musings about work

work has been pretty hectic for the last 2 weeks. but the good thing is I seem to find back some of the drive and motivation at work that has been evading me for the past 1 month.
not exactly sure what's the trigger point, could be a combination of few conscious decisions I made.
I made the conscious effort to focus better during work, to get as much out of the way during office hours and not bringing work home.
I switched the push mode for company emails to a manual one on my hp for non-office hours. meaning, from 6pm to 8am next day, emails checking/reading is on my call rather a distracting blinking light now and then.
consistent trips to the community library with the boys had me borrowing non-fiction books of interest for me to read on most evenings and stopping the k drama sometimes. reading does the opposite of watching videos for me, im put into a more proactive role to think through and reflect what I "receive" from the book as compared to passive taking in of the plot as the drama unfolds and letting my emotions react accordingly like tearing... LOL

as I get better (I must be, I'm sure!) at understanding my current role better, the expectations others have on me and where I can better play a part, it will help me to plan ahead and better manage the demands at work and relationships with others.
at the end of the day, work is not everything but it's undeniably a critical part of my life too having taking up almost 50% of my waking hours (including weekends). so we should all really find joy and satisfaction during those 9-10 hours at work so as to have a balanced happy life as a whole.

having said so, it helps to try understanding that everyone is just like you, trying their best to do their job. most will have their reasons for doing certain things. you need not accept and agree but we all should try to understand they definitely have their own reasons for doing so. and it's always my stance to do something if it's within my control. to accept or walk away if it's not. really no point going round in circles non-stop and not acting. so far, these above 2 points have helped me to maintain my sanity at work! and at home too! :P

the weight is back!

almost 1 year back after our HCMC trip, I decided enough is enough with the muffin top and from sept/oct month, I started running every morning for like 2-3 times per week. that coupled with counting calories ( bad bad suff I hope I wont need to do again) resulted in me losing 2 kgs and sustaining it by early this year.
but a pulled muscle of my right knee stopped the running and I switched to (inconsistent) mix of brisk walking, strength conditioning exercises and stretching to keep me "active". so far so good but I think the slow build-up of rich eating and lack of exercise now and then has finally caught up with me again!
2 weeks back, im back to the +2KGs weight from my ideal weight! or should I just be realistic that the "ideal" weight doesn't hold as we age. :(
in any case, I started eating healthier and greener food and stepped up on the (lackluster) exercises abit so the weight has gone down by 0.5kg.... LOL
still have a kg to go and I think that's the hardest bit. or maybe I should start listening to my body telling me that the new normal weight for me now is simply it is what it is!

zzzz. maybe the right thing is just to focus on healthy eating and healthy lifestyle.... ok, I shall do that and take the weight as a reference rather than end goal!

201 telok kurau

we finally found the best durians for this season!! 201 telok kurau!!

brought the boys + husband to try out this evening as i read good things about this durian place. accordingly, the owners has their own plantations where they grow their own brands of MSW and king of king durians!

quality is controlled and better and it has followers of its own.

true to that, the place was crowded when we reached in the evening with people buying 5-10 durians at 1 go! we bought 2 to eat on the spot and it costs us $70 bucks!!

but absolutely no regrets! the flesh was creamy as MSW should be. seeds were small and what's fascinating was YZ, who almost didn't eat much durian for this whole season as he is really neutral towards durians bordering on slight dislike, ate as many as any of us!

I can only say this boy has expensive taste. LOL

and the husband who is forever shocked by prices like this commented for the first time it's worth it and suggested a revisit next weekend!

 

my view is straightforward. we only have so much tummy space and at an age where we get fat just by breathing air, make every calories count right?

so I might just settle for this place for the rest of the durian season!!

 

beautiful fruits - I never get tired of them! *slurp*

Ant man - surprisingly wholesome and good!

brought the boys to suntec to watch Ant-man yesterday and it was a fantastic choice. superhero movie should be like this. wholesome, humorous and family-friendly. as superhero movies get darker and darker (think dark knight, superman vs batman etc), it is getting ironical that they are getting more and more inaccessible for kids which should be their biggest fans.
so ant man is great. the kids were able to follow the story line, enjoyed it and that was pretty much the same for adults. maybe it's just im biased. but who can really dislike paul rudd! perfectly cast as the reluctant hero who gave us the lighthearted moments as easily as he lent weight to the more serious moments.
I still remember thinking he is cute as a button when I first saw him in clueless like 20 years back! gosh, he is like in his mid-40s now! how time flies! but not to mention that he is in pretty good shape for his age. :)
cant wait to see him join the rest of marvel heroes in action!

after the show, we spent some time at marina sq & suntec before settling for dinner @ kay lee!
the roast pork and especially the roast meat are totally yummy! it's HK standards if you ask me!
definitely going to revisit it.
a bit on the pricier side for a plate of roast pork rice but for such standard, im more than willing to pay! yummmmm....

a great way to end a weekend!

Big bang concert - *woohoo*

the thing about k concerts, apart from their pricier tickets, is that you can almost expect very good stage set-up!
it's the case for exo and no surprise for big bang concert yesterday too! the last time I saw them live was at F1 concert 2 years back and outdoor or indoor, they really have the ability to get the crowd moving! but again, who am I kidding? what can you really expect from adoring fans listening to their songs?! LOL.

back with their new MADE album after a 3 years hiatus since their last group album. though the new hits are not as brilliant as fantastic baby which practically gets anyone hooked the first they hear it, they do grow on you. my personal fav. are bang bang bang and if you.
bang bang bamg will replace fantastic baby as the opening & encore songs I guess! :D

some blur photos taken yesterday + a video! GD still has his swag apparently but its also obvious that he is not as 嫩 as last time. :P

I wouldn't mind catching suju the next time they are here too!!

day out with the boys!

we all love a public holiday, dont we!

hubbi and i were able to sleep in until almost 10am this morning! what a luxury! :D

no particular itinerary for today - just head to MBS for a spot of shopping (?!).

the husband was busy trying out his new camera for the day and we were his models! LOL.

he appeared in none but 1 of the photos taken today. *wahaha*

 

and MBS is really not a good place for me for there are just so much temptations!!

in the end, I cant resist but got myself a pair of repetto & earrings from chanel... this is bad. what happened to lying low until sept....? @_@

 

non-stop photo-taking by the husband...

 

and it seems like we cant wait till sept for our staycation to start. we just booked ANOTHER one for the national day weekend! cant wait for that in 3 weeks time. yeah!

thanks bb for agreeing to this one on top of the few that we've lined up for rest of year! :D

dates with the husband

now that the husband's peak period is sort of over until the next one comes along, we are able to catch up with each other better. :)

last thursday, he was able to end work early to look for me at my workplace. so once im off for work, we headed to FYR at boon tat street - this restaurant which I was keen to bring him to for the longest time for it's steak and bone marrow are really yummy! they use lychee wood to oven cook the food which gave the food a yummy tinge of sweet aroma. I like!

and thankfully the husband was so impressed with the food, he brought the in-laws and me back for another round yesterday. LOL.

their rib-eye done medium is my fav and that says a lot for im never a steak person!

 

today, both of us applied half-day leave to spend some time together. hubbi fetched me from my workplace for vivo. we wanted to get minion toys for the kids but sadly all fully redeemed yesterday itself! gosh. - too bad for the kiddos.

we caught "Magic mike XXL" - my choice of course. hehehe. though the expectations were already lowered given the review saying that this sequel is more dancing less story as confirmed by tatum himself, I cant help but compare to the first installment. this time round, it's milder and not as gritty as the first. oh well, got to see the lovely bodies still. hiaks.

went shopping for electronics - yes, vacumn and iron can you believe it! - as requested by my mum that the ones at my house need replacements already...
hubbi got a camera bag for his new Olympus camera. tsk tsk, him and his gadgets. I was good = no shopping done! :P

dinner was at Jamie's Italian as I wanted to try since it opened like 1 year back? finally we got to try it. maybe we've chosen the wrong mains for I find them so-so and the air-conditioning rendered the food cold and bleh in minutes....
but the cauliflower frittis that we got for starters were really good but to warrant a revisit just for that, I don't think so..
house wine is so so too though hubbi enjoyed his smoothie but again, not a fan of such drinks!
too full to try their tiramisu which the waitress claimed to be one of the best in SG?! hmm, I wonder if I will ever revisit to try that. shall see...

a good afternoon spent with the husband and we should do that at least every other month. :D

 

staycations galore! *wee*

yeah! I have go ahead and make reservations for staycations for rest of the year with the blessings of the husband. no, he's not paying for everything just giving the permission to do so. tsk.

it's all 2D1N stuff - rather frivolous and just for us break out of the daily routine abit. :P
first up, 1 night stay at around town (closer to dhoby ghaut area) during sept school holidays so we can bring the boys on a day excursion to some local museums or duck tour?. :D
1 night stay just for the husband, me (+1 boy?) at a hotel in town for our 9th wedding anniversary in sept! im planning my fav. (boring) activities I guess - movie, shopping + some fine dining in town. fabulous!
lastly, 1 night stay somewhere close to town on my birthday though it's peak period for the husband typically for any last day of a quarter. :(
well, he can work by the hotel pool while I bring the kids for a relaxing swim I guess. :P

cant wait for these mini breaks and of cos our family holidays to Europe in nov! :D
I think it's time to start (day)dreaming abit for our 2016 holidays. hehe.

minions!

the husband decided to give the boys a pleasant surprise - that is, to watch the minions movie! we have been telling them that we wont be watching for the longest time and they have no expectations whatsoever.
as both hubbi and I have been working late for the past week due to our quarter/year-end closing, we wanted to make the weekend a good one for the kids. so we brought them to bugis and hubbi went to buy the tickets without them knowing. :P when I was queuing up to buy the snacks for the show, the elder boy was asking if im watching a show alone. LOL. 
when we led them to the cinema, they kept asking if we were watching terminator (which they really really don't want to watch, lol). finally when the show started, you can see how happy they were! kudos to the man who planned this mini surprise for the little guys. :D
but the show is really a kids' show. I think I enjoyed the despicable me series much much more. zzzz.

dinner was at coco ichibanya @ bugis plus - at the request of the elder boy who wanted to have curry rice for dinner. tsk tsk. the evening ended with us strolling around bugis village area which is bustling with activities on a weekend night.

@coco ichibanya