A Race against Time

WARNING: This is a highly photo intensive post, DO NOT COMPLAIN!

The long awaited trip had finally arrived. Our flight to BKK was at 715am, in-laws were really nice, fetched us to the airport.

Baby and I, looking rather spaced out (him in particular) @ 530am.....

Thailand's tourism must have been badly hit. They were giving away bags of lychees upon arrival at the airport! They were in season and were amazingly sweet!
Arrived at our hotel @ Sukhumvit Soi 11, near Nana Station. It's a little boutique hotel called Le Fenix hotel. My dear friend Jan got me a good rate and I was delighted with its decor. Check out the lobby area! Feels chic does'nt it?

Our deluxe room. Was supposed to be upgraded but nevermind, this room's good enough for me. Clean and cosy, what more can I ask for. The staff there were all very young and friendly too.
Retro tiles. Pity the toilet didn't have a bath tub. Not that I had the time to soak though.

Famous Pubbing place -- Bed Supper Club was just round the corner. We didn't patronize the place coz I heard the cover charge was a rip off. Opened by a Singaporean I heard, so what do you expect!
After check-in, we zipped off in the oh-so-familiar BTS.....they don't seem to move with times. Their trains are still so short! Wonder why they built such long platforms then. Perhaps they are waiting for Singapore to sell off their trains.
Very creative.
A Must-have dessert! MANGO STICKY RICE! Kao Niao Ma Muang (i think)
Cool air drifted from the air-conditioning vents of MBK. Faced with a wide variety of items on display from the many shops and hordes of busy buyers pushing and shoving around, I felt instantaneously at home........ahhhhhhh.........
As the morning gave way to the hot and humid afternoon, the girls and I headed for Siam Centre and Siam Discovery Centre. We found this cool place which sells baking materials -- WHOLESALE! Elaine simply went insane! I did too! bought the most ridiculous thing there (which would be revealed towards the end :-P)
Dinner was at the famous German Brewery Tawandang. Heard they opened an outlet here in Singapore @ Demsey Road. Gotto check it out one day.
The food was absolutely awesome. Mouth-watering is an understatement! My tastebuds simply exploded when the palatable spread was laid before me! Euphoria was seeping into my veins, spreading throughout my body! Exhilaration exploded sporadically and my saliva as hanging dangerously at the tip of my mouth as I saw my favourite Pla Ka Pong Neng Ma Nao (Steam fish in spicy sour sauce). The pork knuckles were also to die for. I'm not a pork knuckle person for fear of the oozing fats, but trust me, one cannot miss this amazing dish! A satisfactory smirk was plastered across all our faces when we conquered the knuckle! It was whipped clean.
Beer. A Must have! 3-litre. The entire meal worked out to be around SGD100? Good food at great price!
Later that night, friends Xiong and Yue arrived. Hawkers were lined along the Soi leading to our hotel and we decided to bring them on a food tasting spree. Nothing beats roadside food. They have an indescribable taste..perhaps due to the "added ingredients"...Having dinner with rodents and cockroaches isn't something for the weak hearted.
Pipping hot bowl of Beef noodles. Addictive!
Day 1 and 2's achievement. Nothing to shout about seriously. I did so much better 2 years ago! This would have been half of what I had bought in a day! Guess as a person matures, one becomes more sensible? Or perhaps I've grown so much I can't fit into those teeny weeny outfits the Thais wear. Their sizes run smaller. If you are a S in SG, you'd probably fit in an M....if you are an M, you'd fit into a L. So guess what size have I ballooned into? Utterly demoralised and depressed!

After shopping on Day 2, we thought we deserved a good massage. Went to Healthland @ Ekemia. Walked almost 1.5km from the BTS station. Moral of the story, Do not trust maps you see online! We were truely relaxed (though some were in pain) after a good 2 hour thai massage. However, the boys on the other hand weren't too happy. They waited for us for dinner and trust me, the colour of some of their faces were as black as the dirt on my feet!Dinner was at the highly publicised Cabbages & Condoms. Spotted this restaurant on Discovery Channel and wanted to visit the place. It's a place which has a theme. You've guessed it -- COndoms! It's not a sleazy place, but promotes safe sex.

Food there paled in comparison to what we had on Day 1. Perhaps coz the food were not so much to my liking, or the mood was tainted due to certain reasons.
Creative Thais @ work. These costumes were all made from condoms!

It's a bird. It's a plane..It's Captain C?


Day 3: Jatujak Market. I'm all geared up for the day. The weather was pleasantly cool compared to other occasions. No sweltering heat from the merciless sun, instead, there was a light drizzle when we arrived at Mo Chit station. As usual, scores of young enthusiastic Singaporeans thronged JJ market. Which is probably why prices have gone up.
Different smells of meat and stuff mingled together to form an almost-nauseating concoction. I've never been a fan of their meat items. There's a weird marinate in them.
Sweetie would probably love this huge golf ball stool. Pity it's too bulky to be carrying back, else it'd really make a gorgeous pc for our home.
So MOLECULE!
The 3 oriental beauties! We figured at one point, we were melting under the suffocating environment, thus we each bought a fan. Soooo Kawaii des neh?
A refreshing treat -- Coconut ice-cream in a coconut husk no less! I licked the spoon with utmost satisfaction. It's only 25bht! A Steal!
Since the weather was nice, we decided to "lim teh"

The after photo. Check out the stuff we've bought! We looked slightly exhausted but looking delighted with our purchases. most shoppers there were in an indulgent mood. but of coz! It's SHOPPING we are talking about! However, I did not reign as the queen for the day. E bought a stool back! It's really nice and chic....wanted to lug one home too, but they didn't have the design I liked! HENG AH!
After a nice shower and a foot massage, the aunties who were earlier haggling over prices are now transformed into babes ready to take the streets by storm!
Feasting out at YES INDeED! Was there years ago. the food's still good, but portion seemed to have shrunk. It's kindof out of the way and we had a hard time hailing a cab for our journey there. Sweetie had to gesture wildly before the cab driver knew where we wanted to go. I'm very impressed each time sweetie speaks Thai. He does have a flair for language. A total turn on! The big head prawns and garlic squid were so fantastic we had a second round!
Chilling out at SLIM @ RCA......The live band there was great. Pity there wasn't much standing space.
mixers, plain water and even Ice were chargeable @ 50bht! Alcohol may be cheap, but those add-ons are rip offs!


The queen had a potent drop towards the end and it hit her bad!
The night did not end after RCA. I hopped to Xiong's room for second round of baileys. We had to finish em else it's a waste. Thus, filling our cups like chocolate milk, XY and I chatted and drank till wee hours of the night. Xiong could not care less and hit the sack. I was sandwiched between the two of them! haha Threesome!
Day 4. I rose lazily from my pile of warm blankets, my mind still in dreamland. Having slept for less than 4 hours, I was extremely lethargic. But no time must be wasted on this last day. We decided to "cheong" Platinum as we failed to cover 2nd and 3rd levels on Day 2. The place was simply huge with at least 5 levels to cover. It's a mini JJ market, only difference , it's air-conditioned! Shopping at such places require intense planning, else you'd probably miss a lane or two. Along the way to Platinum, we passed by Central World and there was some vintage car exhibition going on.


Last proper meal -- Japanese @ MBK.



This set is less than 200bht! which works out to be approximately SGD8! Where to find???? Faced with the large variety of food, I was really spoilt for choice. struggled to finish and was rubbing my round tummy at the end of the meal.

Was really tired. Kept yawning throughout the day. I inhaled deeply, hoping to breathe in the fresh scent of grass but my nostrils were assimilated by the pollution instead. The rest of the day was a rush. had to purchase the foodstuff and make our way for pedi and manicure!
Guess how much I paid for my pedi and mani? Complete with Blings? 500bht! ie approximately SGD20. I should simply migrate to BKK! Apart from the insane traffic jam which happens 24/7, it's a place which is made to measure for me!
OMG! I didn't realise I bought so much lingerie. I know I said I wanted to stock up, but errrr how many breasts and butts do I have!
Here you are, my most ridiculous buy -- PLASTIC PLATES! "occupational hazzard" i guess. It was sooo cheap. Couldn't resist la! only 70bht! There must have been 50-100 pcs in that stack!
Handcarried those twigs back. Once again, they were too cheap to resist. ranging from 3bht to 30bht, how can I not lug them back! Tastefully pieced together.
This was bought with "permission" from sweetie. 24 pairs of chopsticks! We are always having problems finding cheap wooden chopsticks, thus when I found em at JJ mkt, I bought almost all their stock! 10bht a pair, how not to buy!!

That trolley was filled with our handcarries. Surprisingly, we did not exceed the baggage limit! Perhaps coz XY and X didn't do a good job at shopping! They were travelling light! Didn't even have a single check in! But Xiong made a suit for 4500bht...prices have sored since 2 yrs back when sweetie made his suit.
We came home and was disgustingly surprised by the fungus which plagued the tea leaves that were left to rot whilst we were away!
Even the tea had mould! Eewwwwwww
No wonder they said Good things don't come cheap, cheap things don't come good. After soaking the chopsticks, this was what happened! Sweetie spent the night attaching them together.
PHEW! I've finally come to the end of my post. I'm totally overwhelmed by this entry. Took me 1.5hours! Longest ever! A waste of time actually, but still, i had to do it. M extremely tired after this trip...think I need another trip to revitalise and re-energise!

Pain in the Ass!

Am annoyed. Am madder than a hatter. Just gave mum a call to chat, ended up being irritated.

Her: Ohhh didn't know you would call. thought u have flown.
Me: of coz I'd call...else u'd scold.
Her: I don't know when u are flying...
Me: I told u it's Thurs
Her: ohh Thurs, then why did u call today?
Me: isn't it better that I call earlier? my flight is super early tmw.
Her: ya...sure.....going to enjoy life huh...so rich hor? since your flight is tmw, then u shld call tmw...
Me: ok, i'll call at 5am then.
Her: Suree.....u are welcomed to call anytime. Didn't expect u to call.

For those of u who are wondering why I'm so annoyed, well, let me tell u, the tone of the entire conversation was sarcastic. It may not seem so in writing, but trust me, she's one irritating sicko who can't stand the fact that her daughter is having a good time/ better time than her. As far back as I remember, she has always been comparing. When I tell her I can't sleep till 3am, she'll tell mi she can't sleep the whole night. When I tell her that I work till 10pm, she tells me she works till 11pm and has to do chores when she gets back. Just so you know, she has a choice. She can go home early, but does she? Noooooo..she enjoys wallowing in self pity and being in the limelight of a stage called sympathy. I think it's pathetic. I'm currently engulfed by an overwhelmingly sense of frustration and annoyance. My quest for peace in the family is often defeated by her. She's the catalyst of many quarrels. i try to be more patient as she had a bad past, but why put it upon me? It wasn't me who caused her unhappiness! She's often basking in her own self-pity and honestly I'm sick of it. THis constant pathological struggle between loving and not loving, caring and not caring, has been a tiring feat. Love transcends everything, but in our case, it has failed miserably. I've fulfilled my daughterly-duties, but yet, it's never enough for her. I'm suffocated!

Perhaps if I wasn't having a migraine and very bad backache, this episode would not have been magnified. I'm oddly uptight when it comes to such things, despite my display of bravado.

PS: Did I mention, I had a pain in the butt recently. Literally! Yes, the pain persisted for almost 15-20mins. I could not stand up! Had pins in needles in my left butt cheek! Not sure what's the trigger but I'm quite sure it's not due to the fact that I have fat ass! I quaked in fear as the pain became intolerable. Felt vulnerable and helpless as sweetie was out golfing. There was absolutely no help within an arm's length! Scary episode.

The bomb

I promised myself to update this space, but kept procrastinating as the past few days had been an emotional battle. All these while, I thought I'm a blessed person and bad things won't happen to me or people around me. Well, I'm wrong. Fate is making a mark in my life. First Dad, now sweetie. 2 yrs ago, Daddy was retrenched. It's a terrible period given that I'm the only child. It also doesn't help that Mom is quite a tyrant, always demanding for money for her health supplements and rendezvous with the tai tais. It also doesn't help that the economy is such and the nation discriminates against old but experienced people. It took dad a while before he found a job. Pains me to see him turn so weather-beaten and having to work on a Saturday. So much so, he doesn't even have time to have dinner with me. :-( With my hectic schedule, it's hard to complement our times. Fortunately, Dad's an understanding person who doesn't need me to be there physically. He is often living in solace, totally oblivious to his surroundings, just wanting to be in a state of inertia.

A day after sweetie's bday, the bomb exploded once more. I was dumbfounded and speechless. I let out my sorrow and cried in his embrace. I was hopelessly inarticulate. These days, there's no such thing as insecurity. True enough, the day before, sweetie was just joking about the matter and the next day, it's as if God heard him and grant him his wish. How are we going to plan for the future if the economy and career's so uncertain? How are we gonna pay for the house without any CPF? I'm probably paranoid at this point in time, but I'm one who'd rather look on the dark side and treat the bright side as a bonus. An irrational / rational fear unreasonable crept into my head. After a period of awestruck silence, sweetie assured me that he'd soon find a job and that things would be fine. At times, I'm not sure if he's putting on a front just to give me assurance or he sincerely feels that things are not as bad as it seems...or perhaps, he's taking things too easy and looking fwd to more days of golf!

When my MIL was told, she asked him what's his plans. His reply "Golf more lor"....and she went"So old liao, still don't want to go give birth to 8 or 10 grandkids for me to play with?"..errrrr...........The sudden change or topic has total irrelevancy to the current situation. In fact, given the uncertainty of when the next bread and butter would come, we should not even think of having kids! Plagued by tons of bills, I feel so breathless over my new title -- Sole breadwinner. Was still secretly(ok, it wasn't so secret, i did tell sweetie!) entertaining thoughts of cutting down on work, guess I'm born a bull! THe future is unpredictable just as how we are now. I do have faith that my capable baby will find a job soon and in fact, this may be a blessing in disguise as this job, no doubt is in an MNC and allows him to learn lots, is no match in terms of dollars and cents as compared to his peers in other local firms. No AWS, no Bonus...geez....Also, it might do him good to go out and have a taste of how hard it is to run around doing real work as opposed to having a cushy work-from-home job.

Am supposed to go on a therapeutic retail trip tmw, but now, I'll have to be prudent in spending.

Happy Birthday my dear friend!

An overdue post at 3:09am. Insomnia again whilst sweetie sails through a cacophony of snores. I swear his snores are getting louder day by day, perhaps due to the good food and good life he's having.

Back to the essence of this post. Celebrated good friend E's birthday on Sunday. Welcome to the club gal! Made her a card with a picture of the youthful her. The pic was given to me in 1999 and I thought it'd be a lovely surprise for her. It's amazing how time flies. I'm impressed by our undulating friendship that we have. To be in touch and still have that sisterly feeling till today isn't easy. Takes two to tango and am glad you did not disappear or go all weird on me. Dinner was at T3, Earl Swensens. Didn't know its existence till today. Talk about being a mountain turtle! I eagerly anticipated my meal which looked scrumptious and amazingly mouth-watering on the menu but:

Look at the portion! Sometimes I wish I'm a beetle or some sort. This plate of meager seafood will probably be enough to nourish my whole family for one whole year! Seriously, the squid and fish looked way bigger on the menu. Digital enhancement perhaps. Nevertheless, the raisin butter rice was tastefully fragrant.
This was what the birthday girl had -- a staunch vegetarian. A real wonder how she manages to do so, with all the palatable meat dishes around...n what about KFC!!?? Discipline. That's what this gal has! Indeed, with the amount of accolades she has under her belt, it's no wonder she's been one movitating factor in my life.
The birthday gal herself! We didn't really change much from our school days. Or at least I hope to think so. Reminiscing the past, I can't help but think how much we have achieved. The days spent studying together in the comforts of the huge ass study room and being served ginseng tea frequently, must have contributed lots to my grades back then! haha..
Fellow girlfriend H....Make a guess what E's laughing about....*Wink*

Back home, life's surprises have arrived. Above is the long awaited Marc Jacob. Was anticipating it enthusiastically but Reebonz.com failed to provide an up-to-mark service. First, there was a stain which could not be professionally removed, thus they sent it back to the supplier for an exchange. That took perhaps 1+ wks. Upon arrival in Singapore, it was supposed to be mailed out on Thursday, but apparently there's some screwup with their system as they are "growing" real fast (or so they claim) that their system can't catch up, thus my item wasn't mailed till Monday! In all fairness, they did service recovery by giving me $50 credit as a form of goodwill. Guess I can't blame them anymore. :-)

Surprise number 2 --- The handle on my iron gate is SPOILT! Yup, that's the remains of it. We needed to do an autopsy. Somehow the catch has mysteriously misaligned and it's not permanently damaged. G and sweetie had a hard time sweating over it but to no avail.

As I plough through my diary, i'm delighted that the June hols are nearing. However, upon scrutiny, it's probably gonna be a tougher road than usual. As panic attack strikes, there'd be loads of extra lessons. I hope people will be responsbile enough to update early and not screw up my plans. in fact, most importantly, I hope S will give me a confirmation on our last day. Am planning to do a course to upgrate myself during this period too if time permits. Been trying to contact the centre, but somehow, people around me these days have the tendency to go missing/ act irresponsbily and not give me an answer. What's up man?!

Hopefully the forthcoming trip will be a fulfilling one. Filling my shopping bags to the fullest that is! Following that, hopefully I can spend more Me time and Us time with sweetie. Wish i can have more unconstructive little pockets of time to while away.

Finding Nemo

It's 3:04am. I'm perspiring in this amazingly humid weather. Insomnia. Wrote down a list of things I am hoping to achieve. Need to settle loads of shit.

1)M1 billed me for some ridiculous Value Added Services again. This is the 2nd time such a thing happened. The last time, they told me they were commissioned by a 3rd party to do so and are not able to interfere should the 3rd party decides to charge me for the service rendered. However, the "service" was a mere sms featuring an advertisement! and if you choose to ignore, apparently, you'd be charged! You must in fact, scroll down to the end of the sms and unsubscribe the "service" It's a scam! How can a legitimate and reputable firm like M1 allow such things to prevail? They are so gonna get it from me tmw!

2) 2nd bothersome thing on the itinerary: To fax over the apology letter sent to me by Comfort Delgro to AIG. Some time back, an idiotic driver squeezed past my car in an attempt to overtake me on a busy street. It was obviously an impossible task since he was behind me. However, he made a relentless attempt and finally managed to be in front of me, not without giving my dear car a good scratch. His rude attitude did not help in the situation. After a minor argument, I took down his carplate number, wrote a letter of complaint and got him fired! I'm sorry if he has an army to feed, but this is a civilised society and we should treat our fellow beings with respect! That happened on 29 June 2008 and I have long forgotten (ok, that's a lie, i'm living in guilt each day for causing him and his family to starve!). Anyway, just the other day, I was informed by AXA that they are unable to retrieve my NCD (A bonus for being a good driver with clean record and not making any claims) from AIG. Apparently, Comfort Delgro has decided to place a claim against my insurance policy and I was not told! A quick check with my agent and he said it's INDUSTRY PRACTICE! The two insurance companies will settle between themselves and customers will not be informed unless it calls for a court case. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS! If I had not changed motor insurance company, i would never have known why my NCD had become zero! They are such assholes! On the one hand they've apologised and claimed to have fired the driver, on the otherhand, they lodge a claim for damages! Imagine, if I had not been a law-abiding citizen and reported the matter immediately after the minor scratch, I would have been maligned! Thankfully, the government made it mandatory for drivers to make such a report, regardless of the magnitude of the accident. I'm so not gonna take this lying down for if AIG loses and have to pay damages, I would have to reimburse AXA the discount they've given me base on my previous NCD.

In other news, the gang just went on a dive trip last wkend. Didn't join them coz i had better things to do. They left on Friday night, and were back on Sunday night. Geez, what a rush. The photos, however, turned out really good. Lo and behold the creatures of the sea!

It's a bird! It's a plane, it's....it's...I think it's just Fatty!

Beauty and Jaws Wannabe?

Man overboard!

I'm awestruck by the stupendous view of the school of fishes! Nature at its best.

Picturesque is an understatement. Words cannot describe the beautiful and untouched scenery underwater.
Ok, I don't really know who is the clown, but judging by the tummy, my guess is -- FATTY! again! haha..this time acting like Superman?

Presenting -- The dancing mermaid!

Fortunately no one was too entranced by the scintillating scnery that they stepped on this little monster. The result would have been devastating!

It is indeed a welcome relief to have the sea breeze blown in their faces. I can only count down to my retail retreat in June. Coming soon! YEAH! I'm just praying that the trip won't be preceded by anything out of the ordinary. Please dear God, ensure that all is calm and safe, I REALLY NEED TO GO ON THIS BREAK!!