Thursday, March 30, 2006

spiderwebs are growing on my blog.


But you can at least have fun with the webbie-maze.

See you after I climb out of my pile of work.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

That's me.. ANd I look like Halle Berry! Not Bad siah!



















Then I tried Gary..

ahahahahahahahhahaa....
check the 'fro on the fella on the right!

Try it yourself at myheritage.com.

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Jigsaw Puzzles..

When I was young, my mother had a fascination with jigsaw puzzles.

She used to have 500 or 1000 or 2000 piece puzzles and she always chose the most challenging designs. Like having everything in the same colour tone, or having reflections or symmetrical objects.

When finished, we would then apply glue onto the pictures and bring them to Clementi framer shop to be framed.

The entire process of making the jigsaw and framing it would take a few months to complete and cost more than 100 bucks.

She would usually have to drag me to the specially-set-up table and make me crack my head over where to put in a few pieces before I managed to escape. Yet she would still be patiently sitting there, puzzling over the fitting for hours. And she always left the last piece for me to fit in because it gave the sense of accomplishment of finally finishing the process.

I could never understand her fascination with these puzzles.

And gradually my mum gave up doing the jigsaws too, as moving to a series of ever-smaller houses and living on an ever-tighter budget meant we have no time or space to do such things.

It is something I only recently grasped, when I stumbled across jigsaw puzzle websites like jigzone.com and spend a lot of time figuring out the jigsaws when I was free during the holidays. Then I suddenly realised how much doing her jigsaws helped her to think and analyze. It helped her to appreciate patterns, colours and the subtleness of a fit.

Because that was the effect on me too.

Shall go introduce my mother to the online jigsaws.

They may be ephemeral, but at least she will be able to enjoy puzzling out the jigasws again.

Holiday Week

Warning: Super Long Blog Post!

The one week of holidays seems to have literally flown by. Monday was spent in school clearing admin etc stuff; Tuesday till Thursday spent on course at RI, rushing for prayer mtg, Bible study, Cell group, tuition and back to school to settle MORE admin stuff.

Thus, my Friday was even more special and precious as Gary managed to get the day off and we could finally spend more time together, not just quick dinners or on bumpy bus/MRT rides along the way sending me home. The strange thing was, even though we had one whole day's worth of time, we hardly got anything 'done' in the conventional sense. No movies watched, walks taken, shopping trips accomplished. Haha, I wonder where the day went?

Itinerary for Friday!
10am: Send car to Sin Ming to get repaired.
My car got backed into at the kopitiam opposite JW church on Thursday night.
Thank God for His divine timing, I witnessed the other car backing into mine just as I was walking out of the coffeeshop for CG. Another 30 seconds later and the other car's owner could have gotten away from the scene scot-free. But Praise the Lord he was very nice about it, I was able to get it sent down and repaired very quickly.

11am: Met Gary for lunch.
Because of the car, we met around Thomson area. Ha.. The 2 of us very 'yao gui'.. We first ate Teocheow porridge with side dishes, then I bought myself a Ma Lai Gao, and then we went to eat crepes at La Petit Breton again. The porridge and malaigao were very good, not too fake-ly flavoured like such stuff normally are. The crepe we shared, however, was a pork-and-apple affair, and the pork taste was really strong and pungent. That resulted in us having to order a hot chocolate and almond crepe to get rid of the taste. The hot choc crepe = very good, but should be ordered with 4 people or more.. The chocolate sauce is so rich that you will feel stuffed after a few bites.

1pm(yes we ate for that long!): shopping and walking around.
Novena square at first, and when that proved too boring, we made our way down to Orchard. Gary only managed to make one *large* *significant* purchase (ahem ahem), and then I got the call to go pick up my car.

4pm: Fetched car.
We were both feeling nuah and decided to go back to Gary's place to rest awhile. Hahahaha we are so lousy right. Out for a couple of hours and feel nuah already. In the meantime, we figured to go check out Attributes' new warehouse at Kallang, where Jimmy was having a photo exhibition.

6pm: Finally figured our way to the Kallang showroom at Hong Aik Building. Boy is it hard to find. =D BUT! the upside is, free parking, all the time and space in the world you need to browse, and Jimmy's photo ex!

Boy, that guy is Ta.Len.Ted. The photos were from our Israel trip, entitled "Here I Stand", and I only wish Jimmy had an online site so I could link to it. I especially liked the shot on the Temple Mount, with the Dome of the Rock shining like molten gold through an ancient archway.
Visit! *nods*

Address:
22 Kallang Ave
Hong Aik Industrial Building #05-04
Singapore 339413

Tel : +65 6297-8300
Fax : +65 6297-8308
Operating Hours:
Mon-Fri : 9.30 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Sat : 9.30 a.m. - 2.30 p.m.
Closed on Sundays & Public Holidays
Click here for location map


7pm: We decided to be yao gui again.
Since neither Gary nor I are familiar with the East area, we tried to rack our brains to think of where to go. Old Church? Joo Chiat? Siglap?

Old Airport Road - which we finally settled on, only to find to our surprise that the old food center had been closed down. Sad! It was less than 3 weeks ago that I went with Eugene, Alan, etc for dinner there. The food stalls had been moved to a temporary area behind, but it seems like a lot of the old (good) stalls are gone. An indifferent herbal wine chicken and a too-strong-and-bitter teh C later, we kind of came to the conclusion that it's just not the same anymore. Boohoo. Who says old is no good??

9pm: Back to Gary's place again.
Nothing else seemed to appeal - no good movies, too full for dessert. Sheesh.
So we ended up in front of the telly and I watched Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Fantastic concept! The Design Team descends on a house, and shoos the family off to a vacation somewhere while they take exactly a week to remodel the entire house, including furniture, painting, exteriors and landscaping. I can hardly imagine a more stressful job - try doing all that in a week with six different specialists in fields ranging from carpentry to interior design. No wonder so much bitching goes on among the team.

The good thing is watching the house getting torn apart and put back together again, especially for an interior design buff like me.

The better thing is knowing how hard the team works to preserve articles of furniture and fittings that have significance to the family, even while they attempt to better fit the house to the family's needs, wants and dreams.

The best of all is knowing that this is done for deserving families - who have gone through significant struggles and for whom doing such things would really be like a gift from Heaven when they are down in the dumps. All the families who have been selected for the makeover are profiled on the site, and it is really amazing to see how much some of them have been through. Some families are so giving that doing up their own house is the last priority on their list, as it would mean not being able to help another child go to school / have medical treatment / have a better life. Thumbs up to ABC for the selection criteria. =)


On Saturday, went for Linying's wedding!
*wolfwhistle*
Linying and Wenheng are both people I have known for a long long time, since my NUS days. They got to know each other in SOT and finally have tied the knot yesterday.
As usual, I was 'arrowed' to usher. Heh.

It was the scariest wedding I have ever experienced in terms of ushering, as my usher team was under strength and of ALL things, we had to have problems with the candles.

You know, the unity candles?

Well here goes the candle story.
Eugene had bought in 3 white candles from Tecman. As we were trying to fit the candles into the candle stand, somehow one candle broke in the middle. Sigh.
The 3 candles I got from the usher store below were too small and short. Double sigh.
Eugene went across the road from JW church to try the supermarket for candles. No luck.

By now it was 12.30 and we were seriously panicking.

Peilong bit the bullet and drove all the way from Jurong West to Tecman (in the city center mind you, and thank God they were open) to buy more candles.

As he was away, Candle No 2. broke off.
Now, it's important for the candles to be intact, as they have to be LIFTED off the candlestand by the bride and groom to light another candle.

Sweating liao. Called Peilong and thank God he got 2 candles, not one.

When he finally arrived back at 1.30pm, we quickly replaced the 2 candles.

Just before the wedding started at 1.45, the THIRD candle broke.

We are seriously screwed this time cos there is no time to go anywhere to get replacement.. It is up to us to use our brains.

Solution?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The resourceful Ziying quickly wrapped the broken candle in ribbons cut from the reception table. Not only it hides the ugly broken off region, it held the candle together.

But I must admit its the most incongrous and unorthodox unity candle I have ever seen.

Pity, no pictures! =X

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Did they really write that??

PARENTAL EXCUSES

These are actual excuse notes from parents excusing their children from missing
school (includes original spelling):

~ My son is under a doctor's care and should not take P.E. today.
Please execute him.

~ Please excuse Lisa for being absent. She was sick and I had her shot.

~ Dear School: Please ekscuse John being absent on Jan. 28, 29, 30, 31,
32, and also 33.

~ Please excuse Roland from P.E. for a few days. Yesterday he fell out
of a tree and misplaced his hip.

~ John has been absent because he had two teeth taken out of his face.

~ Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was
hurt in the growing part.

~ Megan could not come to school today because she has been bothered by
very close veins.

~ Chris will not be in school cus he has an acre in his side.

~ Please excuse Ray Friday from school. He has very loose vowels.

~ Please excuse Tommy for being absent yesterday. He had diarrhea and
his boots leak.

~ Irving was absent yesterday because he missed his bust.

~ Please excuse Jimmy for being. It was his father's fault.

~ I kept Billie home because she had to go Christmas shopping because I
don't know what size she wear.

~ Please excuse Jennifer for missing school yesterday. We forgot to get
the Sunday paper off the porch, and when we found it Monday, we thought
it was Sunday.

~ Sally won't be in school a week from Friday. We have to attend her
funeral.

~ Please excuse Jason for being absent yesterday. He had a cold and
could not breed well.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Effortlessly insulting

he's such an exciting buffet of improvability.

your head is not small.. it's discreet.. which is a good thing since it's slightly off center.

ahahahahahaha i love british humour. Insulting effortlessly.

DNA testing

DNA-style personlity testing. Heh.

So I am a: Dynamic Director which is reflected in pics as this



and in words as this.

Would you like to try me?

Food review: Carl's Jr


Finally made it to the much-talked-about Carl's Jr burger chain for dinner yesterday. I have been wanting to try it ever since last year when it first opened but never got the chance as their outlets are all in real ow-ta places (read: Out of ta Way) like Raffles Place and Marina! It is also a sister chain / reincarnation of Hardee's, you can see from the logo and food choice. I remember being crazy over Hardee's roast beef burgers when I was a kid. Used to ask my mum for Hardee's every time we went to Parkway Parade. =P

The food choice there is not very wide, I must say, with almost all the burgers looking the same.
I think in Singapore we are underpriviliged - we only get the non-interesting burgers. The menu in US outlets is positively enough to make your eyes pop for variety! Portobello mushroom burger.. wow.. And aside from the fact that the burgers are really huge, they do not seem more flavourful or ingredient-packed than say, Burger King. The price is also much more expensive; a double bacon cheeseburger meal cost $11. I had a single bacon cheeseburger meal and it set me back $8.

At Carl's Jr, they do not believe in under-feeding people. All 4 of us (Eugene, Alan - YES, ALAN!, Juan and I) were hard-pressed to finish up even ONE of the packets of fries that came with our meals. And the drinks and sauces are free flow.. In another words, be smart, if you go to Carl's Jr with your friends, have one person order the meal and the entire table can share the fries and drink. Juan had just bought herself the new just-launched Casio Exilim Z60 from the IT show at Suntec and we spent a lot of time photo-whoring. See Juan's blog for details, if she does decide to put them up. =)

Conclusion: WIll I go to Carl's Jr again? Maybe. If I have been fasting for 3 days, there is no other fast food chain in sight and I have lotsa moolah to spare. Sheesh.

As an aside! An engineer's view of burger:
I wonder if the burger-making staff in the fast food chains really follow this kind of specific plans. Ha..

Friday, March 10, 2006

it's just one of those days

A deficiency of good chocolate

Doctor Unheimlich has diagnosed me with
Ming's Disease
Cause:bad chocolate
Symptoms:vegetarianism, gurgling, excessive restlessness
Cure:click heels together three times
Enter your name, for your own diagnosis:
right on. A deficiency of Good Chocolate makes all the difference!


Doctor Unheimlich has diagnosed me with
Garyosis
Cause:early mornings
Symptoms:forgetting what day it is, slow heartbeat, excessive suicidal thoughts, rotten teeth
Cure:drink lots of water
Enter your name, for your own diagnosis:
Ahaha. Another great diagnosis! Away with early mornings!


Doctor Unheimlich has diagnosed me with
Raine's Lurgy
Cause:psychological
Symptoms:extremely enhanced vision, squawking, dislike of modern architecture, tunnel vision
Cure:take seven placebo tablets with meals
Enter your name, for your own diagnosis:
I guess I was really bored. What the heck is a Lurgy?? The only thing that comes to mind is "relative of an orgy"!


Doctor Unheimlich has diagnosed me with
Juanosis
Cause:thinking too hard
Symptoms:spitting, tufts of hair, gills, screaming
Cure:take a day off work
Enter your name, for your own diagnosis:
And Juan Juan says a loud "AMEN!"

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Happy IVGLDSW Day!

Today is International Very Good Looking, Damn Smart Woman's Day, so please send this message to someone you think fits this description. Please do not send it back to me as I have already received it from a Very Good Looking, Damn Smart Woman! And remember this motto to live by: Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!" Have a wonderful day !

________________________________________

To the Girls !!

Inside every older person is a younger person -- wondering what the hell happened.
-Cora Harvey Armstrong-

Inside me lives a skinny woman crying to get out. But I can usually shut the bitch up with cookies.
(Unknown)

The hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy.
-Helen Hayes (at 73)-

I refuse to think of them as chin hairs. I think of them as stray eyebrows
-Janette Barber-

Things are going to get a lot worse before they get worse.
-Lily Tomlin-

My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first one being -- hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.
-Erma Bombeck-

Old age ain't no place for sissies.
-Bette Davis-

A man's got to do what a man's got to do. A woman must do what he can't.
-Rhonda Hansome-

The phrase "working mother" is redundant.
-Jane Sellman-

Every time I close the door on reality, it comes in through the windows.
-Jennifer Unlimited-

Whatever women must do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.
-Charlotte Whitton-

Thirty-five is when you finally get your head together and your body starts falling apart.
-Caryn Leschen-

I try to take one day at a time -- but sometimes several days attack me at once.
-Jennifer Unlimited-

If you can't be a good example -- then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.
-Catherine-

I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb -- and I'm also not blonde.
-Dolly Parton-

If high heels were so wonderful, men would still be wearing them.
-Sue Grafton-

I'm not going to vacuum 'til Sears makes one you can ride on.
-Roseanne Barr-

When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country.
-Elayne Boosler-

Behind every successful man is a surprised woman.
-Maryon Pearson-

In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.
-Margaret Thatcher-

I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine marriage and a career.
-Gloria Steinem-

I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man, I keep his house.
-Zsa Zsa Gabor-

Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission.
-Eleanor Roosevelt-

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Housekeeping

Finally, managed to do a little housekeeping on my blog.
Corrected some links and added in others.

Have been too tired to do much lately apart from what I absolutely NEED to do. Things like blog maintainance, face maintainance, even wearing earrings (used to be my obsessions!) have become optional. Drowning in work.. boo..

I look forward to the holidays like nobody's business. =)

Monday, March 06, 2006

FRom Cute Overload - HOW do they get so many cute images a day?

Can anyone say "FAT and LAZY??"

contribute~

Arena

(known to self and others)

giving

Blind Spot

(known only to others)

bold, caring, confident, intelligent, loving, trustworthy, wise

Façade

(known only to self)

accepting, dependable, independent, reflective, responsive

Unknown

(known to nobody)

able, adaptable, brave, calm, cheerful, clever, complex, dignified, energetic, extroverted, friendly, happy, helpful, idealistic, ingenious, introverted, kind, knowledgeable, logical, mature, modest, nervous, observant, organised, patient, powerful, proud, quiet, relaxed, religious, searching, self-assertive, self-conscious, sensible, sentimental, shy, silly, spontaneous, sympathetic, tense, warm, witty

Dominant Traits

100% of people think that huiming is bold
66% of people think that huiming is caring
66% of people think that huiming is confident
100% of people agree that huiming is giving
100% of people think that huiming is loving
66% of people think that huiming is trustworthy
66% of people think that huiming is wise

All Percentages

able (0%) accepting (0%) adaptable (0%) bold (100%) brave (0%) calm (0%) caring (66%) cheerful (0%) clever (0%) complex (0%) confident (66%) dependable (0%) dignified (0%) energetic (0%) extroverted (0%) friendly (0%) giving (100%) happy (0%) helpful (0%) idealistic (0%) independent (0%) ingenious (0%) intelligent (33%) introverted (0%) kind (0%) knowledgeable (0%) logical (0%) loving (100%) mature (0%) modest (0%) nervous (0%) observant (0%) organised (0%) patient (0%) powerful (0%) proud (0%) quiet (0%) reflective (0%) relaxed (0%) religious (0%) responsive (0%) searching (0%) self-assertive (0%) self-conscious (0%) sensible (0%) sentimental (0%) shy (0%) silly (0%) spontaneous (0%) sympathetic (0%) tense (0%) trustworthy (66%) warm (0%) wise (66%) witty (0%)

Created by the Interactive Johari Window on 6.3.2006, using data from 3 respondents.
You can make your own Johari Window, or view huiming's full data.