just some things...

> had dinner at Rochester Park, finally. Been meaning to check it out after reading reviews about the place. Dined on grilled halibut at North Border Bar and Grill. Yummy. Before that, we started the dinner with mushroom soup - the kind where you can feel the generous bits of mushroom on your tongue. leo had the grilled prawn and steak. Yummy too. Shared a glass of champagne with some lychee flavour, as well as this chocolate lava dessert thingie with Bailey's ice-cream. Very nice!

> had dinner at Sunset (or was it Sunset Way?) Bar and Grill at the Seletar airbase. The food was all right, we had to wait an hour for it!!! Loved the drive to the place though, past all those colonial houses that I wish I could live in :)

> enjoyed the messages by Pastor Peter Tsukahira, a Japanese American who now holds an Israeli passport, doing God's work at Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. I'm always intrigued by how today's events surrounding Israel are unfolding according to the prophecies in the bible. I may have read the bible at least twice, but I'm constantly amazed at how the bible continues to tell a living story of today's events. Couldn't help but bought Pastor Peter's book "God's Tsunami - Understanding Israel and End-time Prophecy". It also gives me goosebumps to know that I'm actually living in this current age, and witnessing what the bible foretold.

> invited the media to cover an event that my agency was conducting. Feels super weird to be on the other side of the fence. I actually know what the media want, and I can predict their response! And I know it's going to be just another diary event, but I have to sell it, no matter what!

clearing excess baggage

I was going through all my bags last weekend and I ended up at a loss for words. I didn't realise how many bags I had!!! And why? This is why...

I've been stuffing my bags into this small plastic box on rollers. Those I use regularly are placed on top of its cover. Those I don't, just stay inside, stacked on top of one another, crammed in this container. And I never realised how many I'd been accummulating. I had to air them overnight in my living room cos they were smelling too musty. Some, however, went into a big paper bag, for The Salvation Army. Sure got people buy one, cos they're still in good condition!

My mother got so inspired, and brought more bags out (some real pretty ones) , to be given away too. Women really do hoard things, don't they? :)

trying to cut down on teh

I just took a really ugly pic of myself, with my white clay mask on and my ugly, brown/yellowish-stained teeth showing. I was hoping to do a before-and-after. Before going for a mega cleanup at the dentist's tomorrow, during lunch.

First, it was leo who exclaimed "why your teeth like that?"
Then, it was belle who exclaimed, yesterday, "why your teeth like that?"

This is the first time I've noticed my teeth so stained, and I believe very strongly it's because I've been on an overdose of teh. (I don't drink coffee, by the way.) Yes, teh, that kopitiam tea with milk. I love it. Especially when it's thick and sweet just that way I like it. Not diluted, not milky. But it has cost me my teeth!!!

Arrgh...I hope I can get the stains off tomorrow. And if I feel brave enough, I might post the "before" pic.

bliss is when...

you wake up at noon
read the papers for an hour
cook maggi mee for lunch
watch tv, watch anything on tv, including bollywood movies
nap for an hour
wake up and watch the ndp on tv
listen out for the roar of the F16s
carry on watching the ndp
followed by Singapore Idol
followed by that Chinese show on channel 8
followed by some repeat of some show on channel u
followed by some taiwanese variety show on the same channel
until you feel yes, you're satisfied, it's time to go to bed...

happy national day.

Milubing is Superband!!! YAY!!!

I plonked myself in front of the TV set at 7.30pm sharp today. To catch the finals of Superband. And Milubing (迷路兵) won!!! YAY!!! These three boys are in their very early 20s and they are so super talented. They call themselves Milubing because it sounds like milo peng, their favourite drink.

From left to right: Nic (vocals and electric guit), Weiqi (keyboards, vocals and beat box) and Sam (vocals, guit and drums).

My six SMS votes were worth it after all. Heh heh. $3.60 in all. :)

Ordering milo peng won't be the same again!

stratification

In my course of work, I've had to be very mindful of how the education system has classified our secondary school students:
- NA (Normal Academic)
- NT (Normal Technical) or
- E (Express)

In truth, the NA and NT students cannot grasp concepts that Express students can. Having come from very good schools myself, I have always taken for granted that simple mental sums, for example, are a breeze. But I forget that I'm from the Express stream. Well, actually, make that Special, cos I took Higher Chinese.

Hence, having been exposed to so many NA and NT students from the start of work, I inadvertently experienced a culture shock when I helped a colleague with her work at a good all-girl primary school. In just two hours of having games in a drop-in room we started for them, I counted at least four different nationalities - Thai, Polish/American, Indonesian, Filipino. I hear there're Brazilians and Africans too. Fwah. Exotic man.

As young as 7 years old, these girls exude a confidence that I've not seen in a long time. They speak fluent English and they spell beautifully. They are even perfectly articulate when they argue with you. These are the girls who grow up in educated and at least middle-class families. Judging by the variety of nationalities, this is probably the school where many expats send their daughters to as well.

These are also the girls who will never end up in the NA and NT streams later on in their lives. These are the girls who know that dreams can be reached.

the shoulder aches are back

I have this terrible habit of tensing my shoulders as I type, when I'm really busy and stressed out. And it's been happening this week. At 6pm earlier on - when I could be considered officially off work - I grabbed my bag and headed for this massage place at the basement of that neighbourhood mall nearby.

The "Richard" and "Ah Chun" whom my colleagues recommended were not around, so I had this Thomas give me a rub down. It felt damn good, especially in those two problematic spots. But I know tomorrow I'm gonna wake up with sore shoulders. Then I walked back to work to conduct a family counselling session. I told myself, it's gonna be a quick closing session, and then I'll be heading home for some wonderful Chinese dinner prepared by my mum.

Steamed fish, fried eggs with onion, pork stir-fried with capsicum. YUM.

About work:

I'm trying to handle the amount of paperwork there is and the rest of the important work I have to do. Today and yesterday, I must have typed at least 10 case recordings. Now I understand what it means not to chalk up recordings. No wonder I always see some colleagues furiously scribbling their case notes after each session. Really, if you don't, you will end up with piles of undone recordings. And then, you'll find you can't remember what transpired during the counselling session. And that's bad. Worse still, you can't remember the name of the person you counselled.

I'm really still in the adjustment period. For the moment, I think I've forgotten how to breathe!

Gasp.