The Year in Review

*post-dated, so regular blog posts will appear below this post*

Ok... I'm getting started on this post on Friday, 23 Dec, the night before I'm off to Malacca & KL for a short break of Christmas, and will see if this post will ever see the light of day...

This year:

a. marks the longest time I've ever been at a single job (1.8 years.. heh) - my advice to those who are just starting out is, unless you work for a huge organisation, don't stay at your first job too long.

b. I managed to get the closure to a certain episode of my love life which I should have welded shut quite a bit earlier.... but I'm just glad I'm fully over it, and am totally certain I'm ready to move on.

c. I really felt that I've contributed to my work organisation tremendously, and was a great help to quite a few depts / local offices... strange, but that kinda happened only because my former supervisor, who used to be a "shield" for me for the bigger matters, left the company, and I had to learn to fend for myself... I think I've passed with pretty good marks.. I don't talk / write much about work, but I'm pleased that I've done some really kick ass work-product / projects this year.

d. I finally "zhang(3) da(4) le(4)" and started controlling my spending... I don't consciously fear that I don't have enough money to buy a house / get married (yet), but at least I know I should be saving more... haven't bought any $300 cuff links and $40 wine glasses this year.. yay!

e. I made some wonderful new friends through blogging, even though I'm ashamed to say I've not kept in touch with some as much / well as I should have.. you know who you are, and for you I'm most grateful.. 1 of you, I talk to 4 times a week on MSN, which is more than I do with my "real-life" friends... :D I'm also the only blogger to know what Little Cart Noodles looks like! haha!

f. my relationship with my brother improved significantly (in my opinion) - he was away for 4 years so I can't say for much about those 4 years, but before that we seemed to always be at loggerheads... after he came back last September, we made the effort to meet for dinners on Thursday nights when he gets nights' off... we kinda stopped that practice some time this year for unknown reasons, but I'm happy to say that we are almost like friends..

g. haven't made that many new good non-blogging friends or "ramped up" many existing friends / acquaintances to "good friend" status, but 1 person stands out... if you're reading this, really, we've met up only 2 times since you've been back, but I've not been happier spending time with anyone else for quite a while now... come on, cash that "cheque" already! :D

h. I've not been able to come to terms that I'm earning quite a fair bit less than my peers still in the law firms.. I know it's my choice and all, but.... That said, maybe that's not such a bad thing after all, cos I need to stay "hungry" to fight for advancement within the company (or better jobs elsewhere).

i. some things happened to some of my best friends to make me realise / fear the same "misfortune" might just befall me too.. and that I better choose / act wisely to minimise the chances of unpleasant things happening.

j. I was supposed to run a half-marathon... I remember we swore on whiskey-water on Christmas eve last year to do so, but am ashamed that HJ and GL have done it, though I have not. Next year!

k. I was supposed to overcome my fear of the underwater by doing scuba diving, but couldn't do my pool & open-water dives cos I had a last-minute work trip... still have $ with the damned scuba school, which I'm certain they will claim to be un-refundable and un-continue-able...

l. have a feeling next year will be even better.. if nothing else, because of c, e, f, g... +3 points! heh..

If there's a heaven

I'm pretty sure this is what Doggieland in the Magic Kingdom looks like..
Link

Hipposites Attract

Cheesy title aside, check this out! They celebrated their first year together a few days ago!

Red Star

Went to Red Star with my colleague for lunch today... nothing beats it as the quintessential 70s Chinese wedding restaurant..

Also, I can't think of any sign more ticklish than theirs, which says: Guests are requested not to perform on the stage.

Puppy Love

See the rest of the photos here.

What I Like About Our Indian Guest Workers...

is when you do something nice for them, they are very grateful...

Just try gesturing to them to go ahead and cross when you reach a zebra crossing in your car:
a. the Indian worker on foot / his trusty bicycle flashes his pearly whites in a sincere smile
b. the PRC worker never even bothered checking for your existence and just rode across the zebra crossing like the road belonged to him
c. the Singaporean checks for your existence (he's afraid of dying) and shows no gratitude whatsoever...

So you say who's the nicest?

Son of a...

My secretary handed me some Christmas cards which got in after the Christmas break this morning.. opened 1 from a law firm we routinely use in China, and when I flipped the card open, quite a bit (by card standards) of sparkle dropped from the card to my black pants!

Now I have sparkly black pants! And an 11am meeting with the Deputy Group President in my sparkly black pants...

Finally..

At long last...
They tasted damned good man!

We had a team Christmas lunch at Orchard Hotel on Wednesday, and I remembered the craving I had a few weeks ago... sneaked off to Jason's to get these and crackers...

I assure you when I opened the tin and caught a whiff, it was heavenly...

And in case you're interested, the 4D digits on the metal tin are 5406.. haha

Woot!

I swear it's partly because of that time of the year... I'm feeling all lovey dovey too!

+++

In other news, I know I should let him tell you himself, but BoY broke his third golf club this evening, and I saw it with my own eyes!

So Cute!

I don't know about you, but photos of cute / baby animals totally make my day!

Because I am in a Good Mood

A photo of myself!

No Promotion Liao :(

On the day I submit my appraisal form, I did one of those hilarious things..

Boss: [My name], Chivas is red wine or white wine?
Me: *incredulous* Chivas is whiskey.
Boss: I'm quite sure Chivas is red wine...
Me: No lah, it's orange in color.
Boss: I'm talking about SHIRAZ lah!

heh... I can be so cute sometimes...

Granny III

Went to see granny today... As I was about to leave for home, I went up to her in her wheel-chair and said goodbye... This 90-year old lady slowly took my hand in one of hers, then her other hand, and weakly pulled it towards herself.. and then kissed it!

Ok... it's really touching on hindsight, but the thought which crossed my mind as it happened was: where does this somewhat senile 90-year old lady know / learn these things from? It's so not in her Chinese psyche! Must be western influences from TV! Or
does she have French / Italian blood in her somewhere that's manifesting itself only now?

But seriously, how come she's only doing these things now? Wow....

Edit: Brother just pointed out that Malays do it too..

I don't want to die!

Got back tonight from my last work trip this year...

It was so telltale when the taxi overshot the alloted space when it turned into the airport taxi bays... one of those really old black top taxis, and I was vaguely amused that the black color of the boot looked like it was spray-painted with one of those aerosol paint cans people use to vandalise trains and walls with...

Within 1 minute of leaving the airport, he was doing the rev-then-idle thing with the engine, and shortly after he was eating into other people's lanes...

please don't fall asleep!

Needless to say, we were high-beamed numerous times on the journey, and to make it worse, I could see the beads of perspiration on the back of his neck... wonder if he was ill or something...

Digressing, but the last time I had the same experience, it was in a taxi on the way back together with YB... jokingly, I said I didn't want to die with many things "undone", and teasingly placed my hand on her thigh briefly (she giggled).. there are few things nicer to the touch than the soft cool (and hairless) skin of a female... I need a woman!!!

Ouch!

Have been meaning to write about this, but last week at work was just too busy... those of you who know me in real life will know why... thank god it's over.. and if anything, hopefully my CV looks a wee bit nice as a result...

2 of my friends did the marathon last last Sunday, and had asked me to be their banana / bun / 100 plus / energy jelly resupp point.... I swear I got some really evil looks from the runners when they saw me eating McDonald's sausage Mcmuffin with egg... heh...

Anyways, the funny bit was after the run... apparently after said friend finished the run, he had really bad abrasion at his groin and butt cheeks... when he stepped into the shower and turned the water on, he screamed when the water ran down his groin... the next immediate reaction was to lean his body forward so the water would run down his back instead of front.. 2 seconds later, another scream, when the water reached his butt! hahahahaha...

That night, we went to Hanabi for dinner... it took him 45 seconds to get in the car, and 1 minute to completely get out and start walking... heh...

Guess what I said when the 2 of them asked me to join them in next year's marathon.. :D

But I think I'll try for a half-marathon next year...

Barn Lart!

Applied for 100 lots of Genting International's IPO last week and got 18 lots.. so I'm strapped into my seat now and waiting for the fireworks when it starts trading this morning at 09:00:01...

Let's see if this baby does 0 to 100kmh in under 6 seconds!

Edit: sold at 10:11.. made $415 net.. quite a bit less than expected, but not half bad!

Le Bistrot

I realise I suck at writing food reviews... no photos, no description of the food, etc.

Anyways, I just had a splendid dinner at Le Bistrot (address below) in Joo Chiat.... 3 course prix fixe dinner for about $35, or 2 courses for about $30 (you choose either entree + mains or mains + desert)...

You can read a far far better review here, but I had the salmon rillette (photos can be found at the link above) and white veal stew, which was a superlative experience...

Also very popular amongst my friends was the filo shell tenderloin... didn't have a taste of it so I don't know if it was very good...

Used to be BYO, but now they charge a nominal $10, which is still very ok.. guess I also liked the fact that it was small and cosy...

Wow.. really sucky review... haha...

Anyways, I'm super touting the ABN platinum card... every $5 spent gets u 12 Krisflyer miles.. the 9 of us spent $335, which in turn makes me about 800 miles... woot!

Hmm...

Isn't it interesting that Singapore blogosphere closely resembles politics in some countries? A ruling government with some members who feel they know what's best for everyone and are openly dimissive of dissent; an opposition with some elements who totally lack credibility in what they say..

Then again, maybe any sufficiently large group will evolve to be like that...

Fat

Have grown fatter, so had to make new pants today...

Somehow I'm willing to spend quite a lot more on shirts than I would pants.. my pants tailor has been this old uncle at the Seah Im Road hawker centre since like 2000, when a friend who (and whose father.. heh) uses the tailor recommended us... back then, it was only $38 a pair...

Anyways, unlike girls, I was "in and out" and in all of 5 minutes... conversation (translated) went something along the lines of:
Me: Uncle..
Uncle: Hmm..
Me: Very long never come and make pants already.. (to establish that I'm an existing customer)
Uncle: Yah lor (yah right, as if you remember me)
Me: I want to make 2 pairs of black pants
Uncle: Ok [pulls out 2 books of swatches and opens to 2 different blacks].. this one the material very good
Me: [fingers the fabric] Soft or stiff?
Uncle: Soft one..
Me: But I don't want too soft
Uncle: [opens the other swatch book] Then this one good..
Me: How much? [By this time, I'm sure not more than 2 minutes have passed]
Uncle: This one [first one he showed me] $40, the other one $45
Me: [points to the stiff one] If 2 pairs of this how much?
Uncle: Aiyah... $80 lah
Me: Ok.. done

Then uncle proceeds to feel me up measure everything... 1.5 inches fatter!

Granny

Remember I previously wrote about my granny who was quite ill? To the extent that she wasn't very lucid, etc.

I know I shouldn't laugh, my dad said today that the maid (who stays with granny) recounted to my dad that this week, as she (the maid) was mopping the floor, she pressed too hard on the mop handle and it broke.. in the process, the maid lost her balance and fell to the ground... My granny, who saw everything, laughed very heartily..

That's re-assuring in a very strange kinda way...

Sun

Had dinner last night at Sun at CHIJMES.. very nice! You can read reviews here and here.

2 complaints though.. they will say that it's a beef and foie gras dish, but the portion of the latter which materialises is only a sliver... and their $5 tofu cheesecake measured all of 4cm x 5cm...

Nice place to bring clients to though, especially when you have an expense account and can thus eat all the tempura you want!

M&M, ure the best!! =)

my colleagues are totally jealous! hee hee...