you much earlier!” (She said that in a jest because I have been refusing to throw away most of my stuff till the “spider bites” incident.) Awww… that’s nasty… I’m still suffering from those bites! :-p Posted in Discipline, Lifestyle I got bitten! Not sure what bit me. It’s surely poisonous! Doctor gave me a jab and some medication. He couldn’t identify what could have caused it. Swollen feet – Front Swollen Feet – back That “little balloon” on my left feet grew bigger this morning… disgusting right? I burst the other blister on my right feet. You can see some sticky liquid is oozing out from the burst blister… I wonder what bit me and when will my feet return to normal. Doctor advised not to burst other blisters. Posted in Insect Tagged: insect bite I’ve got bitten! Not sure what bit me. It’s surely poisonous! Doctor gave me a jab and some medication. He couldn’t identify what could have caused it. Swollen feet – Front Swollen Feet – back That “little balloon” on my left feet grew bigger this morning… disgusting right? I burst the other blister on my right feet. You can see some sticky liquid is oozing out from the burst blister… I wonder what bit me and when will my feet return to normal. Doctor advised not to burst other blisters. Posted in Insect Tagged: insect bite Colourful Fruit Tarts! Just had some delicious fruit tarts with my long time friend at Orchard Central S$7.80 per mango tart + S$3 per pot of tea. I thought cheese and cream will make these tarts hard to finish… these tarts were surprisingly light and not overly sweet! Great for desserts Posted in Food Tagged: fruit tarts Why volunteer to do such a lowly job? A colleague of mine fell and dislocated one of her knees. Ouch! Sounds painful isn’t it? Certainly hopes she gets well soon. Because she has become immobile for at least 10 days and we have a deadline to meet, another colleague who had to do the article approached me to accompany her to conduct site interviews. I have done minimal volunteer work. Usually, to old folks homes or care centres for the elderly. Looking at the elderly, I will think about myself naturally. When I grow old as a single, will I become like them? How not to become like that? One volunteer, a well-dressed “Auntie” with tattoo eyebrows,  shared that people asked her why volunteer to do such a lowly job like cleaning after elderly? It’s not a lowly job. It takes someone so noble like her to be able to do that for another stranger and befriend them even after they have recovered, despite difference in race and communication difficulties. When a heart touches another through such kind acts, language and whatever differences are no longer a barrier. How many of us can be as noble as she is? Posted in Quotes Tagged: thoughts Should I Be a Property Matchmaker? Met an ex-colleague, who resigned last year because he was tired of what he had been doing over the last 14 years and wished to spend more time with his children, this morning. He has become a property agent clocking 20 hours a week. Asked if he had made money like those agents highlighted in the papers, his answer was no. I was asked to work with him for the next 2 – 3 months to try out the profession. Discussed with my dad and he seemed supportive that I should take up his suggestion to try it out since I’ve not found another job yet. This ex-colleague seemed honest and trusting too. I’m interested but unsure if I could do it. Should I try it out? Posted in Work Tagged: choices Do Something and Own It for Yourself at least Once in this Lifetime On my way to lunch with belyl this afternoon, I was surprised to see a former HDB CIO (whom I was grateful to 9 years ago for agreeing to my transfer to MND) standing alongside with us waiting to cross a road. He has become now CIO of Starhub. Probably, his work demands and age, he looked more pensive and less cheerful than before. The difference is only clear to someone who has not seen him for years. I look at my own father who had worked hard and achieved good results managing a French lubricants company in Singapore for slightly less than 20 years. The company had to ask him to go because someone younger and cheaper was seen to be able to do a better job. He achieved and gained more running a one-man company doing consultation work (with my mum helping him with administrative and accounts). Whatever high-sounding designation of an organization is not yours unless you own it. What I am saying is: We should all do something and own it for ourselves at least once in this lifetime – not for the family, not for the company, not for the salary… just for ourselves. Posted in Singapore Where2Shop at HDB Yesterday afternoon, I was invited to attend a retail seminar in Mandarin for the HDB shop retailers. Part of my current job scope is to draft articles for Houseword. The tagline for the inaugural retail seminar  is “Breakthrough for Business Success” or “创造商机,突破思维”. In the seminar, HDB also launched a new shopping directory call Where2Shop@HDB to help consumers find the HDB retailers. Where2Shop@HDB 3 speakers, who had years of experience running their own businesses, were very enlightening. They talked about their experience building their businesses, introduced key business ideas and latest retail trends/concepts in 1 hour plus. However, many retailers left after the last speaker (who had to be cut short because of time constraint). It was the Q&A session at about 5.30pm. Didn’t the speakers inspire the retailers as much as I had felt? I felt so inspired that I felt I should also do a business! One brave soul, who stayed on, went to the mike and said… he felt the free seminars were very good for him as he had very little education. The second speaker who also had very little education, was commendable for her stellar business achievements. However, he felt helpless as he was only a small HDB shop retailer and do not know what are the next steps to achieve what the speakers had over 18 – 21 years. I guess many others would have felt the same way. What the emcee rightly summarised after the speakers gave their advice: “To achieve breakthrough for business success – be positive, passionate and persevere to be the best in what you can do.” Do you have the “3 Ps” to start with? Posted in Inspire Tagged: thoughts I have resigned (again)! Today is my third time sending out resignation letter this year. How eventful for someone who had stayed in the same job for the last 9 years. This current job can’t fit me and I can’t fit myself to the job. Decided it’s time to do something new before I become too old. I got back my watch today too! Gee! Double happiness! At least I do not need to wait till August! Coincidentally, tomorrow is the expiry of the watch’s warranty period… hmm… Posted in Happiness Tagged: new beginning myhometown.sg no more I deleted my account at MyHomeTown.sg, a project which I’ve fought hard and build to what it was. Of course, my friends at MyHomeTown.sg helped much. It was a hard decision. My ex-boss told me: “Why work so hard for this thing?” Perhaps, I should have heeded the advice. Now, it’s somebody else’s baby. I can no longer associate with it. Time to move on. Posted in sadness Loewe Camel Canvas Bag My parents are back from Spain! Yay! As expected, my mum felt that the Loewe truffle ostrich bag was too expensive and got me a Loewe Camel Canvas bag in black instead. Good thing! cos that Loewe truffle ostrich calle hobo bag costs nearly S$9,000! hahaha… Loewe Camel Canvas (Front) Guess how much this bag cost in Spain? Loewe Camel Canvas (Back) On a Japanese website, it costs nearly S$1,800… But, this bag costs me €515 Do you know how much is that in S$? About S$1,100. I was looking at the pics that my mum took and found a bag I like! Nice? The dresses are equally gorgeous! Posted in Singapore National Day’s Coming! When you see Chinooks flying… with a National flag, u know National Day’s coming! Spotted it about 6.30pm yesterday. Chinook with Flag Who has NDP tickets for me? Posted in Sightings, Singapore, Singapore Flag Peanut Candy on Raisin Bread – Delicious! Do you like peanut candy? I love them! They used to be wrapped individually in papers long ago. Now, they are in individual plastic wrappers to ensure freshness. Anyone who has eaten peanut candy which has come into prolonged contact with air would know how hard can peanut candy become! This is how I like my peanut candy eaten – with bread. Every bite reminds me of my grandma. Peanut Candy What about you? Posted in Chinese, Culture, Food, Singapore Our Dinner at Seletar Country Club’s Seletar Terrace Pooh sprung a surprise on me this evening. He came to pick me up today in his new car – or rather a second-hand Toyota Altis which had clocked less than 30,000 km in less than 4 years. Pooh has never bought a brand new car before and… he saves more than I do. I see a smug glow on his face as I got on the car… this must be a good buy for him Anyway, I realised there’re so much to do when one changes to another car. Had to update the condo management, company, shopping malls (like vivocity for free parking), clubs and anywhere that needs your car plate and/or IU (In-Vehicle Unit) number. Wish there’s similar something like OSCARS for car owners to update the change in vehicle details with these organisations! And so… we went to Seletar Country Club for dinner. To update the club and have our dinner at the same time. Seletar Country Club Main Entrance to the Club Seletar Country Club Main Entrance Let’s walk in! Here we are! There isn’t much food choices except at the Seletar Terrace. Nice and relax setting Let’s have a drink first! Enjoy the evening view and watching the golfers finishing their last hole at the greens. Club Sandwich S$7.50 Pork Chop S$7.50 By the time, we finished our dinner… skies are turning blue… and flood lights on the greens were on. Good night! Zzzz….. Posted in Food Photoshop CS4 Whoppee! I have a new copy of Adobe Web Premium CS4 installed on my office laptop. Can you tell the difference between Photoshop CS and CS4? Photoshop CS4 Photoshop CS I need time to explore the new features on Photoshop CS4. Good to know it doesn’t have an issue installing on Windows XP. The font error did not occur for this version too Posted in Technology, Toy Gucci Borsa Horsebit Nail Ascot and Men’s Wallet This Gucci bag was launched 2 summers ago… So, it’s offered for sale at 30% off. I bought the last piece. Do u think it’s a good buy? I found this nice cos it doesn’t shout Gucci all over the bag. Roomy enough for my stuff! Details Details Inside Bottom Bag’s disclaimer that it’s “not forever”. I like this men’s wallet! Prefer this over the female version which had lots of “G”s on it. I’m retiring my Anteprima wallet… Good night… Zzzzzz Posted in Singapore Tagged: boring days Guess What I bought at GSS Today??? I am crazy again. See what I bought today? Silk Top from Guess – S$86.28 (S$145) Blouse from Guess – S$106.25 (S$125) T’Shirt from Guess – S$50.58 (S$85) Bag and Wallet from Gucci at S$1,526 (S$2,180) and S$600 respectively. Black Dress from Marella – S$235 (S$469) In total, I’ve “saved” S$999.89 for getting some of the above items at Sale price. What a joke! Posted in Singapore Tagged: boring days What I did on a lonely Saturday… There was a heavy downpour at 5.48am this morning. I didn’t want to wake up till 7am to get ready for training at the gym. Wonder if Today delivery man care about the state of the papers… they were all WET! Wet Newspapers There’s no direct bus to (the gym at) Fusionpolis currently. I hope the circle line stations will open soon. It will save me lots of time and money. Spent a tough one hour session with the trainer and some time using the machines on my own. For someone who only has time for once a week training, this is tiring! This gym I go to has fantastic view. I would have taken a panorama if not for the glaring morning sun. Click on the picture to see the bigger version. View from Fusionpolis Sky Garden My brunch at the food court on basement 1. Fish Noodles which costs S$4.80. Taste okay… could get better fish noodles elsewhere cheaper. Fish Noodles How lonely… Fusionpolis Food Court MediaCorp was doing filming at Cold Storage on basement 2. Not sure what was about. Those people who were being filmed, dressed like those World Gourmet Summit’s top chefs, were shopping for grocery. This is Fusionpolis on a cloudy day. Fusionpolis Shortly, skies turned dark and it started to pour again. So glad, I was near MOE building already. Originally, I had plans to take pictures of some HDB flats in the east. But weather was bad, so I called to ask if there were any available treatment slot today to rub my muscle aches away. Got a 2.30pm slot. With 3 hours to kill, I decided to go Orchard… and that’s where I spent and spent… again! Within that 3 hours, I went to Guess, Zara and Gucci at Takashimaya. Also, bought a black dress at Marella, Isetan Scotts. Guess the total damage today? Nearly S$3k! Am I crazy or what… S$3k could mean 3 sqft saved for a private apartment! Going to Orchard is a bad idea… Posted in Singapore Tagged: boring days Cotton Tree at Singapore Botanic Gardens :) I was on my way to Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden 2 Saturdays ago… guess what I saw on my way there? Cotton Tree in full bloom! Am I in Christmas Land on a Summer day or what? haha… Cotton Tree This is my second time seeing it in full bloom since my last post on Cotton Tree in 2007! More close up pictures of the Cotton Tree! Cotton Tree Cotton Tree Where can the Cotton Tree be found in Singapore Botanic Gardens? I know there’s one at the Bukit Timah Core (near the Botanic Garden Station currently under construction and the Botanic Garden sidegate along Cluny Road) and another in Tanglin Core (near Taman Serasi Food Court) Cotton Tree Location This Cotton Tree is taken at the Bukit Timah Core Cotton Tree This is one amazing tree!!! Do you know this Old Kapok Tree was planted in 1933 and was also known as the White Silk-Cotton Tree? Posted in D10, Garden City Oops! I wonder how much this Loewe bag costs? I gave my mum this picture and asked her to get me a Loewe bag from her Spain trip. Of course, I’ll pay for it. Loewe truffle ostrich calle hobo bag But, little do I know such Loewe bags could cost as much as US$10,000! Gosh… anyone can tell me how much the bag above costs? :p Edit on 18 Jun 09: Mum’s back from Spain! This bag costs about €4,500! Posted in Singapore Beef Brisket Noodles – Where their Love Started? My parents shared with me how they used to meet each other coincidentally on Saturdays during lunch at Serangoon Gardens – love for beef brisket noodles. The stall which they patronised is no longer there. But, they are still very much in love with each other after all these years – 35 years to be exact. Now that they are enjoying themselves in Spain, I thought of them when I saw this beef brisket food stall at Bukit Timah Market & Food Centre while taking a shelter from the sudden downpour. Bukit Timah Market & Food Centre Pouring heavily… Raining Scene Taken from the Food Centre This is the stall. Auntie stall owner is from Hong Kong Beef Brisket Food Stall Someone ordered the noodles… looks delicious! Beef Brisket Noodles - S$4 The curry beef brisket which I took away was yummy! Curry Beef Brisket - S$6.20 (S$0.20 extra for takeaways) My mum no longer eats beef for religious purpose. Otherwise, I’ll bring her here Do you know which part of a cow is the brisket? Beef Brisket (picture from wiki) Now you know! Posted in Singapore Bukit Timah Line – Construction Starting Soon? Was in Toh Yi and discovered that construction for Beauty World station is probably starting soon. See the rendering of this station on this site Location of Beauty World Station (Bukit Timah Line) When the line completes in 2015, it’ll be very convenient and fast to get to town from Upper Bukit Timah Location of Beauty World Station (Bukit Timah Line) Anyone saw any construction updates of other Bukit Timah Line’s stations? Posted in D21, Transport Tagged: Bukit Timah Line Hyacinthus’ meaning 风信子 is hyacinthus. Found the real meaning behind the flower today. I was googling for 阮经天 and found 敗犬女王 or My Queen. While watching , I came across the meaning. “Be dead and to rise from the dead” “为何总是对过去念念不忘，把已死的华朵留在身边。 即对过去无法割舍，又没有办法迈向未来。” Let the past be in the past and move on with our life. Posted in Quotes Tagged: thoughts I’m turning 34 in a few days’ time… yes… I will be 34 and single still in a few days’ time. BUT, I’m okay with that. It’s not the age and marital status that matters to me. I’m not eager to turn 35 to be eligible to buy a HDB flat or rush into a marriage to realise it’s alot more responsibilities. I want to be healthy and happy everyday as long as I live. Sending myself a virtual bouquet of flowers and a bear… … to wish myself good health and happiness Posted in Happiness Tagged: Happiness Minute Hand Came Off!! I was AMAZED that Omega watches are only as good as it looks. Got a call from Sincere after sending my watch in for repair. The minute hand came off after my watch dropped from the writing table one morning. Over S$50 for the repair (despite under 1 year’s warranty) and there’s a 3-months’ wait before I can get my watch back! Can you believe that? I have dropped many of my previous watches from that writing table before. Never once did the minute hand got dislocated. One lesson here: Omega watch is only as good as it looks. View This Pollsurvey software Posted in Lifestyle How are you? :) I’ve been away and not posting for a while… Just switched to a new organisation but working in the old organisation’s compound… awaiting opportunity to switch to a new work area. The only constant in my life now is CHANGES. Hope everyone has been fine Posted in Work       Splurge! Bling! Bling! Tick-Tock! Yes! I splurged today! Shopping is a therapeutic exercise for me, denting my bank account however Bought an Omega Constellation Double Eagle! Hiak! Hiak! Isn’t it beautiful???? Another closer look What did you buy at GSS (Great Singapore Sale) this year? Boy Boy’s New Costume :D Coming 7 Feb 2008, it’ll be the year of the Rat! Bought this cute costume for Boy Boy. Let’s see if macho Boy Boy can take the cutesy look? Hehehe… Tada! I’m amazed he didn’t struggle when I tried to clothe him with this Rat costume Guess he’s not suitable to wear it! MyHomeTown.SG Running a portal is not an easy feat. Away managing the technical, contents and marketing aspects of this new social networking portal for residents in Singapore - http://MyHomeTown.SG If anyone is looking for me, I will most likely be at MyHomeTown.SG site or handling matters related to it. If you live in Singapore, please join as a member in MyHomeTown.SG. Be part of this community if you are interested what’s in and happening in Singapore. Share your experience and engage us with your pictures and words. This portal can do well only with all Singapore residents! Will be back updating this blog soon