away from office

1. Set out-of-office email - check
2. Set out-of-office voicemail - check
3. Handover to coverage - check
4. Run around the office gloating ... waving good-byes - check

okay the last one was an exaggeration ... but well ... somewhere along that line ... :)

finally!!! 100% submission ... yay!!!

out.

... then came the storm

quoting Ollie ... i almost drowned on the way to work today ...

gosh ... its pouring heavily yet again ... but the journey to the office was eased with Corrine May's voice on the pod ... very soothing and perfect for rainy days ...

rain, rain, go away ... otherwise there will be no tennis today ...

right. its back to putting out the fires.

thunder ...

there's currently a thunderstorm brewing outside the office ... and i can feel one coming right up ... foresee the office going into a frenzy ...

tomorrow ... 31 August is the final deadline for the submission of returns ... i can somehow sense some last minute screw-ups in the submission process ... i have all but ONE return left to submit ... problematic ...

looking forward to the close of tomorrow ... final tennis lesson ... start of my month long break ... i know, i know ... i have been highlighting this the entire week ... so bear with me as i jump for joy :)

oh man, the rest of the lee-vers already had a head start!

shopping during the weekdays ... climbing up Bt Timah hill last Friday ... soccer + half-marathon over the weekend ... over the causeway today ... board games at Settler's tomorrow ...

to put things in j-mee's perspective ... 10 more chargeable hours ...

mega-watt smiles

at the gahmen's behest ... i tried to submit a smile in an attempt to go the extra mile .... or GEMS (Gahmen Endorsed Meaningless Smiles)

but alas!!! the blar-dee system rejected my smile ... smile size was too big !!! system is screwed man ... my smile was a mere 400 kilo-bytes while the maximum smile size was set at 1 mega-byte ...

maybe they only accept mega-watt smiles ...

byte me

the countdown begins

3 more days ....

until my hols begin ...

i'm so sick of work ... its getting draggy and i'm really really tired ...

been reaching office earlier than usual ... even before the official hours ... guess its cos' i wanna pack up and go on the dot without the guilt-trip ...

i so need to get a grip man ...

+ + +

hooray!!! lee has finally settled her air tics for HK ... glad to have some company for a couple of days during my solitude there :)

so to the rest of the peeps ... if ur gonna pop by HK between 6 to 19 September ... you know who to call :P

+ + +

with Krispy Kreme and Xu Liu Shan in HK ... i'm gonna return to Singapore a diabetic ... its indulgence in KK for breakfast / tea and XLS for after dinner dessert for the 13 days in HK ... i'm in heaven ... sweet heaven baby ... hahaha

bee-day encore

Friday 25.08.2006

another round of bee-day celebration for dear Wilson ... this time, it wasn't a surprise ...

dinnered at Archangel at Great World City ... despite the showy glass-encased outlook, the facade was somewhat dissapointing as the delicatessen had little sitting space ... it was between the 8 seater bar-counter or the paltry 8 tables outside the cafe ... we ended up sitting at the latter .... outside the cafe ... at the walkway ... in the middle of people traffic ... opposite the lift ... diagonal from Jack's Place ... you get the drift ...

and nope, the food didn't exactly save the day either ...

the good : cold meat platter for starters (comprising parma ham, salami, foie gras etc) + dessert (an assortment of cakes, macaroons, tarts ... especially created for the bee-day boy)

the bad : although i enjoyed my smoked duck salad with foie gras shavings ... the other mains were such a let down ... the rest had mashed cod (which tasted like salty baby food), baby squid pasta cooked in barely there pesto sauce (this was too al-dente and tasteless), duck leg in orange confit (looked miserable), some other chicken dish which included a suspicious looking mushroom that resembled a sea urchin (which tasted pretty good in the end ... the mushroom that is) ... hmm, apart from these ... the other normal looking dish was the grilled lamb which looked palatable at the very least ...

bonus : while waiting for the rest to arrive ... i got to try the in-house moon cakes ... a very exotic snowskin foie gras (a very light tinge) + red bean ... it sounds wierd but it had an interesting flavour to it ... anyway, i'll still stick to my fav Champagne Truffle mooncakes from Raffles Hotel ... *drool* ok i'm digressing here ...

verdict : most of the dishes were salty ... portions were small ... prices were high ... think we spent an average of S$40/pax for starters, mains + dessert ... honestly at such prices, we'd be better off eating somewhere else ...

:: the dessert platter - specially concocted for the bee-day boy ::

after dinner drinks were at Bar 84 @ Gallery Hotel ... very nice, quiet, cosy place full of Jap expats ... we were the only Singaporean crowd that night ...

the main draw at the bar was a nightly magic show by Hashi-san ... warm and affable, his less-than-perfect English was such a charm and drew cheers from everyone ... well ... mainly from Keith who was so thrilled at the climax of each trick :)

tricks performed were mainly card tricks which required participation from the 11 of us at one point or another ... the highlight was a disappearing act involving a poker card which Wilson endorsed and was subsequently found folded in a lemon which Wilson sliced open himself ... amazing!!! left us dumbfounded and analyzing how on earth it happened ...

Yiwan also got a fright when a polariod picture of herself showed up a poker card which wasn't there when the picture was taken ... definitely not funny during the 7th month ...

:: to see Yiwan's frightful polariod, click on the picture above to enlarge ::

just when we thought it was time to say good-bye ...

coach surprised us with another tennis lesson next week! yes!!! FREE!!!

wow ... i was caught off-guard ... it was such a nice gesture ...

well ... today was supposed to be our last tennis lesson ... but the winds at Amrita were so strong ... kinda affected our strokes and how the lesson was conducted ... yea, so said coach ... hence why he's gonna give us another complimentary lesson ...

seriously, i think its cos' he's gonna miss us ... being such talents ... :)

King Kong

hehe ... was chuckling after reading kennysia's post on childhood autographs ...

spurred by my upcoming trip to Hong Kong (6 to 19 September) ... would like to reproduce 2 of kenny's autographs below ... ya lah, quite childish ... but his post made me reminisce and brought back fond memories of those days when we were the young ones ... here goes ...

Old Version :

"Go to Hong Kong
Play the Ping Pong
Back from Hong Kong
Marry the King Kong "

Kenny's Version :

"Go To Hong Kong
Eat Until Song Song
Come Back Hong Kong
Become King Kong"

My Version :

Go to Hong Kong
Buy Some Racy Thongs
Seduce King Kong
Become Mrs Kong
Learn Mah Jong
Stay in Hong Kong

ha! now you know what i'm gonna be doing in Hong Kong ...

dumb @$$

got this via email ...

9 Things I Hate About Everyone

1. People who point at their wrist while asking for the time.... I know where my watch is pal, where the hell is yours? Do I point at my crotch when I ask where the toilet is?

2 People who are willing to get off their ass to search the entire room for the T.V. remote because they refuse to walk to the T.V. and change the channel manually.

3 When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too". Damn right! What good is cake if you can't eat it?

4 When people say "it's always the last place you look". Of course it is. Why the hell would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do this? Who and where are they? Gonna Kick their asses!

5 When people say while watching a film "did you see that?". No Loser, I paid $12 to come to the cinema and stare at the damn floor.

6 People who ask "Can I ask you a question?".... Didn't really give me a choice there, did ya sunshine?

7. When something is 'new and improved!' Which is it? If it's new, then there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement, then there must have been something before it, couldn't be new.

8 When people say "life is short". What the hell?? Life is the longest damn thing anyone ever does!! What can you do that's longer?

9 When you are waiting for the bus and someone asks "Has the bus come yet?". If the bus came would I be standing here, dumbass?

toyboys & boytoys

good nights out are made of these ...

chilled out with lee at Morton's ... its Mortini Nights on weekdays where martinis go for $9.95 per glass ... with complimentary steak sandwiches that are oh-so-yummy ... the beef was juicy and succulent ... the bread was nicely buttered and warm ... heavenly ... it's the next best alternative to the REAL DEAL ... i.e. Morton's of Chicago - The Steakhouse ... will definitely go back for the yummylicious 'wiches ...

next, we headed down to Suba for a round of complimentary Cosmos + strawberry chocolate fondue ... pretty good! service was excellent as well ... waiters were very attentive and kept feeding us with sticks of strawberries while maintaining the constant free flow of Cosmos ... music was great ... lee + i were lancing in our seats throughout ... only grouse about the place is the lousy ambience ... Suba looks good during the day but feels just like any other pub at night ... no X-factor there ...

and nope ... no potential toyboys in sight ...

+ + +

lak + kay + i were discussing about what to get for baby Caleb ... apart from the set of baby clothes that i got ... we were thinking of getting toys for the boy ...

here are the suggestions the gals came up with :

barney the purple dino ... nah, barney is gay (p.s. nope, i'm NOT homophobic)
tellytubbies ... nah, all of the them are gay too
bert ... nah, too evil
thomas the tank engine ... yea, probably this is it

erm ... you don't wanna know my suggestions ... cos' i was in an evil state of mind ... its too disturbing to mention ...

alright ... that sums up toyboys + boytoys for tonight :)

mr brown fights back!

woohoo! was waiting for the brown man to fight back ... and he did!!!

with a vengeance ...

btw ... mee siam got harm meh?


Technorati tags : mr brown / spacedonut

Surprise Surprise !!!

19.08.2006

the gang threw a SURPRISE bee-day party for Wilson ... however, the plan got foiled somewhat by Corkee ... despite repeated reminders via emails + sms ... damn!!! the cat got out of the bag ...

but we had fun nevertheless ... its always a thrill having something up one's sleeve ... a conspiracy ... excitement ... yea, we are such thrill seekers ...

BBQ + getting the bee-day boy thrown into the pool ...

Guoliang also got "raped" by some folks who wanted to see the alien on his back ... hehe ...

20.08.2006

Mum said that she was very happy today ... cos' we all got to spend an entire day together doing family activities ... yakking, gossiping and of course eating lah ... its very rare that she says such stuff ... so sweet huh? :)

the blings + blingster got together for a round of tennis ... while the rest took a dip in the pool ... i fiddled with itunes to get updates for my pod ... new songs!!! yay!!!

10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job

for those tempted to quit their jobs and are considering the path less taken ... i.e. entrepreneurship ...

this article is an interesting read ...

the other articles are worth browsing through as well ...

dee-mee-nee-shing

yup .. the 'ees' are diminishing ...

to clear leave ...
jee left the office 2 weeks ago ...
j-mee's last day was yesterday ...
@lloy's last day is today ...
and all 3 are off to UK come September 12 ...

so it's just the 4 of us that are left ... i have this nagging feeling that this is the start of our disbandment ... with all the different pressures and different pursuits of ideals ... *sob*

come September, we will each be off to holidays or to do our own stuff ... its funny how i struggled to negotiate for an entire month off in September, hoping to flee Singapore for an entire month in US or in Europe ... but alas, all plans fell through with some twists of events ... yes, i am disappointed but oh well ... feels like a good ol' school hol to me! ;)

instead of doing some serious travelling, it could be a good time to reflect and take stock of my life ... and not to mention some serious housekeeping to do ... there is so much that i need to get rid off ...

been reading quite a number of blogs recently and came across some very simple but inspirational thoughts ... this is one of them ...

"in the 60s, peddlers balanced their wares in two baskets swinging from a wooden pole which they carry on their shoulders. sometimes life feels like this - we have a basket of good and bad, friends are the pole which bridge and bring it all together. when the ill winds blow, as they sometimes will. "

i am very thankful for my friendships and for the people around me ...

y'know, human beings are a complex lot ... we complicate matters ... make mountains out of molehills ... jump to conclusions at a snap ... hyperventilate ... yes, yes, yes, guilty as charged ...

in one way or another, we are participants in a rat race and some rats out there are nasty and mean ... so the next time you are feeling down and out cos of some rug-rat ... stop and take stock ... go back to basics and appreciate the simpler things in life ... i'm not gonna elaborate here cos i could go on and on ... but its worth stopping to smell the roses (in our case, frangipanis) once in a while ...

this must sound weird coming from a material girl ... honestly, i do find contentment and appreciation in many aspects ... and i am thankful ...

omg, i sound like a darn preacher ... its friday ... and i'm tired of work ... am looking forward to my break and my escape ...

ta

Bangkok - my version

This is Bangkok ... from my point of view ...

My 4th visit ... first REAL shopping trip to the Land of Smiles ... previous occasions were purely for work + sightseeing ... this one was solely dedicated to retail therapy + gorging on food ...

I just love going back to Bangkok ... its such a vibrant and creative city ... i just love the artistic side of it ... its also a cornucopia of sights, smells, tastes + sounds ... some pleasant ... some not so pleasant ... one thing is for sure, Bangkokians are one helluva patriotic lot and they are such great ambassadors of their country (such a rarity in Singapore) ....

this is my kaleidoscope ... enjoy ...

food !!!! yes, i pigged and pigged (some finger lickin' good moments) ... NON-STOP...

as you can see in the ensuing pics ...

this is the uber-cool Greyhound Cafe - highly recommended!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed my Spaghetti Cha Cha Cha aka squid ink pasta ... ab-fab ...

and of course ... my usual pilgrimage to Zen @ Patpong for good + affordable Jap food ... the sashimi is always fresh + excellent ... oishi ne :)

some pics taken at Siam Paragon ...

this one below shows a reading area in the middle of the shopping mall ...

love the look and the cool concept

Collette is to Paris .... PLAYGROUND is to Bangkok ... yet another ubercool shop to check out

some miscellaneous cam-whoring moments

found this bloke at Chatuchak ... quite cute lah

the funky hair stylist that did van's + mum's hair

i love BKK & BKK loves me! so much so that they named a shoe shop after me ... heh

Bangkok - according to Van

10.08.2006 to 14.08.2006

Our Bangkok trip according to Vanessa ....

more from Van here

baaacckkkk!!!

i'm back from my BKK trip and i haven't unpacked!!!

instead, the first thing i did was to sit in front of my laptop ... i'm too obsessed with clearing emails (as opposed to clearing my luggage to unearth all my new purchases ... hehe) + blogging (uploaded more tioman pics in the previous post) + catching up on fellow bloggers ... i haven't even downloaded the BKK pics to my laptop (which is usually the first thing that i do)

anyway, in the process of catching up, came across this post which features some blackivory pieces in a picture taken @ Salad where we are selling at =P

ok, i'm off to shower and to unpack ... yea, finally!

akan datang

to my faithful blogsters ...

more tioman pics coming your way ... stay tuned!

am off to BKK and will be back with more pics :)

Tioman - Too Much Fun!

05.08.2006 to 07.08.2006

3 days/2 nights

5-6 hours coach + ferry ride

10 people .... 5 dudes + 5 babes

the sun + sand + sea .... we carvorted ... frolicked ... and of course we cam-whored the entire time!!!!! muahahahahaha :)

Berjaya - nicest resort on the island ... excellent facilities .... snorkelled at Renggis Island ... clear waters and exotic, colourful fish ... kayaked ... beer + pizza by the pool ... lazed by the beach ... chilled-out at the Toxic Bar ...

Celebration - Kay's 27th!

Above all ... it was the great company that made the trip a wonderful one!!!

:: our kumpung abode ::

:: dumping kay into the sea ::

:: hungry !!! ::

:: babes, babes + more babes & some self-whoring moments ::

:: kay's bday celebration ::

:: shiny happy people ::

for those patient enough to view all the above pictures ... here is your reward !!!

MTV by the teapot gurls ... taken just before bedtime ... under the influence of alcohol ... oooh ... kinky!!!

in case you were wondering ... yes, there were other videos .... but its only for the privileged few ... heh :)

Donuts have arrived in HK

OMG!!!!

Krispy Kreme has reached the shores of Hong Kong!!!

When will it come to Singapore???

I so need a sugar high :)

nonsensical names

further to the previous entry on some fair-weather friends ....

another round of name-calling came up during lunch today :

bee : bulldog biyani
jee : hippo hee
linda : lion lee
me : leopard lee
x-tee : tiger tee
j-mee : tadpole teng
@lloy : whinocerous wong (yea, very whiiinnneeee indeed!)

yes, yes .... how juvenile can we get :)