A test to me!

It s really a test of patience to me!

This morning, Ms Piggy really pushed boundaries to the max. I was in the kitchen preparing food for her lunch and i went out to peek at her.

Her potty was overturned, her urine all over the place and she was playing. Usually, she will inform me when she is done with her small business. I was so angry that I shouted at her for misbehaving. I punished her by making her stand at the corner of the house.

Later on, I explain to her why I punished her and why her behaviour was unacceptable. She refused to look at me or acknowledged me. So I extend her punishment longer, after a while I heard move (from her anklet sound). Apparently, she was tired from the standing, she climbed onto my bed & rest!

Wow, this really riled me up! I told her to come down from my bed and I used the cane on her. This time, she really cried and she cried for me followed by my Mum and Bro (both of them are not at my place). When her crying subsided, I went to talk to her and explain to her. This time, she was willing to acknowledge me and apologise to me.

I could say Claire is real stubborn and really a tough nut to crack. I really must be hard hearted and teach her some lessons if not, she won't learn and might end up being a spoilt brat. Haiz, now my only hope is that PK will cooperate with me on teaching her!

自恋时间

Taken on board Colombo Express in 19 Nov 2008

Random

Here are some recent random stuff of happenings....

1. Called Ms. Piggy's childcare centre this morning, received a fair bit of feedback from the principal. Piglet loves to walk up and down the childcare centre, thus the teachers tend to carry her so that she won't disrupt others. Also, she inherited my impatient streak (why can't she inherit PK's patient streak!!!) ... She will have the tendency to snatch things that she wants and when the teachers told her to wait.. She will bang the table to protest...

Guess, I have to further learn how to control my temper and be more patient!! Jiayou jiayou, I can do it!

2. Work, felt extremely relieved when i made the decision. Now, i just do my work and bo chap others. Just kena another flare up from Anna and Anna wanted to flare up at SS when SS is trying to explain stuff to her.

Also, I m surprised at myself too... When Anna flares up at me, I did not feel much anger and i think that Anna's flare up at me is just making herself upset only. Next target, must try to avoid being being the target of flare ups....

3. Sis called this morning and looked for Mum but Mum is not in. Sis told me that she has been having high fever for the whole week and its yoyoing up & down. I told her that its viral fever and suggested she drink salt water and lotsa water... N not to mention to get the "ling yang" from Chinatown to brew. Then her fever will go off... Later on Mum told her the same thing!! I guess she just wants to teh Mum bah.

I think Sis' desire to come back Asia will be stronger. She just mention to me that she might want to re-locate to Hong Kong!

Lose weight~~

I need to lose weight liao!

My clothes are tight and not to mention being mistaken for pregnant so many times!!!

Only problem is i m too lazy to move my ass!!!

Grr, must find a way out of this!!!!

Company Jokes

1. In the ladies
Colleague A was merlioning like crazy. Colleague B saw it and asked, "R u okie?" Colleague A's reply, "What do you think? Isn't being pregnant like that meh?"

Colleague B totally stunned! Well, we find it funny lah but Colleague A also one kind, people shown you concern plus your side is on the plump side... How do we know that you re pregnant?

2. In the fishtank (my dept)
CFO came in with a NTUC plastic bag. I teased him by asking him about morning grocery shopping at NTUC. From the bag, he gave us some chocolates he bought from Hamburg. When he left, colleague C commented, "Scully, he really bought the chocolates from NTUC!" Colleague D said, "It's the thought that counts!"

Me find it funny to see him carrying a NTUC plastic bag lah... but i doubt the chocolates from NTUC coz the flavour as bit too sweet plus weird for my liking... Conclusion, it is definitely from Hamburg!

Contradictions

Dad was out of his last job recently. He was employed in a security firm that outsourced staff to SMRT for those security personnel in the MRT stations.

He lost his job as a passenger (got checked twice by SMRT security personnel) wrote a 3 pages long complaint email to SMRT. The exact story, I m unsure as Dad was just giving me snippets here and there.

Yesterday, at Redhill MRT station, I saw a Security Personnel (older than Dad), a passenger and the SMRT station control staff. The passenger was complaining to the SMRT station control staff and I overhead his statement, "I dun like the attitude of his, talking to me like that.." (pointing to the Security personnel)

From this 2 incidents, I figured that folks like Dad's age should not be hired to do such job as they might be hard of hearing thus, speaking to folks slightly louder that translate to shouting to our ears unless those used to old folks at home.

I find it contradicting whereby the government strongly encourage senior citizens to work and firms are hiring them as they are considered "cheap labour" yet, they can get themselves out of job easily like such instances.

My conclusion, really must save $$ for retirement as noone is willing to hire senior citizens to work. Such is the reality of life.

The Basketball wounds will continue...

PK gave me the shock of my life on Wednesday. Wednesday is his basketball nite, a night of freedom where he can play basketball, have dinner with his basketball kakis and a night of freedom (Ms. Piggy & I usually stay overnight at Mum's place every Wednesday except during my month end closing or any special occassions!)

On Wednesday, I went home with Ms. Piggy as for the past few weeks I had been camping at Bedok during the week days. I called him at 9.30pm to check on his whereabouts while on my way home. He told me that he was on his way home as he "errm" me. My radar was up and my only thought was he must want to continue chit chatting with his friends.

When I reached home and finished showering Ms. Piggy, PK still had not came back. So I called him twice and twice, he cut my line off! I was furious! While making milk for Ms. Piggy, he called home and I asked him where exactly he is.... He told me that he is at the A&E in Mt. Elizabeth hospital! This totally threw me off and I "scolded" him for not telling me the truth!

Apparently, he was hurt during the basketball game and the wound (near to his left eyebrow) required stitches that the GP was unable to do it for him. Thus he was referred to A&E in Mt. Elizabeth hospital. This is not the first time he got hurt during his basketball games!

And he still has the cheek to tell me that since he is an old bird at getting hurt. Ice is always the best to stop bleeding and bruises!!! The moment he made this statement, I warned him that NO BASKETBALL GAMES till his stitches are removed and the wound completely recovered. He protested by whining.... but the wife wins for the time being!

Anyway, I think if PK is uncautious, he will continue to get hurt during his basketball nights. I really dunno what to say..... :(

2009 Year End Review/Reflections

As year 2009 is coming to an end in 8 days time, its the time of the year where i will be doing a review or reflections of what I had done in the year.

Well, i must say... Looking back, its as if nothing much has happened but there are alot of changes in my life.

1. Family
My parents' problem has finally came to a pinnacle and full blown in everyone's faces. Well, it affected us (my siblings & me) but I had taken this approach, just let them be and do my part as what a child got to do.

On the in laws, its a tough battle. I have to learn how to accept them for what they are and at the same time, drop my prejudices against them too.

2. PK & Me
Like any couples, we have our fair share of ups & downs. Both of us are working together to build a stronger marriage even though we have this difference on rearing Ms. Piggy!

3. Piglet
This little gal is one tough cookie and its a challenge in raising and teaching her. She is real stubborn and a smart one. She knows which buttons of the adults to push in order to get her demands met. As much as she tries my patience and push my boundries, seeing her cheeky smile will melt my heart and throw all my worries and troubles away!

4. Myself
I must say, there has been a lot of toxic and negative elements inside me. I am resentful of alot of things and envious of others. And i always asked myself this question, "What's wrong with myself?" I thank God that help was given to me in many ways that I dun realised it. I won't say that those toxic & negative elements are 100% gone but I m getting them out of my system slowly.

Now, I just gotta tell myself not to take things too seriously and not to be too hard on myself. Humans are not perfect and I should be able to accept that of myself. :)

5. Work
Work is stagnant and instinctly, I know I had to get out of it. But i did not as I had made a lot of excuses for unable to leave, like 2 months notice, fear of a new work environment, difficulty in finding a job, being "chopped" in terms of pay negotiation in the new job etc etc... The more I had all these excuses, the harder it is to leave and not to mention, resentful emotions start to accumulate! So, I had given myself a timeline for my current work situation. This will buy me some time and enable me to plan my next move!

Finally, 2009 is really an interesting year for me and my only wish is that 2010 will be an even better year! :)

Death - a release

Last weekend, Mum, Bro & the Ang family went to visit my Sembawang Auntie.

Auntie was diagnosed with cancer 9 years ago and she had a relapse in March this year. The relapse was back with a vengance! Auntie did not want to go through chemotherapy but her family encouraged her to go and thus, she went for it.

In June, Auntie went to attend K's 1st month celebration and she was unhappy during the celebration as my Uncle and cousins forbidded her to eat the buffet spread at the celebration. In fact, Auntie even threw tantrums and Uncle was pissed off with Mum and friends as he deemed them to let Auntie to have the food!

But Uncle & my cousins were unable to see from Auntie's point of view, Auntie knew that even though she has gone for the chemotherapy but to her, its just prolonging her life cum suffering. Thus, she knew that she can pass away anytime, she definitely wants to eat what she wants and do what she wants!

Back to last weekend's visit, she was happy to see us but it was upsetting for me to see her in such a state. She was so fragil, she told me matter of fact that she is not doing well as she can't eat or sleep. Her weight has gone further down from 40++kg to 30++kg. Auntie has decided to stop her chemotherapy much to the chargain of her family and she is looking forward to death as she told us that its her only release.

But her family is holding on to her, Uncle being the devoted husband is looking at the ways & means to cook food for her. Currently, Uncle is cooking veggie soup for her and it does help to whet Auntie's appetite. Mum further encouraged Auntie not to give up Uncle's efforts.

I pray that Auntie will not suffer anymore and I told Mum that no matter how upsetting it is. Death will be the only release for Auntie as i really dun want to see her suffer anymore.

Yippee!!!!!!!

Yippeee!!!!!!! Today is the 2nd day that Ms Piggy did not cry when I left her at the childcare centre for work!!

She even kissed me & waved bye bye to me before the teacher brought her for the SOP (temperature check & rashes check!)

Only funny thing is she will stare at those newcomers who wailed like nobody's biz!

My Shoes!

Bought 2 pairs of shoes from Ecco last month and here they are!

Gold Ballerina Flats

Black Flats

First Bite!

The above is the bitemark that Ms Piggy got from her classmate! The childcare centre teacher called me and told me about how this incident arised! The best part is Claire wanted to continue playing with this classmate!

For Mum, its "revenge" as Ms Piggy used to bite Mum when Mum refused to give into her demands. The childcare teachers are stunned to know that Claire is a biter!!! Anyway, i told the teachers that its very common among children to act in such a manner!

Some updates of Ms Piggy

Ms Piggy has been in the childcare centre for 2.5 weeks liao. Well, she is doing fine except that she will still cry when she realised that Mum or me will leave her there in the centre.

I had checked with the Principal yesterday on her status being. The Principal told me that the teachers loved to play with her as she is responsive and sometimes, the teachers will "quarrel" with her. I was surprised to know that Claire is chatty in the school but not surprised to know that she loves to disturb people!

Mum witnessed her "harassing" a classmate (a boy) and 2 other classmates of hers were laughing at her antics! There is a possibility in the future that the teachers will call & complain to me about her antics!

Also, due to the change in the new environment, her poo problem came back and one of these nights, she actually can't sleep due to being constipated. Mum had to resort to insert a soap up her butt to enable her to poo! Not to mention that, Claire insisted on Mum accompanying to her sleep but the moment, Mum came over. She refused to sleep and played!

Last nite, I told Mum to endure her cries and true enough, Ms Piggy knew that even by her demand won't be met even by crying. Not long after that, she fell asleep! This gal of mine is so smart... Really knows which buttons to push to get her demands met!

Currently, her fave person is my bro! Bro just came back from Canberra, initially she was shy and once she warmed up to him. She will ask for him! When Mum fetched her from the childcare centre, she asked Mum, "Kaofu leh?" Not to mention, super happy to see Bro coz Bro will play with her!

Ideal situation

In the ideal work situation, there is no politics, colleagues are nice and things are done in the most efficient, effective & economical way.

But it is only an ideal situation.

In the ideal family situation, the parents are loving, the children are well taken care of and there are no in laws issue.

But it is only an ideal situation.

Conclusion, i m dreaming again... *Slaps* Back to reality to test the report again!

KKH Appointment

Yesterday, PK & I took leave to bring Ms. Piggy for her KKH appointment at Clinic K. She was referred to see the Allergy PD. The appointment was at 2.10pm.

We were lucky that we dun have to wait for long and also Claire was asleep then. (At least, both parents can just sit there to wait for the doctor.) It was so kind of E (she works in KKH) to come and chat with us so that we can pass time while waiting for the doctor.

Claire was still asleep when we saw the doctor. She woke up when the Doctor examined her and she was starting to act up but Dr. Anne Goh was patient with her and spoke softly to her. Thus, Ms Piggy did not started her usual wailing when she is at the Doctor. Dr. Goh was surprised to see that Claire's skin is very good for her eczema condition and from the conversation we had with her, Dr. Goh must be thinking, "The parents are definitely too gan cheong."

Dr. Goh sent Piglet for a skin prick test first. For this skin prick test, Claire was to be tested for 14 type of allergies. Boy, how she wailed & howled during the skin prick test and the test was conducted on her back. First, the lady drawn 14 lines on her back and started pricking Claire 14 times. Its as if Claire is having her tattoo! The test results were out 15 minutes later.

We went back to Dr. Goh and this time, Dr. Goh did not think that we are gan cheong parents. From the skin prick test, Claire is allergic to housedust mites and peanuts!!! Dr. Goh ordered for another blood test (more intensive test on peanuts allergy) and skin prick test (to test for other nuts allergy).

So we went to have the 2nd round of skin prick test, this time it was conducted on Ms. Piggy's left hand. It was another struggle to pin her hand down for the test to be conducted. If you had seen the way she cried, it was so scary and heart breaking but we had no choice. After the skin prick test, we had to send her for the blood test.

While waiting for her turn for it, Mum came over and Claire was so happy to see her Popo! I bought Claire inside the room for the nurse to draw her blood. The nurse attempted to coax her to let them draw blood on her left hand but Ms. Piggy wont. She just crossed her arms and looked away from them. I told the nurses that we have to do it by force. Wow, the nurse was utterly stunned by her strength, we all have to pin both her hands down in order for them to draw the blood.

And she was wailing extremely loud, Mum came into the room and she was stretching her hands out for Mum to carry as if Mum is her saviour! Mum pacified her and she was okie after that. She was so happy to wave bye bye to the nurses and she immediately dashed out of the clinic!

Her next appointment at KKH is scheduled in April 2010. I pray that there will be no more such tests. It breaks my heart to see all the needle holes on her hands & back, in total there are 22 holes. 21 due to the skin prick test and 1 for the blood test! No wonder, Dr Chan and Dr Chow did not recommend me to bring her for these tests.... but what to do when we realised that she has such a bad reaction to Peanut butter and we need to find out!

Ms. Piggy in her uniforms!

"PE" attire after their shower at the childcare centre

Yellow, the only colour that suits her to a T!

Decisions, decisions

I had been thinking about a lot of stuff recently, the stuff i thought about is the usual, my family & work.

Family, the need for moving from Redhill to Bedok seems to be more and more obvious. Claire has started her childcare life and the centre is situated a few blocks away from my parents' place. Currently, both of us are staying at my parents' place till Ms. Piggy gets used to childcare life. PK was resistant to the idea of moving to Bedok initially but i highlighted to him about the childcare arrangement and Claire's future education. He has gradually accepted it and due to "face" issues, he has not admitted to me that he is actually tired from all these travelling between Bedok & Redhill.

Myself, I m also tired of the travelling but been telling myself that it is not. As i m afraid that if i admit that it is, i might lose the strength to go on. But I m in a stage of self denial, by admitting it earlier at least, i wont find ways and means to escape from the stress of it! Now, i just have to tell myself that its a temporary situation and it will improve soon!

Work, also dependent on the family factor. I m unhappy in my current working environment as its simply stagnant. No room for growth be it in terms of promotion in duties or pay. If SS will to see this post, she will definitely say, "Hey, i had given you the opportunity but you refused to take it!" My answer, "I had given my feedback to you but with your micro-management style and insecurities, you failed to motivate me to go further. That's your failure and please dun blame it on the company structure!"

Recently, I realised why I m so angry with SS and some of my colleagues. I m happy that I knew the reason and at least, I dun have to carry this toxic feelings inside me. Now, I know that I should just do what is required of me and be open to options, be positive and I m sure better opportunities will come along. Also, at the same time, i must learn how to deal with occassional unreasonable demands/requests from SS, Anna and her gang. By knowing to better deal with them, this will enable me to have a better EQ in handling human relations.

Now, i told myself not to think too much about the future. Just do what is required of me at work, spent more time with my family and improve on the communication channels with PK and also at the same time, if there is any better career opportunities, just go for it... I m sure i will be able to get out from this moody period. That i think will be the best decision.

Childcare!

Finally, Ms Piggy has started her childcare centre life!

Last Tuesday, 1st December 2009 was her 1st day! I took half day leave to send her there and accompanied her. The principal briefed us on the SOP and also manage our expectations of the childcare centre. From this briefing, it seems that a lot of parents actually withdraw their children from NxxC childcare centre & sent them here. (Both centres are separated by just one main road!)

Claire was extremely curious about the childcare centre and she was exploring the centre by walking up and down, looking for things to play with. She literally ignored me and she was happily playing with the toys in the centre.

On the 2nd day, PK took leave to accompany her there. She was clingy to PK, she almost got into a fight with another classmate over toys, not to mention she refused to finish her lunch. She still continue her exploration with the centre by walking up & down. The only time she was ok to be sitting down is during sing song session! Mum told me that she ate a lot when she was back home!

On the 3rd & 4th day, Piglet was extremely clingy to Mum and Mum can only sneak off when she was engrossed with toys or being distracted by food. Mum noticed that there is a classmate of hers that want to make friends with Claire. Her classmate was putting her hand on Claire's shoulders and leading her to play with her!

The teachers had to put 2 chairs near to the entrance to prevent Claire from going out and Ms. Piggy was so happy to see Mum when she came to fetch her home!

Starting from today, we will let her be in the childcare centre for the full day session. Mum told me this morning that Claire was all smiles when she worn her uniform for the first time to school. Mum also mentioned that Ms. Piggy was clingy and Mum can only sneak off when she was distracted by toys. I wonder how Claire will fare today!

Ms Claire & her poor battered cat!

Ms Claire with Cat Cat (her fave stuff toy that is "battered" by her)

Taken at home before we go to Ah Gong & Ah Ma's place

What's Ms Claire up to these days!

Ms Claire has been back home for almost a week already.

During her 2 weeks of absence, her development seems to be so fast!

She is more willing to play by herself, has a better understanding of how to play certain toys and not to mention, be able to express herself better even though at times, I m still trying to figure out what she wants.

But she is extremely clingy to me these days. She dun want PK to bath her, pat her to sleep or bring her to my parents' place. Everything is Mama! Yesterday was the ultimate, she wailed when she realised its PK bringing her to Bedok and not me, I can hear her wails from the lift inside my room (our apartment is on the 3rd floor!)

PK was totally helpless and even using food to pacify her doesn't work. In the end, PK sung the "Sweetie Pie" song and she was okay after that.

I guess 2 weeks of not seeing me makes her extremely clingy to me and now, i m worried about her childcare days next week onwards!

Weary.. really weary

I m really weary... In a span of 2 days, another family drama unfolds again.

As mentioned earlier in some of my posts, my parents are not on talking terms and their behaviour are downright childish. On Monday, my Dad called me and lashed out at me despites my repeated attempts to tell him to talk to me after 6pm as I m swarmed with work. But NO, he just won't stopped!

I decided I had enough of the parents' behaviour and i had to speak out to both parties separately in order to get the issue resolved or at least made it known to them that their behaviour is getting on everyone's nerves. So, i spoke to my Mum first as I was meeting her after work. I told her the truth about my siblings & my take on their behaviour and told her that both parents are at fault for things to come to such an end. As usual, Mum cried and at that moment, I regretted my decision to tell her that while at the same time, I feel relief.

As I had to stay over at my parents place on Monday nite, Mum came in twice into Bro's room and asked me why do I think she is at fault and questioned me even further as if I m siding with my Father. The thing that pissed me off most is to threaten me with the childcare arrangement again! Nevermind, at 12 midnight, a call from London and asked me why do I have to confront my Mum with the truth?

Next morning, I woke up feeling unwell as due to lack of sleep, my flu has finally blown up. Went to office with blocked nose & ears that led to teary eyes. My colleagues all told me to see the doc & take the day off. Guess what, at the doc's place, Mum called and told me to pick up Claire straight after seeing the doctor as if I can afford to be sick, why not she!

I cleared my work and went to pick Claire up and SK Aunt called and talked to me a while about my Mum's behaviour and advised me on what to do. Later, my Dad called and I was not in a mood to talk to anyone. I just switched my mobile to silent mode. Upon reaching home, HK Aunt called and I told her that I will call her back later as I need to settle Claire first.

I called HK Aunt and she asked me this question, "What do you mean by both parents are wrong? What WRONG did your Mum do?" I was like, "What!" and I replied that I dun want to answer her question and I m tired. She begun to plummet me with accusations and that even if I m tired, I MUST ANSWER HER QUESTION. I got fed up and she even accused me of throwing my temper at her... I really can't take it and broke down & i told her that i need to rest.

Suddenly, I m the one who caused everything. Everything is my fault, I should not have say this or that. I m really sick of all this, pandering to everyone... I m really angry, I m angry at my parents for doing this to me. Why can't they settle their own problem and get so many parties involved? I mean getting a divorce in their 60s is nothing shameful to be about either, what is face? If you really want face, will both of you behave in such a manner?

Now, I m really weary of all this drama. I will talk to my Father on Thursday and my case is closed. I should not bother about them anymore and I want to get on with my live. I dun want to be shackled by them anymore.

Updates of Ms. Piggy in HK

I called Mum in the afternoon and Mum was busy trying to get Ms Piggy to nap. So I hang up and continued my work.

After a while (less than an hour), Mum called me and told Claire to speak to me. I heard her sobbing in the background and I asked her what's the matter and not to cry. Mum told me that Ms. Piggy immediately pouted and attempted to sob louder.

Mum's observation is that Ms. Piggy seems to be missing us and she requested for Mum to call me. I guess Claire was trying to teh me over the phone again. Mum was unwell in HK due to the cold weather so HK Aunt bought Claire to the restaurant for dim sum. On their way back, Ms. Piggy refused to climb up the flight of stairs back home. She just sat down on the stairs, refusing to budge! This gal of mine!

Anyway, i had about another week of freedom before Ms Piggy comes home next Saturday!

All Man are equal but.....

Yesterday, SS did another thing that really angered me. She was forcing us to clear leave and she told us that if we dun clear all the leave, it will be forfeited. I just stopped short of exposing her coz she bought forward one day of leave herself from 2008 to 2009.

Today, was recounting this incident to the one who got promoted. Guess what, she made this statement, "To be fair to SS, she won't allow you to bring forward the leave coz she will have problem getting you folks to clear 30 days of leave!" I gave her the look and she knew she made the wrong statement.

Frankly speaking, all of us in the dept has no issues in clearing leave but the problem lies in SS. There are far too many of instances & incidents that got the dept frustrated over leave clearance with her that I should not comment.

SS always love to use this phrase, "To be fair to the others, blah blah... U can't take leave." But she dun practise what she preached thus double standards. For me, i dun care how she practise double standards but when it comes to leave, which is my entitlement, I really really get very riled up!

Thus i think this phrase is most suitable for her, "All Men are equal but some are more equal than the others." (Extracted from George Orwell's Animal Farm)

Sour grapes, sour grapes, sour grapes

Was on MC today due to menstrual cramps. The doctor's advice, to exercise more so that i wont be feeling lousy & in pain.

Just went to check the company email and they made the official announcement of the promotion of my dept colleagues. Frankly speaking, I dun feel good about it and in fact, its SOUR GRAPES cum shitty feeling when the news was first announced last month. In fact, I really want to confront SS on what selection criteria that she has promoted my colleague on but I m afraid to face the truth. Call me a coward or what, I m really afraid and I dun think I want to know either.

With this official announcement, there's no reason that my colleague should complain about lopsided job scope allocation. In fact, she was comparing the duties allocated earlier as compared to now etc etc... I believe the company will compensate her accordingly.

For me, I had accepted the fact, handled it and going to put it down (still trying coz on & off, i will gloat about it.) The next step that I m going to do is to find better opportunities for myself especially I had lost my drive to work in this company. Nothing motivates me now.... Thank god for the support & encouragement that I had been given by my other dept colleagues. They restored my faith in myself and told me that this, "If its meant to be yours, it will be. Dun force it." That strongly encouraged me and I tell myself that the time is not ripe yet. Thus, nothing for me at the moment and my sis is even funnier, she commented that I might be the next one to be promoted to higher level. I almost choked on her compliement!

Anyway, whatever isit... Work still has to be done. Whatever decisions that SS made, i prayed that it wont be extra work for me and frankly speaking, the colleague who got promoted, I have a feeling that her progress might be an exact replica of the drill sergant in my company.

For me, just gotta make the best of my situation and network more with other colleagues in other dept. :) I really wanna see the light sooner at the end of the dark tunnel.

Indian cuisine today...

I can't believe it myself...

I had Indian Cuisine for 2 meals today, Lunch & dinner.

Lunch was Indian Vegetarian at Amara Hotel Food Court. It was a farewell treat for my colleague, L. He is leaving the company to pursue his Sea Captain course. It was my first time trying it and it gave me a good impression as it was not oily & greasy as the usual Chicken Biryani I had in those Indian Food stalls.

L was surprised that it was my first time having it and he was relieved to know that i enjoy it very much. We chatted about work, family and stuff. We shared similar views on our company's management and he even told me about this nickname given to one of the colleagues. From him, i learnt quite a couple of things and this will help me in my work experience in dealing with people.

Dinner was at Tiffin Room, Raffles hotel. As PK was a Feed at Raffles Gourmet card member, the compliementary voucher was buffet at Tiffin Room or Bar & Billard Room at Raffles Hotel. We decided to give Tiffin Room a try since Bar & Billard Room's buffet is CMI. Quoting PK's words, "To try ATAS curry!"

Well, the ambience was good and the food was good too especially the Tomato Soup that they had at the buffet, its something like Tom Yum (slightly spicy) while at the same time hearty... good for the rainy weather. Basically, the variety is not as much as those normal buffet but it gives u an insight on the North Indian food from appetitisers to main course to desserts.

The desserts we tried, i must say is really an acquired taste and it s either too sweet or too bland for most of it. PK & I loved the Indian style ice cream but we concluded that we won't go for the 2nd time unless its a treat! :P

For me, as usual after each Indian food meal, I will have the runs and that explains why I wont go for Indian food. :)

Clowns

For the past few days, my colleague has been interviewing potential candidates for the position of the Financial Accountant.

Quite a no of colleagues came up to me and asked me this question,"Your dept hiring ah? I tot headcount freeze = hiring freeze?"

One of them's reaction is even more agitated. He even cited that in HIP (Co's intranet) explicitly stated about the headcount freeze and stuff. Guess he is fed up but who isn't?

In one dept, they hired a foreign import from UK to do a normal executive work. The amount of $$ spent on getting this foreign import is more than hiring a local one.

Another dept, a colleague requested for 4 months unpaid leave to upgrade himself for a Captain course. His boss reply, "4 months of unpaid leave? Might as well resign." The boss' reasoning is that there is a shortage of manpower thus he can't grant him the unpaid leave. Well, alot of us saw this dept's colleagues playing online games & stuff.... Shortage of manpower? Hmm, my colleague resigned and will go for his course soon.

See, all these just made the management looked like clowns. I wonder what other funny stuff they will come up with...

PS: Dept requested for lunch duty to be voided but SS refusing & cite alot of reasons. Me expected that!

Phew!

Had a dept meeting to discuss about the handover of roles cum changes in the job scope.

I m really fortunate, my portfolio remains the same and the tough work that I m doing now, there is a back up plan!!! Yeah!

The colleague who got promoted, has plenty of tasks loaded on her and she commented that it seems that SS has dumped almost majority of the colleagues work on her & 2 other colleagues.

My only logical explanation is that SS foresees that my another 2 colleagues & me have the highest possibility of leaving, thus such handover of job scope.

Anyway, I thank god for this.

Home Projects!!!

Below is a list of home projects that I hoped to achieve!

1. Wall sticker decoration in Claire's room - Just done it with 90% of the work done by PK, he is better in this than me!

2. Storeroom reorganisation - Yesterday, my PT cleaning lady helped me clear out some of the stuff. Now the remaining portion is to reorganise the things so that the storeroom dun looked as if the stuff will topple on you anytime!

3. Wardrobe clearance - My wardrobe is in a mess and i need to throw or give away those clothes that i can't wear but in good condition.

4. Kitchen reorganisation - The stuff are lying all over the place even though i have storage space for them.

5. To paint Ms. Piggy's table & chairs in another colour - Optional project.

Claire in HK

Claire is starting to get used to the life in HK now.

First day, she was in HK. She wailed upon reaching HK Aunt's home & she only stopped when she stepped into her room. As that was the room she had stayed before in March. During the 1st day there, the elders DUN DARE to lecture her & give in to her whims as they re afraid of her crying for us, the parents.

So in the end, she literally challenged the elders by defying them. HK Aunt climbed onto a make shift ladder (a chair with a stool on it) to get the blankets & stuff for them. Ms. Piggy immediately climbed onto it the moment she saw HK Aunt on it. HK Aunt was desparately shouting for HK Uncle to get Claire off the chair. Somehow, HK Uncle din catch it. The situation was so hilarious that HK Aunt just broke off laughing while at the same time worried for Claire's safety.

During my conversation with Piglet these few days, she will pout & looks about to cry whenever she heard my voice. The ultimate was on the 2nd day, PK told her to sing the "I love you" song from Barney. She immediately pouted & wanted to cry. True enough, that night she woke up crying for us and Mum has to pacify her.

Mum told me that she is getting used to the life in HK, whenever Claire mentioned about me, Mum will tell her that I m working. Occassionally, she will utter this phrase, "Mama, working.

For me, i missed her like crazy but without her around gives the time to declutter my place. I have project Storeroom, Wardroom & photographs printing lined up to do. Plus, it also allows PK & I to have some couple time together. Though PK doesn't have any outwardly shown appearance of missing Ms. Claire. I know that he misses her too... coz at the Airport send off, he was trying so hard to get her to kiss him!

Sending Ms Claire off

Ms Piggy & Mum flown off this morning to HK.

When we reached Changi Airport T3 this morning, we were in for a shock! The internet check in queue was snaking! So, Mum queued while we checked for other counters for check in. Upon confirmation, that is the only counter! :(

Fortunately, a SQ staff diverted us to the check in counters for Business Class! It was no joke, different flight classes of check in counters had different decor. For Economy class, it was plain & simple! For Biz, there was a blue carpet in front of the counter BUT for First Class, it was RED CARPET!!!

They are supposed to fly there on last Saturday but with everyone sick upon our return from KL. Their trip was postponed till this morning, they will be in HK for at least 3 weeks. (Ya, 3 weeks of holiday for me!)

But i will miss Ms Piggy terribly, in fact my eyes teared when I saw her going into the departure hall! Mum teased me by saying, "Aiya, if u miss her, just bring her back home lah... Dun let her go!" I almost forgotten to give the 顺风 angbao to Ms. Claire, lucky Mum caught my signal & U-turn to get the angbao from me before heading to the immigration!

Mum called me earlier to inform me of their arrival in HK (Auntie's place). She told me about their flight to HK. Ms Claire was quite steady and behaved like a seasoned traveller. She never cry during take off or landing but her tears started rolling seeing my HK Aunt!

Well, as much as i will miss Claire terribly but it will be another break for me!

All shook up!

Today is really a big office shake up. Our CFO called for a meeting at 6.20pm and made the below announcements:

1. Foreign import of my dept => Head of Finance (News of head of finance resignation came last Friday during Happy Hour)

2. Colleague N will be taking over the duties of foreign import => CFO mentioned that she is "promoted" makes me wonder is promotion in terms of job scope, pay or level or everything.

3. Colleague G from Finance will be transferred to my dept.

4. They will hire another person to replace colleague G.

My thoughts, mixed feelings on the "promotion" part on Colleague N. On 2nd thoughts, i know where i stand so i know the reason for not "promoting" me. My only concern is work rotation and major shuffle among job duties.... Sianz....

In fact, all these happenings made me more determined to leave the company. I m already panicking inside my heart when i knew the work i done will lead me to nowhere. Looking at how the management does things further disgusted me especially on the headcount freeze & stuff. Imagine they re cutting our pay to cut costs & yet they re talking about replacement? Makes no sense, spending $$ whereby it should not be spending.

PK is very supportive, his advice is for me to get the bonus & leave the company without a job if I really can't take it. During the last interview that i went, the potential employer is quite of sianz to hear about me having to give 2 months notice. Furthermore, resigning now is not a good option coz I need to serve 2 months notice & i will have to forgo my 13th mth AWS too.

Well, i guess i just have to be patient like what ah fry advised and adopt a wait & see approach. :)

Ms Piggy turns 2 on 17th October

Round 1 celebration with PK's family!

Round 2 Celebration with my family!

Happy Birthday to my little Cheeky one! My wishes for you? To grow up healthy & happy!

Invitation card

Got the above wedding invitation from my childhood friend, his wedding is held on this coming Sunday, 25th October 2009. The invitation card resembles more like a Chinese New Year card but I just love it...

To me, its a break from the usual ones I had seen in Singapore. :)

Thank you, Aunty Meow! :)

Thank you, Aunty Meow for the pressie! Finally, got a "靓靓" bag to go to school liao!

The bag bag is wrapped up so nicely that Mama dun want to open!

Here is my "靓靓" bag!

Hehe, modelling it!

Another view of the bag!

Hee, I m so happy to have a new bag! *Muaks* Aunty Meow! :)

PS: Ms. Piggy refused to let us keep the bag away... Gotta distract her with Gong gong's new laptop!

So touched...

Piglet is turning 2 on this coming Saturday...

She is a lucky gal as she has received her birthday gifts before even the actual day.

What touched me the most is the Barney DVD she received from her Gonggong! Dad was complaining to me why she loves Barney so much coz he wanted to buy her a Snow White one.

I m touched by Dad's gestures as he is financially tight now and he still bothers to get something for her!

Some pix to share

Someone from the office

I used to get along ok with this someone from the office - P. P just got promoted to the same level as SS (Smart Superior).

On my way out to lunch, I saw P at the lift lobby. Her fingernails was coated with crystals/stones that sparkled, her diamond rings on both hands also sparkled. At that moment, I was made even more dizzy by the sparkling stones that I really need to put on a pair of sunglasses to block out the glare. She was decked out in labels from head to toes.

Even since she has been promoted to the director level, she has been more flashy than ever in terms of her outward appearance and attitude. The most apt Chinese term to describe her is, "暴发户". I was thinking to myself, "Does power do this to people?" Looking at P's boss, A at Sr Director level doesn't behave in this manner and I still can joke & laugh with her but not P.

P just disgusts me to no point and I must say she is like a lesson for me, to learn how to be humble coz I might turn out to be like P and disgusts others to no point too. Now, I wonder how to reach the level like A?

Weddings, weddings

This month, I have 2 weddings to attend. One in Singapore while the other is in my Mum's hometown, Bentong, Pahang.

Told PK about the SG one as it was quite last minute. Originally, we re not invited as the affair was meant to be a small one as it was a 2nd marriage for my family friend. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the groom's side needs to add tables to the banquet, thus the invitation to us.

PK was like, how come 2nd marriage still like so grand? As based on our rationale, usually it will be a quiet affair but for my family friend, she has another wedding banquet & wedding photos taken. I was like, "Search me?"

As for the other wedding in Msia, it was long planned and it will be a church wedding cum lunch. It is also a family friend and I looked forward to it! As i really missed the weddings held in small towns where it is a more initimate affair! :)

Buey tahan PK....

Yesterday, I told PK that Mum bought the mattress so that she can have a better nite sleep if she 's bunking over at our place.

Then, we re discussing which mattress to throw for the daybed. Currently, the daybed has 2 mattresses, one is the standard that comes with the daybed & the other is the feather mattress pad over it.

So, I suggested that to throw both away. PK said no and that he wants to keep the feather mattress pad by exclaiming," 它跟了我这么久，有感情的ok!!!" I laughed loudly upon hearing his outburst!

Mum is bad... very bad...

Yesterday, I met up with Mum at Raffles City Shopping centre after work as Mum wants to get this Samsonite Cabin lugguage & Robinson card members has a special price for it.

So after the Ben & Jerry's Banana Spilt sundae we had, we went to check out the lugguage. In the end, we didn't get it coz its not big enough as a cabin size lugguage. We went to Coach to check out the keyfobs but it was closed for the day.

Then we went to Agnes B and checked out their bags. Mum & I were discussing about the bags' design & functionality. While I went to the mirror with a bag to see how it looks, there is this lady who looks pissed off with me for "sharing" the mirror space.

She was carrying this bag made of plastic (similar to my Harrods' plastic bag) and kept on admiring it in the mirror. We overheard her telling the sales assistant that she has been THINKING about this bag over last weekend & for the past few days.... Finally the lady put down the bag and I requested to see it...

The sales assistant told us the bag is a NEW ARRIVAL!! Well, the bag is nice but it doesn't deserve the $195 price tag. Guess what Mum said, "Aiya, this bag is only good as a SWIMMING BAG!!!"

The expression on that lady's face is priceless. We deduct that she wont buy the bag after hearing Mum's comments!

The Drummer Bee Lantern that plays Techno Music

This is the lantern that gets on my nerves with the techno music. My dear Mum laughed heartily when i told her about the dirty looks from the MRT commuters we got.

Parents....

Recently, something happened on the home front that rendered alot of unhappiness among the siblings and the parent.

Last nite, Dad was patting Ms Piggy to sleep (usually Ms Piggy demands that from her fave Gong Gong) and he asked me about a family friend's upcoming wedding date. I mentioned to him that I dunno the date and he raised his voice to me,"I m not fooling around with you. I m talking serious."

I was like, "WTF" inside my mind and I retorted to him that I seriously DO NOT know the date coz i was not invited to the wedding. I got out of the room and went to complain to Mum about his action. Frankly speaking, he could have just got me to ask Mum when is the date instead of raising his voice & attempted to express to me how "SERIOUS" the matter is or rather showing me that he is the FATHER and I should not mess with him.

Mum told me that she doesn't feel like attending the wedding with him and fortunately, the family friend has kindly arranged both of them to sit separately at the wedding. I was like, "Ok" and chatted with Mum on a friend's mentality on something.

I was telling Mum that its a dilemma for me on how to treat Dad nicely. He gave us alot of problems yet he raised us and gave us an education. Furthermore in the past, he doted on his niece rather than Sis & I. Now, he loves Ms. Piggy more than anyone of us and will always be the first one to help me with Ms. Piggy.

Mum was asking telling me how difficult it is for her to face Dad now and she seriously can't stand the sight of Dad now. Seeing them in this kind of situation, there s nothing I can do as their problem is deeply rooted and been there for many years. All I could do now is be their messenger.

Lantern

Mum just bought a lantern for Claire. Its the battery operated plastic type and costs $5.90 despites Mum's attempt to bargain it down to $5. The sales assistant even told Mum that its a bargain coz he is throwing the batteries in for FREE! Sheesh, my first tot was... Isit batteries supposed to come with it???

Back to the lantern, it is in the shape of a bee, plays TECHNO music (which gets on my nerves) while at the same time, the bee will play the drum... Try to imagine a DRUMMER BEE lantern! I seriously wondered why must they manufacture lanterns with Techno music...

Judging from the way that Ms. Piggy handles the lantern, it s more like DESTROYING the lantern! Ms. Piggy is very happy with the lantern when she first got her hands on it and she kept on "playing" with it on our MRT ride home. But 15 minutes into the MRT ride, she gets bored of it and attempted to destroy the lantern.

So PK & I are wondering whether the lantern is able to last till this Saturday in a working condition and we felt that we might be too optimistic about it...

Declutter...

I was lamenting to Mum & PK about my LV bag that I had bought in London. It has became a white elephant sitting in my wardrobe.

I bought the bag as I liked the design of the bag and my intention was to get one "IT" bag and to use it for at least 10 years. Not to mention, being able to pass it down to Claire just like my jewellery!

However, reality sinks in! As much as the bag is functional and well-designed, the bag weighs a ton when I put my basic personal belongings in it and that's the thing I hate most especially when you need to carry a toddler too! I could count the number of times I had used the bag with my 10 fingers!

So now, I had put the bag up for sale and I hoped it will find a new owner soon!

Alarm bells ringing

The sharp jabbing pain in my left shoulder blade to the numb feeling in my left arm and hand set my health alarm bells ringing! These pain came on & off and each time, it took even longer to recover.

I went to see the company doctor for consultation and ended up getting a whole load of rubbish. My colleagues & I seriously suspect how this particular doctor got the license to practise! Anyway, I went for tui na to fix this problem.

Based on the masseuse, I had hurt the area slightly below my left shoulder blade & this is the main reason for those pain I had as they re all connected. She mentioned that Stress, lack of rest & exercise are the culprits that caused such pain. The tui na massage helps to alleivate the pain alot and my left hand is able to move without having those sharp jabbing pain. She advised that I go swimming and to avoid carrying any heavy stuff or exert strength using my left hand.

To me, its difficult. I need to carry that a moving sack of 11kg++ rice (Ms. Piggy) and i m left handed.... Anyway, i will try to rest my left hand as much as possible and find time to go swimming.

Language

I was sharing a video of Claire & her cat with my friends when Ah Fry posed this question to me, "Do you speak English or Mandarin to her?"

This led me to "freak out" again as I don't intend for her to be a language victim like me when I first started Primary School.

My Mum is the sole care taker of Ms Piggy and she speaks mainly Cantonese to her, not to mention me and my family. PK speaks to her mainly in Mandarin & English and sometimes a bit of Hokkien & Cantonese. If outsiders speak to her in Mandarin or English, she will give you the intense & "I dunno what you re talking" look to them.

Just as I was worried about it, Ms Piggy assured me that she won't be a language victim. I was telling her not to play with the power sockets and she mumbled this phrase to me, "Dounch touch!" Later on that day, she was asking PK to the Barney DVD for her to watch in Mandarin.

Phew, I think my colleague is rite as she was telling me not to be worried about the language stuff. As long as we speak to her in different languages, Claire will able to pick up, learn & understand!

MRT Ride....

The Ang Family took the MRT rides everyday, shuffling between Redhill & Bedok.

For whatever reason, Ms Piggy can't sit still in the MRT (if we take buses, she will be able to sit on my lap even for an 1 hour bus ride!!!).

Ms Piggy will hold on to the poles, followed by running from one cabin to another cabin. This is the nightmare for me! Threats, whacking & bribery all dun worked on her, she just wanna get down from the seat & be a pole dancer!

Bribery: I had let her played with my MRT card, mobile phone & even camera but all these will at most lasted for 5 minutes out of the 26 minutes train ride!

Yesterday, I really can't take it anymore. I just gave her 2 whacks on her butt, put her to sit on my lap and firmly enclosed her so that she can't move. I had to endure 10 minutes of her protests and stares from other passengers. In the end, she just sat still on my lap.

Its a dilemma for me in the sense that I dun want to overdose on Corporal punishment but most of the time, it works!

Ms Piggy wont be starved....

This morning, Mum called me & this is our conversation:

Mum: Did you give Piglet her milk this morn?
Me: No, why?
Mum: HARRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mum: I tot u had GIVEN her milk this morn!! No wonder, she climbed on to the table and get food herself! She even polished off the whole raisin bun!!!

Another instance was Mum was having a telephone conversation with Bro and Ms Piggy kept on asking Mum for porridge. Mum ignored her and continued talking to Bro coz the food was not ready yet.

Ms Piggy went to the kitchen cabinet, took out the rice scoop and her little bowl, went to open the rice cooker and attempted to scoop the rice out. But she stopped and exclaimed to Mum, "Hot Hot"! Meaning the rice is too hot for her to scoop out!

Conclusion: Ms Piggy won't be starved. She knows where to get food from.

Freaky, morbid stuff

I guess it must be the illness in me that led me to have these type of freaky & morbid dreams for the past few days.

In this dream, my family and I went on a vacation & staying at a relatives' place. The bed that I was sleeping on actually has a coffin underneath it! Someone was buried underneath bed!!

It became even more freaky when the whole family decided to open the coffin and checked out who is the person and it turned out to be some relative who has passed away very long ago! It turned out that the relative (owner of the place) knew about it and did not tell us about it.

The dream was so real that I woke up feeling frightened. It just sounded straight out like a movie plot. This is just one of the dreams that I remembered, it is so freaky & morbid.

Perhaps, it meant that there is something swirling in my mind that translates in such a dream.. It might mean positive stuff? Well, i guess its just a form of self-consolation.

How to curb this habit?

Ms Piggy has this annoying habit of biting her soft toys and especially before sleeping time!

Currently, my first priority is to wean her off the midnight milk feeds. I tot it was a success but on Sat night, she resumed crying for milk again, hopefully it will go away soon!

Today in the MRT, I was so pissed off by this comment of an Auntie. Claire was sitting inside her stroller and biting her cat (as usual) and then she threw the cat on the floor in a bid to get PK & my attention. We re ignoring her so that she wont give us any pattern. Her pattern can cause alot of disruption to other passengers and we figured out that IGNORANCE is the BEST TACTIC.

This Auntie saw Claire's action of biting the cat & throwing the cat. She immediately threw out this to me, "Dun let the kid bit the cat. You must teach her!" I told PK, "Why she so KPO?" Another Auntie told her not to be KPO coz it dun concerned her. I know that Auntie's comments meant good but does she want Claire to cause disruption to her and others?

Previously, I was also self-righteous when I saw kids misbehaving on the train & stuff. But now I know why some parents adopted certain tactics. So now, I wont comment on anything unless that kid displayed extreme behaviour like bullying or stuff....

Anyway, we tried to apply lemon juice on Claire's cat to stop her from biting it but somehow, it failed. Quoting PK's words, "Lemon juice is like eating the super lemon sweet. No effect one and she gets high on it!" PK suggested bittergourd juice and I think this will be the next on my agenda.

The Wet Market Trip

I bought Ms Piggy to the pau sat yesterday & this morning and the below is what we did:

1. We went to get our meat & veggies.
2. I bought a raisin bun for Ms Piggy
3. We went to the food centre to buy breakfast.
4. We walked to the newspapers stall & bought the papers.

In fact, both of us enjoyed our wet market trips. Claire will point out the birds to me and attempt to run after them. She will help me to carry my stuff or help me pay for the things.

If she wants to see how the stallholders do their work, she will request that I carry her so that she can have a better view.

I aimed to keep this up as long as possible and when she gets older, we will be able to have our breakfast at the food centre after our marketing.

Sleepy....

I seriously suffered from a lack of sleep.

Tuesday midnite, Mum called and told me that she vomitted, BP is high and seeing stars and Dad is not at home. I immediately took a cab down to Bedok from Redhill and sent her to the 24 hours clinic to see the doctor. She had called me earlier and told me about her condition but she refused to see the doctor.

By the time i reached home, it was close to 2am and I took a day's leave to take care of Claire myself as Mum is unwell. I managed to book an appointment to see Claire's PD as Ms Piggy has been coughing for 2 weeks and sometimes she coughed till she vomitted all her food & phelgm together.

Bought her to the PD and she was crying big time when Dr Chan attempted to examine her. Somehow, she remembers that Dr. Chan is the one who gave her the jabs! :P

By the time, we finished seeing the PD & stuff. Its close to 6pm, met Mum & PK for dinner at Sushi Tei in City Hall. Went to Mum's place to stay for the nite. At 2am, Ms Claire woke up to demand for milk, as part of our efforts to wean her off midnight milk feeds, I gave her water instead.

As usual, Ms Piggy tore the house down with her cries & wails. This continued for at least 30 minutes. During this 30 minutes, both Mum and Dad came into the room to scold her while I almost got hit by her flying milk bottle. Mum also instructed me to sleep in Sis' room and Claire cried harder when i left the room.

I only went to sleep with her when her cries subsided with gentle sobbing. I patted her and explained to her that why she can't have her milk and stuff. She finally sobbed herself to sleep.

钟无艳 2009

Mum called me this afternoon and told me that Ms Piggy has became 钟无艳.

Apparently, Claire climbed on top of her toy box (Mum placed it on her side table) and lost her balance. She fell and in the process, her cheek knocked against the sofa arms (thus the bruise). The moment I heard about it, I asked Mum whether Claire cried. As crying is usually an indicator that they re alright 90% of the times.

Mum said Claire is ok as she was behaving normally after the fall and that she cried even harder when Mum said she is not pretty anymore! I set my heart at peace when i heard that. Anyway, I cant help but laughed at seeing her bruise when i fetched her home just now.

Below is a picture of her taken just now, she was pissed off when we attempted to rub the hard boiled egg on her bruise!

Role Reversal

Its really role reversal.

My Father has morphed into a child now and with his old set ways. Its really difficult to talk to him without losing my sanity. I m still trying to communicate with him better.

Yesterday, my Mum complained to me about his ways. He called me back later to explain tonnes of things about his actions and I have no patience for his explanation as he LOVES to talk by beating around the bushes plus not to mention that I told him that I m busy attending to Ms Piggy.

Furthermore, he has this annoying habit of using his mobile phone to call despites him being at home and our many attempts to tell him not to do that. He being a retiree, instead of cutting back on his expenses, spent more and this became a source of problem for my parents and which in turn will be my problem.

In a sense, my Mum, my siblings and I had given up on our Dad. As much as I don't want to treat him in such a way but he just won't listen to us and now he told us that he wants to resign from his job. I m foreseeing more problems, we did tell him to quit his job if its taking a toll on his health due to the weird working hours. But he will be going back to his old job which is another headache for us.

I do love my Father despites all the stuff he has done to create so much heartaches and pain to the family. Now, I just hope that he will listen to us by not going back to his old job and if possible old ways.

Ms Piggy's horrible temper...

Ms Piggy is developing a horrible temper and i called it my retribution.

Mum told me that she has been throwing tantrums and fits if things dun go her way and if we dun give in to her demands. She bit Mum and threw herself on the floor when Mum refused to let her watch her kids' program yesterday. Did Mum whack her? No, Mum told me that Claire was fierce and nothing she can do to whack her.

I had tried various ways to curb this temper of hers. She threw fits in front of me, I just ignored her at home and if its getting out of the hand, I will whack her. In public, I will ignore her or just let her cry. Usually, it works as she realised that I wont give in to her demands.

Now I just have to watch my behaviour & temper towards people especially PK. PK usually will irritate me to no end that I will throw my temper at him. In a way, Claire is learning from me that these are acceptable behaviour (thus my retribution).

God, please blessed me with more patience and I truly hoped that this is just a phrase only.

Something funny...

My co is really screwed up... Last 2 weeks, they announced pay cut + hiring freeze...

But but, they hired an ex-colleague (DG dept) back n during his 1 month absence from the co and rumours has it that his one month absence from the co is considered as UNPAID LEAVE! It just reflects how smart the mgt is!

Anyway, I was quite surprised as SS' statement this morn when S told her about his homecoming. SS said, "他回来做什么？神经病!" Well, SS pledged her loyalty to the co fully no matter what funny policies that the co came up with....

With the recent pay cut, i can see that the loyalty is slowly gone and she is like slowly taichi any extra work for the dept!

Claire's Bag

Mum wanted to get a school bag for Claire as her birthday present. The bag must be adequate enough to store her childcare centre stuff and not too big for her to carry.

Originally, we used the Sammies Penquin Bag for her but found out to be too big for her during her 1 week stint at the childcare centre! Mum nagged at us for being cheapskate (the bag was a lucky draw prize) & not getting a suitable bag for her.... Then she announced that she will be buying the bag for Ms Piggy as her birthday present.

So the hunt for the perfect bag begins, in fact I had seen 2 ideal bags for Claire but too expensive for a toddler and Mum asked HK Aunt to get one for her in HK's Fatt Yuen Street (near to the Ladies' street) where they sell alot of children's stuff at a affordable price! Alas, HK Aunt din get any coz she told Mum that there is too much to choose from and told Mum to get it herself during her next trip to HK.

I asked ST where she got Kay's bag and dear ST provided me more info on the ideal size of the bag & places where to get from. Not only that, Ah Fry also told me to check out Queensway Shopping Centre for the bags!

During the weekend, we met up for dinner at Taka. Mum went to check out the Sanrio bags sold there, somehow i think Mum is a sucker for Sanrio bags... but Mum was shocked at the price and I told her NO too!

Then PK reminded me, "Errm, i think your old K bag can be used as Claire's schoolbag leh?" I was like, "Ya hor, we go home & check it out first!" Mum was apprehensive about my old K bag's size. We went to dig out my bags and realised that I got 2 K bags.

So, we let Claire tried on both bags and one of them can be used for her school needs!! Yippee!! We let Mum see it and she endorsed the size and said to Claire, "Hehe, Popo can save $$ liao!"

Anyway, Claire is funny... She refused to let go of the bag and insisted to shower together with the bag!

Noise Monsters

The noise level coming from the playground last nite was so unbearable that I almost called the police.

The playground near to my block is a favourite haunt for teenagers to loiter from 10pm to wee hours in the morning. The amount of noise produced by them is horrible but usually I just tolerate it...

Last nite was the ultimate and I was thinking of calling the police but I believe another kind neighbour was faster than me. As I was surfing the Singapore Police Force site to check out which no to call instead of 999. I m praying that tonight there will be no such noise. If not, i will be the next person in the block to call the police.

Bentong, Pahang

Bentong - 45 minutes ride from KL & 45 minutes ride to Genting Highlands, Mum's hometown and a small town.

I love to go to this place when I was young! It was a place for me to play and gorge on the food! Its the place where I first saw Fire crackers (banned in SG), where I encountered Kampung life! Mum will bring me to her friends' place, where she will chit chat while i played with other kids...

Usually i m the youngest and always tagging along but the big brothers & sisters will take good care of me. Boy, we had fun pretending to be in a disco! My playmates will switch off all the lights in the room and shone the torchlights, played the cassette recorder and how we danced! Imagine the thrashing we got when the adults finished playing mahjong & realised how we messed up the room! :P

Anyway, going to Bentong these days is for the FOOD! I loved their Hokkien Mee, Ice Kacang, Wanton Mee, Yong Tau Fong & basically all their FOOD!!! Now, i m seriously looking forward to my Oct trip to Bentong to attend my playmate's wedding!

I can't believe this!

I just can't believe this!

The Msia govt is banning Muslims from attending Black Eyed Peas concert in KL coz the main sponsor of the event is Guiness Stout!

I m sure the Muslims fans will be disappointed and the Black Eyed Peas can really bring down the house with their superb singing & energy!

My vain gal!

Ms Piggy is getting more and more vain. She absolutely hates to have anything on her head that includes putting on a hat or hairclips. But these days, she dun mind having them on her head.

The below is a picture of her with her Popo and evidence of her willingness to wear a hat!

Taken at Mouth Restuarant, Chinatown Point

HELPLESS is the word

I witnessed this last night and I felt HELPLESS that I can't do much to help.

Was walking to the lift lobby of my flat and saw this couple at the covered walkway between the blocks.

The lady was sobbing horribly and begging the bf/husband not to do something to her, she was kneeling on the floor. That man's actions is simply disgusting, he just shouted at her to get up, pulled her hair and attempted to drag her up by pulling her hair.

The lady immediately begged for mercy and the guy seems like wanting to smack her. She was was like cowering in fear and i shouted for PK to help but PK did not hear my shouts coz blocked by those pillars. I told PK about it and PK said, he din hear.

I was worried for this lady and really helpless not being able to stop such violence from happening to her. If i go up straight to help her, i might also kena. If i called the police, it might be too late.

Was telling my colleague about it and she mentioned that in such situation, its best to whip out the camera phone and videotaped it down after I had called the police.

Another of these nite

Dunno y Ms Piggy refused to sleep last nite.

She was fussing for milk and once she has finished it. She refused to sleep when I attempted to pat her. She kept on crying for PK to draw the cat for her. Seeing us refusing to draw it for her, she sat on her little chair and attempted to draw it herself.

Afterwards, I told PK to draw for her and told her that she must sleep after PK has drawn for her. She still refused to sleep despite her Father has drawn 3 cats for her. So I switched off all the lights in the apartment and we went to our room to pretend to sleep.

The stubborn Claire went to the living room and played with her Lego set. After a while, we heard her sobbing, i told PK to check on her. PK carried her into our room and she was willing to sleep on our bed. Then she kept on asking us to scratch her arms and once PK stopped, she will shout, "An, scratch!" I told her that she can't call her Papa by his name.

She finally fell asleep after a while. PK concluded that she does not want to sleep by herself, thus she delayed her sleep by asking PK to draw the cats and stuff. Recently, she has this habit of waking up in the middle of the night & wailing if she dun see us around.

I do hope that there is no more of such espiodes.

$2 lunch

After the deal is signed and with another email announcement from HR. The dept is discussing how to tighten our belts.

One option is lunch, they came up with the proposal of having $2 cai peng at PSA. One of them even suggested that we signed up a meal package with them and the $2 will become $1.75.

Just now, J was saying that we should have 1 piece of roti prata for lunch but another colleague refuted this and said that we will go hungry soon.

N was quite demoralised with the 5 day work week announcement as it mean that the amount of pay cut is higher. For me, it was good coz i no longer have to come back on Sat to work nor have the problem of swapping duty with my fellow colleagues.

Anyway, u gain some n u lose some. U cant have the best of all!

The deal is sealed!

Just now, I was inside Mr. F's room to sign the letter of agreement to unpaid leave wef Sep 09 till Dec 2010.

The way Mr. F handled the whole situation is entirely different from SS. Actually, I had no qualms about the pay cut but it was how SS 's high handed way on this situation that pissed me off BIG TIME!

I m fortunate to say that the pay cut is wef Sep 09, i was anticipating it to be earlier. Also, at least mine is not direct pay cut whereas PK is direct pay cut but his company is fair enough to compensate him another 2 days of annual leave.

Now the deal is signed and sealed, I pray that things will be better in the future.

Creative!

Window Display found at Portobello Market, London

Shopping Weekend!

This is really a shopping weekend for me! Its really unexpected!

Things i bought

1. 4 pieces of clothing from Cortifel coz they re having 50% discount on its items. Hehe, no need to shop for CNY 2010 liao!

2. One Supor Diamond Lady wok. The stainless steel wok given to me by my MIL is good for steaming stuff and nothing else. Coz if i uses it for frying, the amount of cleaning required is enough to make me throw the wok away!

3. 2 bottles of IPSA cleanser. Wanted to switch to Dermalogica coz its MUCH more cheaper but I still prefer to use IPSA coz it seems to cleanse the face better.

4. 2 Cannon Bath Towels. I immediately grabbed them when I saw it being on offer. It was unfortunate that the towels dun come in other sizes.

Hehe.. Was telling Mum that wef Sep 09, we need to tighten our belts coz I m going to endure a pay cut from next month onwards and I had bought a bit of stuff too. Mum also mentioned the same case for herself too coz she also spent a bit this month too!

Sept 09 is going to be the start of cost cutting month!

Lego

Yesterday SS was on leave and Toys R Us is also having a Lego clearance.

So i went down to Novena in a bid to get some Lego sets for Ms Piggy. I was totally stunned by the crowd there. There was a queue to get in and a queue to pay for the items.

In the end, I just met up with my ex colleague for lunch and forgo any queues to get the Lego. Its simply too time consuming just to get one set plus the Lego sets are snatched up quickly too!

The below is the set i wanted to get for Claire.

I HEART HEART HEART Sis!

Sis is the best!!!

She just advised me how to deal with Anal SS if SS forces us to do the unpaid leave against our will!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE her very muchie! :)

Sianzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I tot i will be recharged after taking 1 day leave yesterday.

But coming back to work and hearing what SS has told our colleagues yesterday on the unpaid leave stuff is making my blood boil.

She has put my leave yesterday as unpaid without my consent and the unpaid leave is only WEF 1st September 2009. Furthermore, she wants us to clear all our annual leave (no bringing forward even though the CEO has agreed to it and we have to clear within the 1st half year of 2010)

Now i pray that justice will be done coz i m really sick of SS bullying.

Note 7

Must REALLY control my diet & exercise... 2 colleagues had asked whether am i pregnant or not!

The dumb things that SS has done today

Our company has announced alot of cost cutting measures last Friday and the thing that will affect me is the unpaid leave portion. Wef 1st Sep 2009 till 31st Dec 2010, we will have to take 8 days of unpaid leave and we have 3 days prorated for 2009.

The moment this was announced, my main concern is whether the Anal SS will approve our leave. As she was absent during last Friday's meeting, she asked the dept about what was being announced. We told her about the unpaid leave, she immediately proclaimed that its unfair coz at her level, its straight PAY CUT and the company should practise the same to her level! To me, its poetic justice as she always LOVE to use the word, "FAIR" on us and especially on me.

Back to the unpaid leave, we calculated on which month best to take the leave based on the no of working days. The most favourable months are October & December, speaking of it... Anal SS HAS NOT APPROVED my Oct leave yet. We even indicated on our dept schedule on which days of the month we will like to take leave on.

The moment she saw the schedule, she was totally stunned and commented that we are fast in planning it. Furthermore, she told us that she HAS NOT APPROVED the leave. After a while, she came back and told us that HR mentioned to her that we can only clear the 3 days leave by one day each in Oct, Nov & Dec. I was like WTF!!! The dept was pissed off by this and I gave scarastic remarks too.

There is no way will I give in again after what the company & SS has done to me. I will EXPEDITE THE ISSUE to higher authorities this round as I m sick and tired of all these bullying. Frankly speaking, the worst that can ever happen is I give 2 months notice, resign and find another new job.

Just now, she asked me to do something again. I was like, Sigh... Another mission impossible, no proper guideline and just dump the things onto me just like that.... Seriously, all these little little things are really driving me crazy and making me more & more resentful.

Merlion for the week

My dear Ms Claire has morphed back into a Merlion over last week.


On Thursday, i just finished my shower and PK shouted for me. Piglet was sitting on the mattress with half a bottle of her unfinished milk between her legs, her puke was all over the place. PK & I were busy cleaning her and the mess respectively.


On Saturday, I was accompanying her to sleep and she woke me up with a cry. She knocked her head under the bed. She was playing under the bed and I chided her for not sleeping and hurting herself in the process. Ms Piggy cried and cried till she vomitted again!


My turn to shout for PK to help out. I dragged her to the toilet and gave her a big lecture. She wailed even harder when she saw PK. Claire tot PK will came to her rescue, PK also chided her for refusing to sleep and giving us extra work to do. She stopped crying upon hearing PK 's words.


This morning, Claire fussed for milk at 3am. I gave it to her but she was crying incessantly and I tried to pacify her. She kept on crying and i sensed that she wants to vomit. But she stopped when I put the potty to her mouth. When i took it away, she immediately VOMIT! Haiz, another clean up time. I felt so bad coz we were at Mum's place and Mum came over to help out by pacifying her to sleep.


But I can hear Claire calling out for me while i was cleaning up the mess. I was quite worried that she might have stomach flu or bugs and was thinking of bringing her to see the PD later in the morning. All worries were thrown out of the window when i saw her waking up Bright & Cheery this morning!

Brands

I read my fren's blog last night based on her post, she is trying to sell her Agnes B bags to buy the LV bags' she is eyeing on.

This morning, I saw a lady carrying a bag that is similar to the LV Monogram Multicolor series but a local brand. The first thing that came to my mind is, this BAG IS YUCKS coz of the design & color and not become its a LV wannabe.

That reminds me in Secondary School days, there is this brand called, "Elle" and its like the equivalent of an LV bag. Those schoolmates that can afford this brand, we will gawk & wow at them for having these bags. And the "Elle" wannabe brand is "Neve", i think both brands are defunct.

Also at the same time, it started the trend of having branded bags as school bags. I remember Jean Paul Gaultier (JPG) is extremely popular with my school mates. Not only that some classmates of mine used BRANDED paper bags to subsitute as school bags too. My teachers will lecture them as they usually will not bring the necessary textbooks to school!

Come to think of it, the branded bag syndrome has already been ingrained since young in this sense. Now i realised I can afford to buy a branded bag but I questioned myself the necessity of spending a few thousands on a bag. I no longer gawk at colleagues or friends for having branded bags as owning them dun mean that you are many levels above others.

Stupid me!!

Its so stupid & careless of me!

Last nite, I was bathing Ms Piggy in Mum's bathroom. I finished bathing her and wrapped her in the towel. But i forgotten to wipe her face, I told her to stand still & wait a while for me to wipe her face.

Ms Piggy being the notti one, totally forgotten my instructions and attempted to play with the pail of water while i was wetting her towel. Then she slipped and fell, hit herself on the pail. Her nose got a cut, her forehead kena bump and she bleed. She was howling in pain and I felt so heartbroken for causing her such pain.

Mum further berated me for being so careless... Actually it was my fault lah, i should not wrap her tightly in the towel and she was unable to break the fall herself. Anyway, Claire cried even harder when i attempted to put the tea tree oil on her cut.

Thank god, she was alright and seems normal.

Primary School

I know i m being kiasu but i cant help but think about the primary schools for Ms Piggy.

My intention was to place her in Ah Bond's pri sch but judging from past history & stuff of primary school registration (forum & MOE website), i figured that I should just use my alumni connections for Temasek Primary School. Since, I doubt i will do any parents volunteering or waste $$ to get clan/society membership!

PK suan me when i told him that 20++ yrs ago, I also had to go thru balloting to get in the school. Anyway, i told him to shut up coz his primary school is already closed down... Less options for Ms Piggy! :P

Then was MSNing with Sis over the issue of primary school & stuff.... We realised that hers, Ah bond & mine are all POPULAR SCHOOLS, hers & ah bond's one are SAP SCHOOL!!! Hahaha!! Especially Sis' school is almost non-existent during her times.

Bucket Gal

Her fave activity - Sitting inside the bucket