Have My Prayers Been Answered?

1 night of msn-ing with Fi & Jo brought us together on an unusual outing to 'Si Ma Lu' Guan Yim Temple. Evryone has different agendas on their mind. Jo wanted to ward off her suay-ness. Fi wanted everything well in her life at the moment. And me? Errrrr.....wanted 50 paxs of bookings on Sunday's CBT Fair.

Being appointed the tour guide of this 'expedition since I claimed I have always visited the temple with my mum, but I forgotten to inform that I always just 'follow my mum's instructions' without taking note what is the correct procedure. Ha ! So, you can guess my princesses' disappointment. Making a wrong turn to go to temple, dun know to light joss sticks or not, need to buy flowers or not......... hahaha ......... but at least, there is something right. I remebered my mum's words. " Whatever you are going to do, always pray to 'tee gong' first, because he (the Jade Emperor) is the biggest. The whole praying takes about 5mins. The best part is - we almost forgotten the most important mission. Our successful ballot of tickets to watch the Musical, The Forbidden City. Jo's company is sponsring the musical and the company are throwing in pairs of tickets at reduced prices for staffs to ballot...... Wish we will get it !

We carried on for organic vegetarian lunch at Fortune Centre but all our efforts (Fi & me - gym & healthy lunch) when we met Sharon at newly revamped B1 Raffles City. We drowned a Ben & Jerry's MERLIONSTER !!!!!!! *Roars* 6 scoops of ice-cream on a waffle bowl, with banana and brownie cubes. SHIOK !

Did Guan Yim eventually answered my prayers. Well, I think she (or he?) tried the best. Guan Yim may not heard me too well as Saturday was packed. We did farely well as in getting many people interested in our tours and there are may enquiries. What saddened us was all our hard work didn't bear fruit as potential clients 'disappear' after a while when we left them at the FE waiting area. Have they left becoz of the long wait or they have been converted to their own group tours?

OH NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's the last thing I want to know..................

Bomb Dropped

My boss has finally dropped a 'bomb' this morning during the meeting to the rest of the staffs.

My RSVN Manager has decided to call it a day and to become a full-time homemaker to look after her kids. She has 2 toddlers and 1 approaching in Spetember. When I knew it few months back, I was shocked ! But I can understand her plight and situation. Although, the family - in - law has 2 maids at home and grandmum - in - law and mum - in - law are there to look after, mum - in - law still have to go stalls to help out for business, grandmum - in - law is also getting on in her age and maids have to look after the domestic chores in a big bungalow where the whole family stays. They can help, but not focused. Looking after 'Do Re Mi' age gap of kids is no joke mem....... Morover, her husband would like her to be with the kids especially during their growing up years.

Getting myself into such a situation is on the least priority in my life agenda now and I'm serious about it. My parents are working as hawkers and they wouldn't have the time to help me to look after any babies, though they are good to play at times. My parents - in - laws have also dropped open hints some years back that they will not be looking after any babies. First, they married early and now they are enjoying the kind of freedom they never had while they are young and definitely not giving up any. Secondly, my father - in - law that he has 3 sons. If he look after the first son's child, then he is obligated to look after the 2nd son's and the 3rd son's child in future. He has to be fair to all sons. True, I agree fully with him. I also can't be unfair to both sets of parents as they are entitled to enjoy their senior citizen's life. I would like to be like them when I turn 50 and not running around my own grandchildren.

But what's really putting me off is the freedom I enjoy now. I can just go anywhere I want, do anything I like, sleep till anytime as long as my body wish for. I've seen a lot of parents putting their children as top priority in everything and secondary or no priority for anything for themsleves. Hey ! I'm not saying this is not right or what. This is just the most natural thing that most parents will behave. I don't know, I maybe like one when I become a mum but definitely not in the short run. I just feel it so pathetic if I can't go shopping or facial because I have a kid in tow.

Enough of my nag and back to the meeting......

I have been observing a colleague's reaction and movement from the second my boss announced the manager's departure and I can see she cannot accepted the news. She wasn't concentrating during the meeting and uncontrollably shed some tears when my boss teased her after the meeting. She couldn't even eat her breakfast. I guessed it is a big blow to her as she came to Insight is also part of she can work with Manager as they are quite on good terms. Secondly, she may feel some lost of insecruities as I feel she had relied a lot on the Manager. Whenever, the Manager is on leave, stress is written all over this colleague's face.

It's another 1 more month to go if the baby decide not to come so early. Everything is operating as normal for the time being. I shall gossip more when the last day comes.

Broadway Beng

I watched my funniest play yesterday and it was also my first visit to DBS Arts Centre housed near Robertson Quay.

Broadway Beng - A slinglish talkshow by Sebastian Tan. This is in fact a 2nd run.

(picture from www.sistic.com)

I started laughing with tears in my eyes right from the beginning. It was so hilarious and I regretted Alvin decided not to come with me. Sebastian can sing so well. I liked his voice. He is also quite good looking. In fact I read somewhere before that he is not ah Beng by nature. He is actually English-educated and acted in Broadways in London before. His much acclaimed work is Miss Saigon.

The whole show started at 8pm with laughter carried on till 9.30pm. He acted so well and I think he will forever be remebered as an Beng of Singapore.

After the show, Li Wah commented he is like from some singing competition........but none can verified that. Maybe you will be interested to know more about him. www.sebastiantan.com

If there is another season of Broadway Beng, I will definitely bring Alvin along.

Clear Leave (08 - 10 August)

I've applied for leave and hoping to laze around at home to rest as well as to catch up on all the DVDs that I have been keeping them for the longest time.

Coincidently, 08 Aug is my ROM anniversary and 09 Aug is National Day, so it make sense to apply leave for 10 Aug.

Unfortunately, I'm more busier and spending more money instead.

08 Aug - Left home at about 10 am, heading Great World City to have breakfast at Macdonal's, followed by collecting Alvin's pants at Zara. Since he has another $20 Zara voucher to spend (expiring 17Aug), it was natural for me to see my stuffs. I was $138 poorer when I left Zara.

Since I'm out, I went Wheelock to do my own stuff and hit the malls to purchase shopping vouchers required by company. then I went, Chinatown, Pearl Centre to buy 'bak kwa'.

I couldn't think of anything appropriate to buy and within my means except 'bak kwa' for David and wife. Although I didn't purposely MIA at Genting, I thought it is my gesture to say thanks to both of them to worry for me during my 'disappearance'. This brand of 'bak kwa' belongs to the family-in-law of my colleague Lay Hong. It is called 'Jin Pin Xiang'.

By the time I reached home, it was almost 4pm and I am really exhausted.

09 Aug - We have arranged for a small gatehring today initially at Albert's place but switced to June's place at the last minute. June promises fly past and fireworks as her blocked faces National Stadium. Oh yes ! Today is out nation;s 41st birthday !

As our helper will still be coming to clean the house at about 11am, we went for breakfast at about 10am, then we went to Alvin's office to 'hide'. But Alvin has a 'pointed' backside and he can't be sit for long. So, he urged or insisted I must go to Toyota showroom to see Altis which his dad decided to buy. I was more interested with a new model call Toyota Yaris. It's a hunchback and small car. SO CUTE ! I always can;t resist cute cars. I decided to meet Huiyi earlier than 3 pm as expected at Toa Payoh. It was really a small gathering as only Albert, Sunny, Yifeng's family, Huiyi and myself, and of course with June's family. we chatted, watched the babies played and the parade on TV. We wanted to leave early but 'pai say' as June said she wanted to 'talk' to us after she put her baby Tivon to sleep. We stayed till the parade and fireworks were over and Sunny, Huiyi and me proceeded to go for dinner. We initially wanted to have dinner but after Albert and Yifeng left and we realised that wasn't any proper place to have a food spread, we hid our hunger. As Sunny was driving, Huiyi suggested a cool Olio Dome tucked in a corner of Bishan CC.

10 Aug - I've decided to bring forward my facial and spend hours there today. B the time I reached home, it was almost half a day gone. I tried to watch a few episode of the serial as the main objective to stay away from work was to coop myslef at home to watch shows. Yet, you can see I ended up doing a lot of things not in the agenda.

Nevertheless, though not going anywhere for holiday, it is also a good break as staying home is also a form of holiday !

KL Trip (04 - 06 August)

I'm always a week late in whatever I wanted to share with all of you.

This is a much postponed trip which my'ang' promised to bring me again. Although it was a postponed trip, I'm very much glad it did because we coincide with the on-going Malaysia Mega Sale !!!!!!

We went along with David & wife because I refused to allow my 'ang' to drive all the way to KL. He always has the tendency to speed and I wouldn't to put my life to such risk. His friend, David, on the other hand, is more consistent. He loves long-distance driving yet he doesn't speed. He can maintained the speed for almost 100 KM !

So now you know why I always told Alvin to ask them along. :>

We set off on Friday evening at about 7.30pm from my place, picked up David and hit the road. We arrive at Tuas Check point at about 8.30pm, I think. It was a smooth crossing as there aren't much traffic. We have a quick 'zi chai' dinner in JB and hit the highway immediately. I was so tired that I slept all the way from JB to KL city.

By the time, we have checked in, it was almost 1 am. We met up with another friend who had arrived much earlier with his family. David & wife then brought Alvin and me to try 'lok lok' by the roadside.

'Lok lok' means cooking skewers of food in boiling water or oil, then accompanied by sauces to eat them. Alvin would NEVER NEVER tried it if just boh of us alone, He's too worried 'to lose face' to tell his friend that he doesn't want to try them. He perceived the roadside stall to be very dirty. Anyway, we didn't end up with stomach cramps the next day. 5 of us ate away RM38 worth of food. We proceeded to a nearby food & drinks stall for some drinks and was 'chopped' RM9.50 for 1 teh-o, 2 100-plus, 1 milo. We were all so atonished! Probably, we ate our own nasi lemak without patronising theirs or just because we are from Singapore and therefore they can chopped us up like radish.

Anyway, we were too tired and returned to hotel to hit the sack. By the time I'm in bed, it was almost 2.30am.

Rise & Shine ! Not until 9.30am though..... We are going for a nice Ipoh Hor Fun near Jalan Imbi, beside my favourite mini egg tart store.

I 'tah pau' 5 egg tarts after breakfast and we returned back to hotel. While waiting for David and his wife to get ready for the day, I finished all of them at one go, together gazing through the window, looking at KLCC.

We stayed at Crown Regency Apartment which is only a stone throw's away from KLCC. It cost us RM180 per night in a Studio Room but I don't like the place. The whole room is so dark at night, as if the light bulbs aren't working. The sofas are faded in colour and the room gave me a very old feel. I really don't like it.

By the time, David and his wife is ready, it is almost 11am and we drove to 1 Utama at Damansara. A mega shopping mall that you cannot finish in a day. It is about a 20mins' drive if there is no traffic jams. As it was a Saturday, we spent almost another 20mins trying to find a parking lot. Every lot was parked with cars. Surprisingly, as we thought the mall will be flooded with people since there were so many cars, apparently, it wasn't. We can feel it is still spaciously comfortable when we were on the retail floor.


Before I can began any retail therapy, David is hungry and wanted lunch. Everyone agreed and we headed out for lunch at this retaurant. 5 mins' drive away - but this time we took a taxi as we doesn't want to drive out car after spending a hard time earlier on looking for a space. Super Crab Aroma Seafood Restaurant. It was a good lunch where we had fish porridge, thai style pig trotter, etc, etc. I can't remember what else we had eaten.

Nevertheless, we returned back to 1 Utama and it was almost 3.30pm then. David not realising the power of this shopping mall, wanted to rejoin back in a hour's time. Frantically, I raced to my favourite store on the 2nd level. I told my husband, " I got no time for you and to give you advice on your choice of clothes. You decide for yourself. Bye ! I'm going over to my own sections." Malaysians are pretty interesting. For every piece of clothes they try, they have to show their friends waiting outside. They can't be bothered by the long queue forming outside. Probably, they have waited long enough, so now they feel they have every right to 'choop' the cubicle for as long as they want. As I have no time, I quickly tried my pieces and get out there. We managed to extend for another hour of shopping...hee hee....


In the end, I bought a 3/4 sleeve orange-stripe shirt, a black skirt, 1 top in this store. Vincci shoes are not attracting me, they are not following the season's up-to-date fashion in the shoe design ! While there was still time to spare, I hoped over next door, NOSE, and was delighted to find a pair of red patent flats ! I was thrilled. I can replaced the one I donated to Salvation Army ! Although the red colour is not as bright as the previous, I just grabbed. I got another pair of retro silver strappy sandals too ! By the time I was ready, David and wife found 'gold' in Padini Concept Store and they also started 'digging'. We let them be (so that I can continued to scout for anything I have missed earlier on). I ended uo with a pair of sandals and a white tie. I told Alvin the tie is very nice but unfortunately he don't wear one. He then suggested I can get for my boss and gave it to him when his birthday approaches. GOOD IDEA ! The tie went into my shopping bag. Finally, we completed all my shopping with everyone's grimming and we were all ready to go Genting.

It took us about 45mins from 1 Utama to Genting Highlands. The last time I went to Genting was 5 years back. We drove up too. I wasn't really looking forward as I don't gamble. The ride was smooth and I guessed due to safety reasons, the authorities split the uphill and downhill route (one on left, one on right) somewhere at mid hill. The weather is still very cooling. I followed them to the casino and had a tour of it. It was totally infested with mainland chinese tourists and I really don't like it. They are not the city-dwellers but more of those tourists from the villages. Don't doubt me, I can see from their dressing and the way they behaved. I parted with the group as I was told there is shopping at First World Hotel (heehee). We agreed to call each other whoever is done first.

I followed the crowd and covered route all the way to First World Hotel and was extremely surprised that it's an intergrated indoor theme park and shopping mall all in one. Overhead car ride can be seen and I'm extremly happy to see a Ferris Wheel in there !



I continued shopping and ended up with a drawstring skirt, 1 shirt dress, a top and errrr.........I think nothing else. By then, I was too tired and was wondering why they haven't called me. Therefore, I decided to relive my childhood and took a ride on the Ferris Wheel ! ..... though it's a bit wierd to take the ride alone.



You can see I was indeed enjoying myself. By the time the ride finished, it was almost 10 o'clock and I'm just too tired that I decided to go back and look for them. I heard someone shouted for me at the Genting Hotel lobby and realised they have completed their game with good winning. I was extremley shocked when Alvin angrily telling me off why I didn't pick up my mobile as 3 of them had been calling me umpteen times ! And to all our horror ! my mobile didn't ring as there was no network, however, there's ringing tone when they called. David and wife was relived when all of us realised it was a miscommunication and misunderstanding and it was not my fault. By then, everyone was hungry and we headed to Jaya town (3/4 hill of Genting) for 'zi cha' dinner. I was extremely sorry and kept apologising to David & Janet as they had walked twice to First World to look for me as well as twice to casino to look for me too. By the time we returned to KL, it was almost 1am and everyone was very tired and hit the sack immediately.

We slept late the next day. We had brunch at this restaurant called 'Hai Wai Tien' and headed back home. I was surprised the restaurant begin selling mooncakes although it is only into 2nd week in the 7th month (of the 1st month. There's 2 7th months this year).

We decided to have dinner in JB at a nearby kampung-style alfresco coffeeshop as we arrived JB at about 6++pm. We ended this marvellous holiday (minus the mobile phone glitch) with durian dessert at roadside stall.....hee hee

Looking forward to the next KL Shopping Trip again ! See ya !