attack!

i have to watch my diet very closely again... :(
my big toe joint was inflammed from last sunday and only subsided enough for me to stop hobbling today.
sigh. i was so glad when the medical report was fine for me last nov.
guess i over-indulged after that assurance.
time to cut down on alcohol, anchoives and all nutty stuff. *sniff*

hunger games trilogy

have finished the trilogy in barely a week and i super dig it!
i like it so much that i actually re-read the last half of book 3 - mockingjay.
really really like how the series tackle different themes while keeping the main story simple and easy to digest.
no wonder it was compared to the animal farm in some reviews.

now i really cant wait for the sequels to be shown on big screen!

day out with the little nut!

and so i am on leave today! and i planned to spend the day with little nut.
or rather, he spent the day shopping with me! :P
ok lah, im not so bad.. i brought him to watch the avengers!
and the little ironman 粉丝 was super duper glad to see his superhero on the big screen.
and its good that there were fewer people in the cinema at 10+am, better to entertain his not-so-quiet questions. ha.

after that we went window shopping @ ion area all the way back to cineleisure before we drove back to my mum's place to pick gor gor up.
didnt really buy anything except the laura mercier primer and tinted moisturiser from sephora to try since the stock finally came in.
saw that they have added the new fresh and philsophy lines to their shop, cant wait to try next time.

closing time....

once again, back to work on an otherwise public holiday for finance people like me..
so on 1st may, i was working berry hard at work from morning till evening.
WHILE obviously some people think im rather unnecesary and go ahead with their plans to gather and merry-make WITHOUT me.
wow, how nice and considerate.

but again, if you think hard enough, you cant expect too much from some.
one cant expect what the other cant do (read the little prince).
so from S&S pple, its good to set 2 kinds of expectations: low and lower.

the first S is selfish while the other S is up to you to define anyway.
definitely NOT sweet or sincere or anything along that line.

the good thing that comes out from a frustrating 1st may is that i get 1.5 days off in lieu in return.
time to plan some good o' me time leave. :)

lazy weekend

had a rather relaxed weekend with my friends.

on sat, fifi, RC & CY made their way to my house for a small round of gathering.

it would be better if YZ & yan can join us afterall.

anyway, cold beer, chilled moscato + KFC = heavenly!LOL.



yesterday, brought yz with me along to shirley's house for steamboat lunchie and also to have a mini celebration for stella's bday.

the steamboat was super duper yummy!

kudos to shirley's mum for preparing the soup base and the ingredients.

photo session with the birthday girl!



later in the evening went out to PP for a quick dinner before dashing home for my fav. 红星大奖！LOL.

sucker for scrutinizing all those stars' attires and of cos who are in the 十大. :P

i've caught on the hunger games fever!
books depository tempted me by delivering the 1st 2 books first and i completely devoured them over the weekend!
followed by catching the show on monday. wahahah.
they are all very nice!!
the books are better in terms of giving the background story and exploring the various themes better.
but im not too impressed with the prose and style of writing though reading the books was a breeze. :)
the movie brought the pages to life and i really liked what they did with the gamemaster control room.
pretty cool.

cant wait for mockingjay to reach me like FAST!
i want to know the ending!

and so, i continued to shop this weekend. teehee.
from uniqlo, i added another black sleeveless basic top & a windbreaker.
from pedro, a nice pair of heels (i cant recall the last time i bought shoes!)
from sephora, i bought the laura mercier foundation & loose powder to try.
i think i can call it a day for april shopping.

time to save up for start of GSS in may. hiaks.

a sign of maturity finally?

more like a sign of old age.
it was ages since the last time i clubbed.
such frequency has dropped to once a quarter and i can totally see it slowly dwindle down more in the future.
i definitely take much longer to recover than last time. lol.

and so yesterday was team building for my team.
a cooking class was organised and it was rather fun for us to whip up a decent (cant go very wrong with a chef guiding us on every step) meal from 4-7pm.
after that, adjourned to wine company @ dempsey with the team for moscato and more moscato. *woot*

the fun really begin when the chill out session was over and i finally can made my way to meet some of the peeps for a crazy night @ attica!
it was my first time there and though the crowd is ..... but the fab music really make up for most things. :)

perhaps i was too sober. perhaps im getting old.
but some behaviors in the night did get to me.
and its surprising since its really no big deal to me - previously.
and i started thinking, was i like that when i was younger?

haha. such a joke to be judging others like only starting from now?!
hmmm, oh well.

still, loads of fun with dd and all.
and supper @ maxwell market was to die-for! i need all the hot soup + noodles to soak up the volka and all. lol.

by the time i reached home, bathed and ready to hit the sack, it was already 4+am....
i was thissss short to collapsing.

hubbi was the best to let me sleep till almost 11am this morning.
and i took another 3 hours nap with the boys in the afternoon again.
gosh, so it really ended up like that.
taking almost a full day to recover from a drinking night out (im not even really hangover ok!)?!

geez.

Rising COE

and so, COE has risen past the $90k mark yesterday.
i mean, woah, this is getting totally ridiculous.
saw the news and this car salesperson was saying that its fear and uncertainty pushing up the COE prices.
people are scared that it will continue to rise so more flock to get it NOW than future.
i say bullshit.

is this really a case of demand and supply that COE prices are being pushed up.
can u imagine a whole horde of low, average, middle income people out there rushing to snap up the $90k COE in case it goes up further?
in the first place, $90k is definitely not affordable for most people being the annual income for many.
it would be more like a case of many rich people wanting to get the first hand audi, bmw, merc asap because they just cant stand their 2 years old audi, bmw, merc anymore?
okok, being a little extreme here.

but i really dont think its just a simple case of dd ss here.
and this whole COE saga/joke just goes to show that income disparity is a fact in sg now.

the next leo for me?

i realised i've watched quite a fair bit of channing tatum's movies!
- step up
- the eagle
- GI Joe
- She's the man
- Dear John
- Haywire
- the vow

upcoming ones that im interested:
- GI Joe:retaliation
- magic mike

maybe not 21 jumpstreet. ha

been working kinda hard at work so its time for retail therapy once more!
some needs some wants but making me a happy woman nevertheless.
1) books books and more books! i bought the hunger games trilogy, 2 more fiction books & a tin tin comic set.
bookdepository is so cool and there is an additional 10% off for mth of may! *woot*
2) the new le blanc chanel cleanser to try
3) shu uemura blusher since my existing one is finishing
4) diorsnow compact powder to try since my existing chanel one is finishing as well
5) a peplum top & dress from bysi (which the husband has kindly offered to pay - hiaks!)

adding on (hehe), 2 more tops from gg5..

a great way to start a weekend!
ok, gonna go catch "the vow" soon.
channing tatum... hmmmm. :)

long easter weekend!

we had a fun-filled long weekend!
on fri morning, we had breakfast with the boys, do household chores like its a saturday morning while the boys play on their own.
we made the boys took their naps earlier at 1+pm so that we can move out of the house earlier in the late afternoon.

plan for the evening: yz's kindy has requested a mini project which required us to bring him to alkaff bridge @ robertson quay.
it actually turned out to be a fun outing with the boys.


walking towards the bridge after parking - with 包 in their hands.


tada! @ the bridge. took a slow stroll across it and we had fun identifying the different types of circles on it.

part of the project requires him to draw his version of the bridge - "picasso" hard at work.

after that, we settled for an early dinner at brussel sprouts.

been wanting to bring the husband to try their mussels for the longest time and was so glad to do so finally.
the place was kid-friendly enough with their kids menu so the whole family can enjoy dinner together in a new eatery place!
im in love with the lindeman fruit beer there - yum yum!
desserts was at Laurent’s Café & Chocolate Bar - yum yum as well!

all of us had an early night on fri, gleeful with the thought that tomorrow is only saturday!

saturday afternoon was spent at GS's housewarming @ kovan residences.

her place is quite near our house, just a 10-15mins drive away? and her view at #17 is good! :)
the boys had fun playing with all the toys at her house and when all 5 kids were playing @ her balcony, her place looked kinda like a childcare centre. LOL.
we left ard 2+pm for the boys to come home for a quick catnap.

in the evening, i decided to bring all of us out to catch mirror mirror at tampines!
it was an early evening show at 7pm, just nice after dinner.
and at 26m old, YR fared better at watching this show compared to the last one "John Carter" given mirror mirror's more animated and lively action sequences.
still, had to resort to my phone games to occupy him towards the end of the show. ha.
YZ enjoyed the show since this is a mild version of the actual snow white story.
for me, i think its just julia roberts 撑ing the whole show up. the plot and other characters are really just so-so.

due to the activities during the day and movie, the boys K.Oed fairly early before 10pm.
leaving hubbi and myself to catch yet another show on our own "big" screen - the descendants.
again, its good but not as good as i expected like the artist.
i think i need to catch films earlier before their avalanche of good reviews.

sunday morning was spent catching yet another show with the boys - MI4!
hahah, its an old show but ive only managed to watch it now.
not too bad! tom cruise still has it at his age!

evening was spent at my nephew's 7yo bday.
quite a yawn for me though im sure the husband enjoyed catching up with his family and the boys playing with their cousins. @_@.

im counting down to this weekend already!

hot video! beat that, gaga!

to the zoo zoo zoo once again!

the husband managed to apply for the corporate zoo pass so the ng family made our way to the zoo zoo zoo today!
both of us took off in the afternoon and we reached the zoo promptly before 2pm. :)
lunch for the adults first at ah meng cafe!


very excited boys! first time to the zoo for YR (yes, he has been to the night safari before this but not the zoo) and the 4th time for yz?

how my boys have grown up! :)

we spent over 3hrs + in there and it was enough!
we covered about half of it and we rented the pull-cart for the boys!
at the end of the afternoon, both the husband and i were tired out from all the pulling. ha.

they love the ride!

slowly melting under the sun.......

we only managed to catch 1 show - elephant work & play that is.
think yz can better appreciate the tricks performed by the elephants.
at the end of the session, the boys had fun feeding the big gentle giants! :)

waiting for the performance to start.

it drizzled abit for half an hour in the afternoon. no fret, the ponchos bought from disneyland back then came in handy!

and finally, to hubbi's disapproval of cos, we bought the photo taken for us at the entrance. wahaha.

fun but tiring day for all of us!
the boys are slowly settling to sleep as i typed now. teehee.
think we will take a break from the zoo for time being.
hopefully, hubbi can ballot for the discovery centre corporate pass soon!

moscato is my new poison!

met up with the hall peeps yesterday for yz's (the friend and not the son) birthday dinner.
location was at kko kko na ra korean restaurant at tras street.

the kimchi hot pot and spicy garlic chicken wings are to DIE FOR!
its so good that im going back to eat for lunch next week with my colls! *yumyum*

we adjourned to wine company at sentosa boardwalk for more yakking and of cos a bottle of moscato.
hmmmm..... i can slowly savour a bottle myself, me think. hehe.

and april is going to be an exciting month of social activities!
the way i like it!
drinking, dancing, merry-making with peeps. :)

Reading Spree

After buying tons of books early this year, i decided to buck up and start seriously reading them!
if not, the stack will just grow higher and higher. @_@

1) China Mieville - Kraken
first knew about this author from the recommendation for his latest novel "Embassytown" in straits times.
review mentioned him to be a sorta pulp fiction author - meaning his novels are typically a mis-mash of genres.
sound rather interesting to me.
so i bought 3 of his books at 1 go and decided to start with "kraken".
the premise sounds interesting:
a giant squid was stolen from a natural history museum in london without a trace.
a body was found @ the crime scene.
the theft may mean the end of the world.

but well, once the plot takes a dip into an urban fantasy world of london, i was pretty lost.
fantasy genre is never really my cup of tea.
and it was rather hard keeping up with the many strange characters and sects introduced in the book.
though i must admit, the book did kept me turning the pages to find out the bloody truth of what the hell is going on!
so i finished it reading.
it was not an easy read and definitely not one you can easily rehash to others what it is really about.
but it does open my eyes to a new genre - or rather various genres in a novel. which is a novelty by itself.

2) Tea Obreht - The tiger's wife
i do think this book is a brillant debut novel for such a young writer.
the author painted a surreal balkan country from a not so distant past.
though the plot doesnt follow the typical climax model, it made me flip the pages fast and furious.
the characters were all fascinating and as the author weaves in the background stories for them, you can't help but got sweeped along by it.
there can be so much pain and joy in life. sometimes, its really a matter of choice.

3) China Mieville - King rat
Mieville's debut novel in 1998.
ooh, this book is different from kraken and i like it so much more.
a man found out he is son of king rat (which made him price rat by the way) and set out to save himself and his kind from an ancient evil in drum & bass london.
the way he factored in well-known fairytale and technicalities of drum"n" bass in the novel is fascinating!
and it helps that the book is rather lean and fast paced. cool!

4) Carol Birch - Jamrach's Menagerie
i picked the book thinking its a young boy adventure on sea in search of exotic land and animals.
but its not. :(
the book is a good one with the author dealing out good prose and captivating us with the events of the male protagonist - young Jaf who decided to sail with his long-time friend with a crew in search of exotic animal to bring back.
but the story is deeply unsettling. :(
i totally dont see it coming but when it came - the cannibalism - was dealt out efficiently.
alternating between matter-of-factly and outright shocking.

and now, i decided to take a break from swimming in words.
all the above in 2 weeks is no joke. @_@

time to embrace the other love in my life - movies - before moving on to the other love (yes, im very loving) - travel.
its really time for me to start coming up with a detailed and plausible itinerary for june!

online shopping with a twist, or

rather...... love for my globe-trotting friends!
so, i was rather busy for most of march that i actually have no time to shop!
can you believe it!
well, i can. since the weekends seem to whizz pass sooo fast with us staying in most of the time.
yesh, the novelty of the new home has yet to wear off. :)

so, ive to resort to shopping online.
armed with my ipad and my fav. hello panda, i spent almost an hour scouring the new collection @ zara. *hehe*
finally, i made some orders and sent to................ my friends!
lol, yes i did.
i actually have > 4 friends going to HK these 2 weeks on staggered trips!
so all of them were berry nice to help me buy. :)
now, i have 2 dresses + 2 tops waiting for me when we meet up this wednesday :) @ 30% cheaper than sg prices!
and im waiting for my other orders of blusher + moisturiser to be be bought too!

still, nothing beat old brick & mortar shopping!
so during lunch today, i went to shop for an exfoliator from skin inc and new eye pencil.
i think my march shopping is almost done. :P

some peace in the house finally with the boys doing their doodling/coloring while i surf some net.
*teehee*

过过麻将瘾！

yesterday i invited some of my colleagues to my house for housewarming/aka MJ session. LOL.
with one boy at my mum's place and my dear hubbi taking care of the other, i was able to have some merry-making with my colleagues! :)
so we played from 10+am all the way to nearly 8pm!
just stopping for a short while for lunch.
we managed to finish 三圈 - not too bad lah..

for the first time i played $0.5/$1, a departure from the usual $0.2/$.4.
but rooster lucky stars are indeed out for this year!
i managed to win some modest takings to finance the weekend activities... haha.
cant wait for the next session with my peeps end of the month!

dabbling in investment

for the longest time, i don't believe in any forms of investment except in property.
but investing in property is easier said than done.
you need to be like uber cash-rich!!
and its not helping when your other-half believe otherwise...
(can someone shake NCL to his senses, how can investing in property go wrong!?)

anyway, since we've committed ourselves to the new home last oct, dream of owning a second property is not possible in the near future and perhaps, ever... hah
and with the purchase of the unit, my savings for past few years were almost but nearly wiped out. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

starting all over to save up is so demotivating - the balance is simply crawling.
and with such little savings, i started to get bored and wanted to be creative.
and so, with the approval of the husband, i started buying stock, preference shares, bonds etc.
yes, instead of saving up, i pumped money into investment every mth when my pay comes in.
LOL, for awhile, 90% of my savings are in investments!
but we are talking small amount in totality lah *ahem*

so far, i've sold some shares to cash out some profit to help subsidize ard 70% of my air ticket. *hiaks*
the few lots im holding on are suffering some paper loss due to market fluctuations recently.
zzzz
BUT, im positive they will be good in months/year to come!!
shopping for stocks is as therapeutic as retail shopping!

ok, until i burn my fingers.....
*fingers crossed*