Nothing To Do...Achieving Aplenty

Woke up (naturally) to a cool dark cozy room.

I knew it would be drizzling/raining outside.

It is heaven waking up to a rainy day...I just love rainy daze.

Finally, I forced myself to take a day off from work today!

Hubby is so nice to have a little breakfast with me despite that he is expected at Hotel Hyatt for a networking session....(to me-networking is boring, you call that networking when the same people are at different conferences everytime!)

I am back home to do laundry, cleared one of the kitchen cabinets, packing and throwing away some unwanted/untouched stuff. It is really therapeutic to do housework/housekeeping. I love doing housework except IRONING! I love cleaning, washing, packing, unpacking. I was even dreaming of being a housekeeper in England or a matron in UK. I love it that the house is neat, clean, cozy and nice.

I took a short walk to Compasspoint for a dental appointment.

I had scaling & polishing done. As much as I like to do it every 3 months, I had only remember to do it every 3 years (lazy me).

I made an effort to breathe in the lovely cool fresh air along the way, something I knew I was very deprived of - getting close to nature, enjoying nature.

Took a late but leisure-ly lunch, went for some household shopping. Back home now, listening to soft music playing while blogging.

How I wish everyday would be like today.

But having said that, I wouldn't cherish so much if everyday is like today.

Hello Today, I love you Today. I am glad today is not always everyday.

I learnt to cherish, I learnt to treasure.

Time is like a river.

You cannot touch the same water twice,

because the flow that has passed will never pass again.

Enjoy every moment of life.

I enjoyed my today.............muahs!

Mind Your Language

One day while driving, the daughter was relating excitingly to me "Mummy, my Chinese teacher was so funny. She said [Please eray (erase) this and put your nime (name) here]" to which I laughed uproariously.

But what raises my ire (at the back of my mind) is the fact that the Chinese teacher was obviously trying to speak what she felt was good English. After the giggles died down, finger-pointing ensued.

I was sharing with the hubby - we speak too much Singlish, we live in a sms world full of short forms that make sense to only some. Who are the English teachers? Does the education system focusing too much on maths and science and hence neglecting the good old English?

And the daughter continued with "please fee-nis (finish) this air-zahm-per (example)..."

If the quality of the language we hear is poor, then our reproduction of it will also be poor. So much for laughing at the teacher, I had to 'educate' the daughter that speaking well is all about achieving effective communication. Taking pride in Singlish is one thing, being understood and articulate is another.

And as much as the mother loves fashion and wanting to set a good example to the daughter, I had better learnt how to pronounce some of my favourite brand names and to include a few of the mis-pronounced words used in our everyday environment.

Chopard / sho-par (no, we are not fighting!)

Calendar /KAL-uhn-der/

Colleague / KOL-eeg/ n. (not "ker-lick")

Debt / det/ n.

Foie gras / fwah-grah / n.

Gesture / jest-ture / n.&v.

Grasp / grahs-p / v. (not "graps")

Hermes / air-mez / n.

Jaeger LeCoultre / yay-ger-le-coot / n.

Lacroix / lah-quah / n.

Lettuce / let-us / n. (not "let-tioose")

Liaise / lee-ayz / v.

Loewe / loh-way-vay / n. (not "loh-wee")

Moet & Chandon / moh-ett and shan-dawn / n.

Niche / neesh / n.&v.

Pinot Noir / pee-noh-nuar / n.

Sword / sawrd / n.

Theirs / thairs / (not "they-arse")

Three / th-ree / n.&adj. (not "tree")

Wednesday / wenz-day / n. (not 'wed-nes-day")

Being witty, the daughter suddenly blurted out "careful mum, there are people at the zib-bra crossing!"

The Best Things In Life...

The Best Things In Life...Are Free.

See how beautiful the sunset is!

This was taken from my bedroom window.

Blessed am I to have another uneventful day goes by.

Have A Doze of Laughter

And since you are at it.....

Have a nice laugh too....

Get Well Soon Boss

Hi Boss

Wanted to email you, ASN & Ling after I have finished writing all 3 of you.

But since you are sick and on so many days of mc at home, I thought you can spend time reading (hope did not/will not bore you to sleep...but if you fall asleep, then it must be the medicine that cause drowsiness haha!)

Please remember to take your medicine, have more rest and then still more rest.

Get Well Soon Boss.

Recipe For Friendship / Sisterhood

Bakery @ Maureen's

Managed by ASN Pte Ltd.

Home baked banana cake.

Recipe For The Cake

Ingredients

1 heart full of love

1 heaping cup of kindness

1 armful of gentleness

14 cups of friendship

1 cup of joy

1 lifetime of togetherness

1 mind full of tenderness

Method

Stir daily with happiness, humor and patience.

Serve with warmth and compassion, respect and loyalty.

This freshly-baked cake was given by ASN on a cool friday afternoon.

Nothing else to say except a warm heartfelt chord tingling deep inside.

Thank you Sis...not only for the cake but simply for being who you are.

So Sleepy...zzzzzzzz

So super duper S L E E P Y today!

Weather is so nice to nua somemore!

Still gotta wake up and go to work!

Pie miah ah!!!

No, no, no...shouldn't think like that!

Blessed am I to have work to do.

Enough energy to feel sleepy.

Bed....please wait for me early tonight...here I come!

My Closest Friend No.1

My Closest Friend No. 1 : CH
(note: they are ranked according to seniority – must respect right!)

Let’s start from CH. I always call her “Boss”. I know CH is slightly uncomfortable with me calling her “Boss”. Heard of this Chinese saying “once a teacher, forever a teacher”. CH is like that to me. Once a “Boss”, forever a “Boss” to me. “Boss” here mainly refers to mentor and not the typical stereo-typed fierce no-nonsense kinda boss figure.

I always go all the way back when I first saw her in the office. I was emotionally drained during a company restructure in Year 1998. Rumor had been that CH would be my immediate superior. When someone pointed out CH to me, I was somewhat relieved. She was like the only normal human being in the office because all of the others had eyes on their heads. She smiled and she seemed to enjoy her day, her work and the people around her. That really put me to ease. The rest (they say) is history.

When I think of everything we had been through together, I am not sure that ‘friend’ is a big enough word to describe what CH are to me.

CH had been the one I had looked up upon in the lowest lows of my life. She had been the one I have admired in the highest highs of my life. CH never fail to give me (or everyone under her) just what we need, whether it is positive naggings, understanding, or some nice home-baked cookies, home-made jellies, home-made almond tea. (Speaking of almond tea, CH’s almond tea is SUPERB ok). It was this great faith I had for CH that made me struggle on during the tough period.

We had been tried and tested and yet here we are…still standing side by side. And as far as I am concerned, we will always be that way because you are so much more than just a friend, a mentor, a supervisor, a boss. You are part of my heart.

I lub you dip dip boss.

Best Friends...Are Siblings (Whatever Religion You Are) Forgot To Give Us.

I read somewhere that one needs only 4 good friends in our life.

A doctor, a lawyer, a IT specialist and a chef.

Well, I have A L L of the above with me...I am a damn lucky girl right!

My next few posts will be about each one of them.

How I have grown with them, loved them and we are still so very close even though we meet (maybe) 3 times a year.

Water Retention

There's water retention this whole week.
Not me....is the weighing machine!
I weigh myself e v e r y d a y !

Just to make sure I DON'T put on weight!


My normal weight should be 42.6kg.
The reading on the scale this whole week has been 43.3kg!


How come? How can?
So I have concluded....the weighing machine has water retention!
Give it some time to recover.

Ta..Dah : Me In Pink Dress

Drum beat......

Ta Dah............me today in pink!

I brought along a mirror, a comb, a dress, a specs (see necklace).

Good Health = Best Wealth

Nothing beats the notion that you are healthy...for yourself, for your family and for the people around you.

The hubby just went for a heart consultation after whining of chest pain? chest spasm? chest discomfort?

Anyway, all is well.