On (L)ea(V)e, singles and dogs

The previous post is password protected coz it is being treated as a police case and so I think it shouldn’t be made public, except for those who used to be colleagues with me.

Regarding my office being broken into last nite, which you might have known if you had followed me on twitter.

Tmrw’s gonna be a busy day for me. Will be on half day leave to go see doctor and before that a blood test. Seems like I can only grab a light snack to have time to do it (actually thought to skip lunch but I might just faint after they take my blood if I dun eat )

Then I’ll rush for a facial appointment which I brought forward from Thu coz I need to pick G up from the airport. He decided to return 2 days earlier!

Fully utilise my leave.

Just came to know from Cruz’s tweet that November 11 is also known as Singles Day…

Like that also have?

And why do they eat youtiao (flour fritters)? Coz it’s 2 pcs bound together like number 11, and the binding is supposed to be something auspicious?

My guess only, but it’s got a point in there too, ain’t it?

If I happen to be right, does that mean that for it to become really auspicious, you shouldn’t tear apart the youtiao (if you happen to 应节 and eat one tomorrow) and instead should gobble the whole thing down?

Probably we should also start singing The Spice Gals’ song, Two Become One~~~

Oh, I think my LV bag should be in Singapore since last weekend. So probably I’ll be able to get it on Thu nite or Friday.

Woot woot woot! My first ever investment ever. A bit too late but better than never.

I think when Caramel and Cinnamon returns home, my dad would be so bored. My mum won’t need to cook dinner twice – one for dogs and one for humans (like us). They will miss the action at home, the barking, and their welcome at the door.

My dad will start repeating how clever and adorable they are, and then start missing them again. And both pooches might just not get used to not sleeping on the mattress anymore.

End of holiday and chalet soon.

Early meeting, more Crocs and the homecoming…soon

This morning I had to wake up early supposedly to meet a customer who came from Durban. Was supposed to meet him in office yesterday afternoon but he was held up (and also too lazy to drop by away from town), so we met today instead.

The appointment was at 8.30am, but when I sms and called him at 8am and 8.15am respectively, no answer.

Luckily I didn’t go out yet, but he finally called me at 8.30am and told me he has just woke up. So we ended up meeting at 10am.

I always have a habit to call before I go over to meet an overseas customer, coz usually of the time difference they might end up jet lagging and cannot wake up in time.

I asked what his programme for the day, and luckily he is same as me. He doesn’t really like to go lunch, dinner, whenever he is overseas. Prefer some me-time.

After the meeting I dropped by Bugis to get lunch. And I deserve a pat! Coz I didn’t do shopping, though I did go into Charles & Keith and Pedro to sneak a look at their shoes.

——–

I went by the Crocs sale yesterday again since I was to be at T3 to receive my sis and bro-in-law back home. Truly they were restocked and even extended their space a bit more. It was also good coz there was barely anyone there (except the crowd grew when I was looking thru what I could find again). and I got 2 more pairs. Even got a pair for my sis.

One to be used for my diving and the other, casual sandals.

Quite happy now. Hehe.

——–

So boring at work today. *yawn* Seems like people knows my mum is not around. Only 2 walk-ins in the morning and another to collect her clothes. Looks like it’s going to be going off earlier. Even Caramel looks lethargic now despite being like a mad dog in the morning. Sometimes I suspect he has a biological clock in him that tells him it’s Saturday. He will act mad in bed by running around early in the morning, like he’s crossing terrains and mountains.

On normal days, he will just act sian and refuse to acknowledge the fact that humans need to work and have to leave him alone at home. Don’t even look at you when you leave for work.

And I hope his gf will come soon. Apparently she went for spaying and the wound became unstitched. The temp rehomer claimed that the stitching was not done properly and the vet claimed that she bit off the stitches herself. So she’s got to be recuperating for another week…

I’ve already got her leash and collar ready. Looking forward to see her soon…

Schweinshaxe, Meatballs and Crocs

Nothing much happening over the weekend, except that I explored T3 more intensively, because of the Crocs sale.

I’m peeling more badly now. So I just can’t be bothered with the lotion. My face is done, so no need to camouflage which I didn’t really quite like.

Went for the Oktobest fest themed buffet at Tanglin Club on Fri. Frankly, it wasn’t spectacular, coz the meats were left in the open for some time, so the pork knuckles were a bit tough and some of the crackles were dried up and hard. And being a meaty buffet, I only took 2 servings, both barely full.

I missed the one I went to a year before, where we were served fresh knuckles and did the cutting ourselves.

And what to finish off a meaty meal with? A meaty movie.

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. 3D no less.

The whole theatre was empty. So I could just put my legs up the seats in front. The whole movie was quite entertaining, I like. The food just kept appearing and mutating and I could see burgers right in front of me. Then the others like ice cream and meatballs spaghetti and pizzas. Luckily we’ve had a full dinner.

It served as a relief to the headache which came to me a hour before office closing time, due to some cowardly people who would rather choose the easy way out and offend the customer than to speak to my boss.  *blood boiling*

Saturday, it was busy in the office after 2 weeks of quietness. First week was quiet coz it was a long weekend. The 2nd was quiet coz it was the F1 period.

Then last weekend, it was so busy that I needed some sleep after the last batch of customers had left.

Despite being the Mid Autumn Festival, there was no moon sighted. Coz it was drizzling the whole day and pretty cloudy. Not to mention that the haze was blocking also.

We went to the Crocs sale, with the FOX and Borders and Adidas all having discounts on their products at the same time. But the crowd was with Crocs, as others were not spectacular at all. Bought 2 pairs of Sassari, one for me and one for my mum, but sizes were quite difficult to find. I wanted to get Athens too but sizes tad too big.

New stocks supposed to be in on Thu. Wondering if I should go check it out again.

My mum was very happy with my purchase and she wore it out the next day for breakfast.

Oh, dun bother about the Borders sale, unless you like hardcovers. Plentyyyyy of them.

We had dinner/supper at this Xin Wang HKG cafe. I think the food there is pretty good. But I was disappointed that the red bean drink came ice blended. Yes, the beans were blended with the ice. Not original leh.

But their (apparently new) papaya soup noodles was niceeeeeeee. It’s the same style as the CQYD noodles, but it’s a different soup base. MUST TRY!

But damn it. Extra carbo loaded. I thought they were having dinner at Kembangan where we first met before heading for T3, and I ordered beehoon goreng. They said they were eating too. Only fries.

That’s why I said it was dinner/supper.

Puppies and snow

Last week I went to the Hush Puppies warehouse sale at Bt Batok and threw about 200 bucks. One of my favourite culottes was a bit tight for me, so I gave to my mum. So today I went there again, meaning to get a size bigger.

And then, I spent another $80 to get some other stuff other than the one I wanted. Tsk tsk.

I saw this blue suede shoes on Her World mag, and nearly went to get them today. Hmm…

I need to curb my spending a bit…

Friday, I was on half a day’s leave. Wanted to go to town but then decided not to as it was approaching peak hours by the time I finished. So I went off to catch a movie instead. At least I could still catch a 7pm movie. Went to watch White0ut.

The scene was at Antartica. And probably due to the timing, the theatre was barely occupied. And I forgot to bring a cardigan. So I was freezing inside.

Doesn’t help anything when all the scenes are at minus temperatures and with all the snowstorms and frostbitten fingers. Urgh.

My toes felt like they were in Antartica too.

I spent my weekend sleeping even later

Damn tired man, the whole long weekend. No Bintan or cruise trip, but it was equally packed.

Went to watch the show Inglourious Basterds on Fri nite. Midnite. Ok, this show is not bad la, but some parts are quite draggy and such, and I nearly fell asleep a few times (some are sleeping around me coz I could hear them snoring, haha).

Since we went for bowling before that, we were already half-finishing the popcorn we bought before we even stepped into the theatre.

That Friday, I slept nearly at 5am.

The bowling kinda screwed my leg. I duno for what reason, my back part of the thigh started to ache after the game. Despite that, went for bowling again on Sat nite.

That did it. The whole thigh was in pain after the game.

Ironically I played better as the pain intensified.

Note to myself: never to go bowling anymore at Marina Square. The lanes are simply left alone to self destruction. Never maintained at all with all the worn out parts at the beginning of each lane.

That Saturday, I slept around 4am.

Sunday. Brought Caramel on his first trip to town. There was this Raya flea market happening at the carpark of SAM, so thought might as well bring him along. I got a bag too, in case he can’t walk in at certain grounds then I can put him in the bag.

Anyway, he was spared the agony of being in the bag coz the flea mart was an open air concept. Went there to find FT and WK who had a stall there. Was a small outfit, but because they had the stall right in front of the pathway, they got lots of traffic.

Wanted to get Caramel to stand in front of the SAM signboard and take a photo, which I thought would be quite cute. Then I was afraid that he might lift up his leg and pee against the signboard which was embedded in the midst of a grass patch. Wakakaa~

Better drop the idea before a sign says “no pets allowed” gets erected beside the signboard.

At nite, I went for my virgin prawning trip to Farmway 1. We thought initially to go fishing so we headed deeper in to the fishing place, but it was supposed to close at midnite (we were there nearly closing time). Went to ask the boss, whose face darkened coz at that time, someone caught a big fish. He grumpily replied that he was about to close. Kthxbai.

Went back to the prawing farm, toyed with the idea of doing the fish spa, then finally decided to keep to the plan of prawning. It was quite fun, except the time which the first prawn I caught nipped me on both hands when I tried to remove the hook from its mouth. I duno mah…first time i handled a prawn with the pincers still attached. But it was real painful. The next few times, I just stepped on its pincers and proceeded to remove the hook, before I went on to using tongs to hold them down before doing anything.

We overshot the 1-hour timing, but the guy was quite nice la. We gave him the prawns and wanted initially to return them to the pond, but he said once the prawns are caught, they will die if returned to the pond. Oh, no wonder I see one floating on top of the pond. So no choice.

That Sunday, I slept at nearly 5am again.

We needed the weekend for some good rest, but we ended up sleeping even later.

Shopaholics talks

Had to drop off the customers at Golden Landmark yesterday. Really, the difference between Africans and Asians, the former dun really plan for trips. They bank on the hope that they can get it done before embarking on the next destination. Was held back in office to help them find today’s flight to Malaysia.

Anyway, since I was in the area, I went to Bugis to look for a gift. Went wandering around and ended up buying a long chain (mine broke in Taiwan), a sundress (cheap! less than $20),nearly bought some shoes (again!) and hand cream from Crabtree and Evelyn. I bought the gift at C&E anyway. Even then, spent like half an hour there thinking what to buy (too many hampers, special promo). After being from Nantucket to Le Source and now, I’m back to Nantucket. Jojoba seems good too but they didn’t have the hand cream available.

The sales assistant (I think her name is Ann) is very good coz I was there hanging around 9pm+ and she is still very patient waiting for me to choose my merchandise. I apologised to her for taking up so much of her time and that she can’t close shop earlier.

I didn’t even have dinner till 10pm+. The food stalls at the basement were closed (or at least those which I felt like having).

Lots of sales around at Bugis, but crowd wasn’t there at all. Maybe due to weekday nites. Some shops were so quiet that some of the shop assistant were actually walking around outside their shops.

There was a mad rush at the bags section in BHG. Bags at about $13. I looked at the crowd, I backed off. I might die in there.

I think I am still in a shopping mood. Oh noes.

And I went to Mustafa…

Went for a late nite shopping at Mustafa. Still crowded at midnite. Gosh.

Needed to get a face brush, and bottles to keep my new range of facial products. The lady at the facial place told me that to save on toner, best is to put them in a spray bottle. Coz using the cotton wool wastes more of the toner due to the super absorbent function of it. Oh well, since I need them in smaller bottles for the upcoming Taiwan trip, might as well get them.

Was a bit pissed when I was browsing thru at the cosmetics counter just now. Wanted to see something but 4 ladies were just hogging the place and I can’t reach out to get one of the loose powder to take a look. Then one moved away but then moved back again when I wanted to take the chance to grab something. Shit. Never did they attempt to make a bit of way for me to stretch out. And the 4 of them were just looking at things and discussing about them. One of them also started talking loudly on the phone. Real noise pollution.

Very nicely made up but etiquette = zero.

And I really pity this guy who was at the sports shoes section. Aisles and aisles of shoes scattered (most probably they dropped off the shelves coz they pile them up tightly) and he was slowly arranging them back to the shelves. Along the aisle where he was doing his work, the shoes were nicely arranged and very neatly done too. I can imagine him going down the rows and then people start pulling shoes off the shelves where he had worked on hard.

One thing is, most of the sports shoes dun carry big sizes. A bit difficult for the guys to get it.

Wanted to get some pens. But those 2-pc pack comes with a pen box (price is not exorbitant though for the whole set, just a couple of bucks), or with the refill that costs up to $2, or comes in 10-pc pack. Wah. Dun think I can finish using them up myself though. In the end I just didn’t buy any.

I saw one punching block for sale, and the wrapper says “Burberry”. Look inside and you’ll see some Chinese name like some “XIAN” printing on the block. Haha. Such an oxymoron. Just dropped the whole value of the product.

One thing that crossed my mind just now. Mustafa actually doesn’t discourage the use of plastic bags. In fact, cable-tying them might just end up breaking the bag to remove it. So it’ll render the bag useless (can’t recycle to contain other things). But then, to completely stop using plastic bags would also be difficult, for the shopping mall is too big to track shoplifters properly, and people might just be able to steal more easily.

Wacky gift shop

Nothing happening today, except I found this really cool shop at Anchorpoint while looking for wrapping papers for a wedding present.

Ya, the CEO needed to wrap the present and told me to get it. Haiyooo, why not tell me yesterday so I could have bought it together with the card? Had to make another trip.

Anyway, this shop that I went to is called Bloomington, located at the basement of Anchorpoint. According to their website, they were previously at Heeren which I didn’t really know.

They sell lotsa interesting stuff for an entirely different idea of a gift, but I didn’t really have time to look at everything. Though one glance, I did see they have a lot of decals, weird gift ideas, signs with funky wordings, plenty of wrappers, ribbons and gift cards. Wacky stuff they have in there. But then, you can also get wedding gifts in that shop. Something unusual but appropriate for the event.

Will drop by again should I find the time.

Sunday equals Shopping day

I spent quite a bit of money yesterday.

I woke up early in the morning to go to what the Paradizer said 鸟不生蛋的地方. There was a MPH warehouse sale and Robinsons sale next door at the Expo. The MPH started at 9.30am, which was good coz carpark was plentiful and not many people would wake up so early to go to the sale.

Altogether I bought 11 books, at $45 before 10% discount. A steal right? All new books somemore.

My sis and bro-in-law, spent like more than $200 on books. When my sis took out her card to pay for all the purchases, she said “I’ve never spent so much at one go buying books.” Well, she was the one who’s taking books like it’s free, and my poor bro-in-law kicking the carton with the big book pile as he walked down the aisle.

There was this lady who was sniffling non stop around. I avoided her as best as I could. But some people were sniffling too because of the aircon (plus not many people around) which was quite cold. Anyway….

After books, we went next door to Robinsons. The crowd was in already at 11am+. I had only 1hr+ to look around but didn’t really find much stuff.

In the end, bought only 1 top, 2 shorts, and a pair of open-toed shoes, before dumping the whole bag to my sis to help me pay coz I had to rush off.

That wasn’t the end.

Went to MS in the afternoon because G wanted to buy a pair of Crocs. And since the 2nd pair can go at 15% off, I got myself a pair of silver Mary Janes (Malindi).

Shoes #2.

Image taken from Crocs.

Went to Gripz, and found myself looking at 2 pairs of shoes. One under discount and another normal. I wanted to get the discounted one, a lower-heeled one, but the last pair was on display. Nope, it wasn’t that appealing enough to make me want to get the display set, so I settled for another one costing 1/3 more.

And yeah, I got shoes #3.

Image taken from Gripz

Happy~

My birthday gift

Oh, did I mention that the gang bought me a Longchamp Le Pliage® tote bag? Nice. JL was the one who chose the present, which AA was the one who executed the purchase, coz there was one branch at Paragon. Hehe.

But I’m going to make a change in colour tomorrow, to this:

or to this, if they do not have red:

They got me the one one olive green, or which I think is taupe at the website.

And guess what? The bag caught my eye at the Dubai airport on my way home the other day.

Melaka Road Trip 10 – 12 April 09 (Shopping & chilling out)

Coz it was supposed to be a leisure trip, we did plenty of chilling out. 

On the first nite, we stayed out (though near to hotel) till about 3am. It was cold, yet I ordered something ice blended. Was shivering after I nearly finished the drink. Like the lime jelly bits.

The place we went was on the other side of the hotel, overlooking the coast. With the Eye on Malaysia in the background. We had to take a buggy ride to the innermost part of the building. We hopped onto the buggy without asking if it was free coz we see people just going on it. 

The rest had some really sweet red wine. The waiters there are evidently not well trained coz of the way they opened a wine bottle. Took quite some time to get the cork out and I think it (nearly) broke halfway too.

The next nite (Sat) we went to this place called Geographer Cafe after the Coconut House dinner, along Jonker Walk. THAT is what I call a happening place. It looks like a pub from outside, but they allow kids in there. And the main crowd is actually those from mid-30s to early-40s.

But dun expect the band there to be fantastic though. It’s made up of people who are regulars there, and mostly out-of-tune. Haha. And they are really friendly to neighbours. The place opposite to Geographer also has a band playing, but they take turns to play each section. So it does not create a ruckus or each needed to shout to get heard amongst the noise. 

We sat there for an hour or so drinking Kilkenny, and thought maybe we should take a look at the revelry adjacent to Geographer.

And how can we do without shopping?

Jonker Walk has a nite bazaar on Saturdays, so the whole street was quite crowded. I saw a few stalls selling clogs beautifully decorated, but to fork out nearly RM70 minimum per pair is not really a good deal. So I decided to forego buying a pair. Or so I thought. Until I passed by this shop.

When I first got in, I thought RM50 for a pair is much cheaper than what I saw earlier on. Though less colourful, but still looked exquisite enough.

The lady was grouchy when I started asking price and design and size. Then while we browsed a little while more and started to choose a few pairs, she totally changed to be a super friendly person. Ha. Think she could have gotten quite a few customers asking but without buying, and that we popped by when she was about to close at 10pm.

In the end, I bought 4 pairs. 2 for me, 1 for my mum and another for G’s auntie. Got slight discount la, though not significant but better than nothing.

There was even some beaded sandals more expensive than Aldo shoes. For RM650 per pair. Whoot!

On the opposite road of our hotel Mahkota, there were 2 malls, one of them also called Megamall. We became good frens with F.O.S, coz that was the place that most of us bought the most number of clothes, all together. Half of the shop was having the promotion of 1-for-1, like shorts going for RM40 for 2, jeans going for RM50 for 2, blah blah.

And here’s what I bought from F.O.S.:

My shoes and clogs.

My favouritest one on the bottom right corner. Coz of the unique shape and Jappy look.

Click here for Melaka Road Trip 10 – 12 April 09 (Food section Part 1)

Click here for Melaka Road Trip 10 – 12 April 09 (Food section Part 2)

Click here for Melaka Road Trip 10 – 12 April 09 (Scenery)

Click here for Melaka Road Trip 10 – 12 April 09 (Sightseeing)

Weekend spending (as usual)

Die.

Haven’t pack my luggage, and I’m due to leave on Wed midnite.

The Fraser’s Hill post isn’t even up yet. Still sleeping in my draft folder. Half of the whole post is out, minus the photos.

And I spent more money today. But I got something which I’ve been looking for for some time. Been telling myself not to spend too much money but still…

I lack self discipline nowadays.

Caramel nearly busted my eardrum just now when he yelped beside my ear. I was just trying to cut his nails and trim his paw fur coz they cause him to slip. And he was scared stiff coz I was holding on to his hind leg very firmly in case accident happens. In fact just now he was so happy to see us coming home he slipped on his side while jumping. Wasn’t too much of an impact coz he was quite agile and picked himself up again by jumping again.

Now he doesn’t come to me when I call him.

Anyway, I must pack my stuff by tomorrow so that I can drop my luggage at G’s on Tuesday.

Went shopping again also with the Paradizer. The whole PS was full of people, a lot gathering at the Fila sale happening at the space in the middle of the mall. There was this Caucasian lady who was pushing her child in a pram, and consistently saying ‘excuse me’ so that she can get her pram into the middle of the space and choose some stuff too.

Who says that being kiasu is a privilege reserved for Singaporeans?

Very evident that people flocks to sites that are having sales, and those not does not have a whole army of people in their shops.

Found this Agnes B store in PS too, which somehow brings down the quality of this brand. Located at this ‘commonplace’ area seemed to be driving a wrong message across.

Anyway, because the whole of Singapore seemed to be in PS and long queues were everywhere at food outlets and restaurants, we adjourned to Beach Road, and yes, steamboat.

Somehow or rather, I woke up in the middle of the nite to go to the toilet. Because I have this tendancy to poo a lot after eating a whole lot of variety of food, I ended up having LS.

We went to chat for a while, before heading home. Couldn’t sleep too early. I forgot about the Teh Halia I had.

No need for plan B

Hey hey!

No need for plan B, coz my dresses I got off the net came in safely and in time. And those 2 are the favourites of all, out of the previous 7 I’ve got, coz they fit me really well and nicely.

And so I have 3 sets of clothes for cny. Maybe one will be the new clothing for 1st day of work.

Mother says ok for the dark clothing (I have 2 of them in brown/black partly) so I’m gonna spruce them up with accessories. Whey hey!

The only thing I might buy tomorrow is a necklace. Since TBP is near me tomorrow, might as well do a spot of shopping.

Usually I dun buy shoes for cny, usually coz I dun find anything that catches my eye when I wanted one for cny, or that been buying too many pairs during the year. Hmm…maybe that too tomorrow.

After cny, will be another shopping spree, to find the dress so needed for my sis’ wedding.

Oh ya, nice food tasting will be on Friday. Frankly, despite working at Oriental for 2 years, I’ve not tried their Chinese food before. I missed it once for cny lo hei with my dept coz my grandma passed away and I was on leave.

Am looking forward to it (actually always looking forward to good food).

Wokay, gotta prepare to go out soon. The pooch’s with me, and I’m going to bring him out for lunch.

Talk later.

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain~

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Ho, ho, ho. It’s was a rainy Christmas eve today. Complete with the chills.

I spend the time from eve to Christmas at home. So nice.

The Paradizer asked me to a chalet, but I was really nua. Moreover, I got a new nice pink luggage and I needed to go pack it. Heehee.

This place at Lucky Plaza is nice. The guy called Lucky offered to switch the luggage with me if it is too small. I was very indecisive on which size to get. I didn’t want anything too big, but I didn’t want something so small that I can’t bring the BCD and reg back. Yes, I’m going without it since it was on loan, but I needed to take it back after I use it.

Dang dang~ the luggage fits nicely. Yay~

I <3 <3 <3 my new luggage. Four wheels, hard case, pink colour – only 90 bucks.

Orchard was raining on and off and people couldn’t decide to hang out or walk in. Shops were not as full as I expected, but still a lot of people. People were just queueing outside Gucci to go in. Wow.

I nearly got a Liz Clairborne wallet for 50 bucks. I like the pattern, and it’s cheap enough. The material is canvas though.

Oh ya, the Paradizer gave me a nice blue necklace from Chomel. And I didn’t get anything for her. Paiseh. But this year, I didn’t really buy anything for anyone.

We walked in and out of boutiques to look for bags. Agnes B, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Coach, Mango~ Really, you can see where there is an ongoing sale or not. Just by looking if there is a crowd around.

Going to do some more packing and bringing it over to JH / G’s place later. Still deciding where to go from.

Oh ya, and to format my memory card for photos, and also to charge my MP5. I need that to survive at the airport.

Just 53 hours more.