I am shocked to see that my last post was in June last year! AIYOH! This cannot continue!!!!! See, haven't blogged for so long that I've forgotten my font settings.
I will blog more often now.
It's like.... when many things are happening in my life, I am too busy to blog and would rather use the time to sleep. But when I have time on my hands, there is nothing interesting to blog about!
Not to mention that sometimes it's easier to post a pic on Facebook with a caption, and leave it as that.
But now I have something to say, which needs a whole page, not just a line on FB :) So back to the good old blog...
Just happened to find out the differences between the above, and thought it's interesting. Always thought one meant "you" and one meant "I", but apparently they all mean "you"!
Recently Hubby and I have been busy entertaining some visitors from out of town. Bob and Su-anne dropped by with their son Bobby, and unfortunately, overstayed their welcome.
They would turn up early in the morning, and only leave in the evenings when our day is almost over. Su-anne especially, probably deserves the Employee-of-the-month award for being here 24/7 even on weekends! What a headache.
They came with the change in weather. Have you noticed how sweltering the heat has been these few weeks?
I start sweating the moment I wake up, although in my air-conditioned bedroom. Hubby has also been coming home from work with a strong body odour. Even Boyboy drips sweat just by sitting still.
And so we got to know B.O.b, SU-ANne, and B.O.bby on an intimate basis.
Hope they leave soon so our home is fragrant again... hahahaha.
Have been a 'Friend of Ikea' ever since doing up my matrimonial home, but I have a niggling feeling that this friendship will not last.
Firstly, my friend offered me a free drink every time I visited. He also offered discounted meals, but most of the time I didn't milk his hospitality dry.
Then one day my friend tells me that he is imposing a quota on the number of drinks I can take within the year. Wow, is the economy really so bad now?
Then last week, I felt betrayed by my friend. I am doing up the photowall in my home and have been buying the squarish Nyttja frames for a while. It's an Ikea staple, so I felt it was reliable.
Suddenly one day it was gone from the Tampines Ikea Marketplace display. Not one piece, even the ones on display had disappeared. Upon enquiry, turns out it is "being phased out". I am short of just six pieces!!!
Hubby called the helpline and found 10+ pieces in the Alexandra branch. Off we went, pregnant woman dragging my big tummy around the cramped aisles. But the staff couldn't locate the 15 pieces in his inventory. Apparently "I don't know where they are, but they are not here."
My favourite character on TV these days! I think Chongqing has done a wonderful job fleshing her out, She's so kiasu and 失态 ;D
Paris & Milan though, irritate the hell out of me. But maybe that's the goal haha! Auntie Lucy appears at about 0:40 seconds, but this segment is not bad, can watch til the end...
Just to share some things that made me smile recently....
At gynae's ultrasound on Monday: Gynae: "It's still a boy!" Me: "Will change one meh?"
At KK Hospital. An primary-level boy was walking with his mum in front of us. As we passed a door labelled "Breast Screening": Boy: " EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE BREAST!!!!!!!!"
Hubby was going out to buy dinner for the two of us. I ordered fried bee hoon with 3 side-dishes. As he was leaving, I suddenly asked to add a sausage to the meal, if it was not too expensive. Hubby frowned and said, "Expensive". So I said "Ok lor." But when I opened the packet at dinner, there were 3 side dishes and a sausage :)))
My mum came over to QC the baby room. Marvel, as usual, sneaked into the room. Mum poked her head over the door frame and chided Marvel, telling him to come out. Usually unresponsive and sedated, Marvel glared at her. As Mum continued nagging, Marvel suddenly jumped up and 'attacked' the wall beside Mum, scratching crazily. Then he ran and hid under the sofabed. Haha transference of anger! Says a lot about mothers' nagging 功力 ;)
A lot has been said by everyone since he passed away, so I shall not join in and wax lyrical about how great a legend he was.
Feel a pity and sad for him because he was a talented boy who grew up too fast and spiralled down too soon. Imagine the kind of life he had to lead because everyone was staring at him.
Would like to share his Thriller video with you. I remember being 5 years old in 1982 and being awed and fascinated by this dancing werewolf on TV. Very very deep impression.
The full-length (almost 14 mins) video is here if you're interested.
In honour of his recent concert ;) Which got such great reviews!
I remember being a crazy member of his fan club way back in Sec 1. Cos my best friend dragged me with her everytime she went to 'chase' him, so I ended up crazy too. Went for my very 1st 歌友会 at the foyer of Bras Basah, where we squeezed all the way to the 1st row and super-duper zoomed with our cameras. Got many shots of his nostril hair -__-"
Aiyoh, the loads of money I wasted on such idol worship.
Excuse me, who wouldn't be 冲动 when faced with Jang Hyuk?!!! Hee hee.
My favourite Korean actor. But I still wouldn't pay to watch him in Dance of the Dragon, cos it's too gross to see him fighting for Fann Wong -_-".
Elva is much better. I just wish she would stop doing her Rexona let-me-show-you-my-armpit pose.
I saw a 'making of' special and apparently Jang Hyuk is her real idol. She was so paisey cos she couldn't stop giggling like a schoolgirl when filming this video with him, ending up creating a lot of NGs.
Since staying home, I've been hooked on this TV series showing on AXN on Starhub cable every weekday at 1pm. It's actually an old series which ran from 1996-2000, think I remember catching a few episodes of it then.
Early Edition is about a bar owner Gary Hobson, who starts receiving tomorrow's paper today. It arrives every morning at 630am with an orange cat who meows to alert him. I like this show because it follows Gary as he goes around each day trying to stop the fatalities he reads in the paper, sometimes even risking his own life in the process.
He's like a superhero, except that he is completely human. The things he does are also comparatively trivial, but make a difference to the people he helps. He also faces moral dilemmas, such as wanting to go back to a 'normal' life, or dealing with depression after failing to save the life of a homeless man. His friends are important as they share his secret and support him when he is demoralised.
The series is interesting also because it deals with the issue of what happens if we change history? Sometimes Gary goes to bed and travels to the past where he stops a big fire etc, and the consequences become evident when he wakes up the next day in present time.
The story does not really explain why and how Gary gets the newspaper, but drops some clues here and there. For example, now we know that there was a man Lucius Snow, who owned the orange cat, and was doing Gary's task before him. Evidence of his existence comes up occasionally when Gary investigates his cases. For e.g, Snow had tried to stop John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963 and failed. When Gary got so depressed that he wanted to disown the newspaper, Lucius Snow appears to guide and encourage him.
A combination of mystery-solving and inspiring stories :) And a cute cat!
I don't know if it's because of the year-end, but I'm feeling a bit wistful and especially poignant. It's the end of the year, when the past wraps up and new beginnings are to come. People celebrate the Christmas spirit of loving and sharing, and catch up with their family and friends.
But for some people unexpected things happen to change their plans.
The Mumbai terrorist attack took away Lo Hwei Yen, at the prime of her life at 28 when she's starting a new journey with her husband of one year. I did a google search and chanced upon her Friendster page, still functioning. Her photos are accessible to the public, as well as her writeup on herself:
Who I Want to Meet: Someone who'll save me from myself... Oh wait, I already found him. :P
Newspapers print letters pouring in from politicians and public alike who say they empathise with and share her family's loss. To the logical skeptic these people are unnecessarily emotional. But somehow I can identify, because like her, I have just started a new phase of my life. There's so much to do, too early to die.
Today I was watching a documentary on Animal Planet, showing a zookeeper in Tobe Zoo, Japan, who raised a baby polar bear who was rejected by her mum. Atsuhito Takaichi took Peace home, fed her with milk from a bottle, let her sleep on the bed with his two toddlers and took walks with her. But at 2 years old, he had to return Peace to the zoo because she had grown too big.
The documentary showed all the challenges he had to prepare her for, such as forcing her to learn swimming so she can stay cool in the summer. Tough love.
As Peace grew to an enormous bear, she would still run to the edge of her cage when she spies him walking past. She would also stick her paws out hoping to touch him. But it's time for him to let go. So sad!
Every year as Peace celebrates her birthday in the zoo, Atsuhito, his wife, teenage daughter and son make a home-made cake and sing a birthday song for her at their home, because they can't get near to her anymore.
Even after just 1 year with my cats, I can't imagine having to 割爱 like that.
It was a bright and sunny day. Suaku Ping decided to go to the Lim Chu Kang farms with her husband and parents-in-law.
First they went to the Hay Dairy goat farm. There was a demonstration on how the goats are milked. Suaku Ping was sad.
Some of the mummy goats were so old. Many mummy goats also had teats that were so bloated and heavy they almost dragged on the floor.
Suaku Ping was also sad because the little goats were kept in a separate area from their mummies. They were bleating loudly, crying out for their mummies.
The little goats had no milk to drink, because all the milk was taken away to fed the humans. The humans were asked to buy grass from the farm counter to feed the little goats instead. Little goats do not like to eat grass but they had no choice.
Suaku Ping was glad to get out of the farm. They drove to a fruit farm next.
Suaku Ping discovered that the dragonfruit belongs to the cactus family! The long flower wilts to leave behind its fruit.
Suaku Ping recognised some familiar fruits:
Figs 无花果...
Ong lai...
Starfruit 杨桃...
Papaya! The fruits grow out from each segment sticking out from the stem of the tree.
Suaku Ping never realised that each ear of corn grows out from each leaf of the maize plant.
This is a banana tree with a flower.
This is what happens if the fruits are not harvested in time.
This is a special species of banana called 指天蕉 that grows upwards!
These cute wintermelons made Suaku Ping laugh.
A strange kind of cucumber called 胡瓜 that has thorns.
The cashew nut in its shell.
Ribena plant :) With sickly-sweet-smelling red flowers.
Suaku Ping had learnt many things from her trip to the farms. She went home with new knowledge and a big headache because the sun was too strong!
Suaku Ping is now suffering from flu from sunstroke :(
Saw this when driving past some expressway. Cool outdoor ambient ad. Makes that portion of the building seem old, collapsed and see-through. Feel that the effect takes some of the thunder away from the intended Yellow Ribbon message though.
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