That's life

See if you can relate to this :

You sit in a classroom and your classmates around you are earnestly chatting away. The teacher has her back on the class and is writing some notes on the blackboard.

Teacher says “Ssshhhh, stop talking class.”

The girl next to you continues to yak to another behind you.

Teacher warns again, “I said stop talking.” Her back is still facing the class.

The yakking continues.

The teacher snaps, turns around and points vehemently at you, “Didn’t I say STOP talking!”

You stare blankly back.

“You! Stand up! Why did you keep talking when I said stop!”

You blink…and you glance at your partner sitting next to you. She stares at her book.

Have you ever been in this situation, where you are so wrongly accused and torn in between retaliating or accepting the injustice done to you.


Fast forward 25 years later and you are a young adult, capable of running your own life and making your own decision on your own fate, what would you have done?

The one thing that remains similar 25 years ago and 25 years later, it hurts to be wrongly accused.


Another thought for the day :

Is it tougher to manage a heavy workload, or it is tougher to tackle a working relationship?

BACK from HongKong!

'Ai sey man'!

I had a great time in HongKong, other than some 'boh ho sey' moments with me working a fever and Amanda coming down with slight flu, we had a truly fruitful trip!

It was lotsa intensive shopping and BUYING!

Not forgetting loads of eating and gaining on weight!

I left with 1 luggage and came back with 3!

Oh man, I've barely recuperated from the trip and hardly wanna unpack cos' I don't know where to start.

Why not just enjoy the photos 1st, while I get over my 'high' and settle back down.

Click on the link below and enjoy.

HongKong 2008 with Mummy Dearest


To Cat, Kaline and Amanda - I wanna say a big 'THANK YOU' to you gals, for taking such great care of my ma throughout this trip.

You ladies made it so much less stressful for me and your patience in watching out for her was much endearing to her, and to me.

Let's place our hopes on her $30K 'beh bio'!

To ling - THANK YOU for sponsoring this trip and being so understanding to even take leave from your busy work schedule to take care of Cheery. Mama is very touched by your gesture.

Off to HongKong!

My 5th trip to HongKong but what makes it so special this time round, I'm there with my ma for the 1st time.

And without Mike (an opportunity for him to have some bonding time with Cheery and whatever private plans he may have up his sleeves).

I'm so excited, it's gonna be just me and the girls!

Wait for my pictures, if I have hands to take any (chances are they could be overly full with my shopping haul).

If there is anything you need from this bustling city, simply text me on my mobile, I may just be kind enough to run the errand for you!

So lacking in beauty sleep

Have you ever had the alarm go off in the morning and you feel like you just want to smash the BLOODY PHONE (in my case, my handphone doubles as my alarm clock)!

I do, EVERY morning, and today was no exception.

And I had to plead with Mike (as I do every morning) to give me another 5 minutes of sleep...and another 5...and another...until finally, I can't put it off anymore or risk being late for yet another meeting!

Why can't office hours start at 11am!

It will make me an easier person to get along with, in the mornings, really.

Crazy Crave

It's no one's birthday.

It's not a X'mas log cake.

It's not any special occasion.

It's just that I have a crazy crave for blackforest cakes lately and I bought a whole cake to satisfy myself!

New Look!

I have a new look!

Or rather, my blog has taken on a new look!

I have planned to change out a new look for the new year, something different for 2008. But the recent wet weather kept me indoors for several days and made me bring forward my plan to do up a new design for my blog.

Weather has been wet wet wet, the sky has opened up and poured endlessly for days.

This design is dedicated to my ling, Mike. For the simple reason I don't deem it appropriate that he's caught reading a sweetie pinky blog all the time.

Thus, the colour green, for it's his colour ---> KUPPO colour !

I hope you guys like it too. If you do, please drop me a word of encouragement here, it took me 7 hours to get this up!

24th & 25th November 2007

I've been busy busy busy.

The weather was hot hot hot.

I sweat sweat sweat.

My feet and calves pain pain pain.

My throat dry dry dry.

I am tired tired tired.

6 hours of sleep in 3 days and 22 hours of non-stop standing and working.

This was my weekend at our annual X'mas Fair at Ngee Ann City!

I'm so seeing stars at work now.

ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZzz...


Over the weekend, I also grew 2 new gadgets richer.

Mike got me a new handphone and new digicam!

2 more items checked!

But I have no time to explore them. Maybe tonight.

ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZzz...


On Saturday 12 midnight, I was still counting our sales applications at Ngee Ann City when I saw the SMS that my brother had met with an accident and was admitted in NUH.

My heart almost stopped beating when his girlfriend told me, "He's in a CONCUSSION".

Already drained and tired from work, I couldn't make out what that meant and could only imagined the worst.

My reaction was near hysterical over the phone "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY CONCUSSION?! IS HE AWAKE, IS HE IN A COMA OR WHAT?!!"

I only calmed down when she assured me he was only in a state of shock.

It's this day that I'd feared since the day he announced he was getting a bike.

"BRO, WILL YOU JUST LISTEN!"

Aging gracefully

"Oh! You don't look like you are married!"

"Oh! You don't look your age!"

"Oh! You are husband and wife? I thought you both are still dating, you look so young!"

In the last 2 months, I've heard many such comments.

While I'm really dancing wildly with joy and setting off a million fireworks in my heart, I'm also pondering, "Is there really a certain look to say you are married, a certain look to tell your age?"

It's funny how we are all being stereotyped in one way or another, isn't it.

I just celebrated my last 2-x birthday this year (which means I hit the Big 3-O next), and had a lot of people asking me, "Scared or not? Next year 30 already?"

I put some thought into this and (without sounding pretentious) I have to say I'm really not scared, not worried, not wanting to put off and not bothered with this fact.

On the contrary, I'm actually looking forward to it (again, I'm not being pretentious in any way).

Because I'm of the belief that the older a woman gets, the more beautiful she grows, the more confident she becomes, the more 'flavour' she has.

'To age is not undesirable, if you age gracefully.' © S.A.M.M.I.E.


For a start, there's always effort to be put in if you wanna age gracefully.

Auntie Amanda & I went for facial last night.

Looking fresh and glowy after our facial, with no make-up and all naturel.

We went to a vegetarian restuarant (it's not a typo, we had VEGETARIAN food! Auntie coerced me into it).

Lots of good soup is of help to looking good too.

And fruit salad with yam.

Can you imagine that bowl of mock (it's 'fish meat' made of flour and 'tau-kee') fish soup is a 4-pax portion, and we finished everything!

Of cos' Auntie Amanda did most of the eating and drinking (She downs soup by the buckets, which explains why she looks kinda bloated sometimes).

On my way back home, I caught this on camera.

Now ladies, this is really not graceful, regardless of age. Cellulite was visible all over her thighs, which my 2M camera phone failed to capture.

Lesson learnt - Don't flaunt what you don't have.

The 1st time we met : Cheery & I

She is the 1st dog I have. My ma had objected in having a pet in the house because she IS a cleanliness-freak and pets to her WERE a no-no.

(If you'd noticed the grammar, I take it you understood my point. If you hadn't noticed or had noticed but didn't understand, I wonder if you had failed your last eyesight test or English. Let me explain - my ma IS still the cleanliness-freak today, but no-no to pets was a thing of the past.)

6 years ago, I decided I had suffered enough deprivation and made up my mind to realise my dream of having a puppy.

I scored through pet advertisements and walked many pet shops, read up and memorised everything on puppy care, and researched on the different breeds and their characteristics.

All these were not known to my ma yet.

I decided I wanted a West Highland White Terrier (Westie for short), I like their looks with their pointed ears and they look so 'huggable' in fluffy white.

Prior to meeting Cheery, Mike and I had seen many puppies in various pet shops but failed to form an affinity to any of them.

One afternoon, we took leave from work and drove to a pet farm in Lim Chu Kang, they had a male and female Westie for sale.

We were really there to look at the male Westie, as a 1st timer, I didn't think that I was prepared to deal with a female bitch going into heat once every 8 months.

The pet shop owner let both the male and female puppy out, I remembered telling Mike "the female pup doesn't look too lively".

The 2 pups were oblivious to our watchful eyes as we scrutinised them on their behaviour and temperament.

At one point, the male pup decided to defecate and the female pup trottered ever so curiously to smell it (yes, young pups do that. They even eat it, you just gotta break them out this habit!), and had herself smeared with poo on her forehead.

Didn't look like such an intelligent pup either, I thought. Didn't she know she has to impress with her cutest self when potential buyer comes knocking, rather than smelling another's poo.

The pet owner told us that these Westies were in a family of 3 siblings - 2 sisters and 1 brother.

The elder sis had been sold and it's the brother and and youngest sis left now.

He also told us how the youngest sis was always been bullied during feeds, she always eat last among them.

If you had told me this statement today, I would have exploded into laughter in your face. Cheery is really quite the terror towards food at home. She is QUEEN when it comes to food.)

Anyway, we witnessed food being served and the brother went for it hungrily while she sat timidly in a corner. Only when she was sure her brother had finished his meal, did she take tiny steps forward to nibble at her food.

After a while, it didn't seem like we were going home with any of them and we decided to leave.

Just as I was leaving the shop, I gave one last look into the cage and saw the female pup waving her tiny little paw at me. It was the tiniest action, with the slightest movement of her pinkish paw (young pups have very tender pinkish paws which will slowly turn black and roughen as they grow) and so surreal that until today, I cannot be sure she did that.

But at that moment, I could almost read her big round eyes, beckoning me to bring her home.

I halted in my steps, took one last look at her and told Mike "Dear, we're bringing her home..."

It was love only at 2nd sight.

She was only 2 months old then...and the most intelligent pup, because she had endeared herself to me, when no one was looking...

Yoga post that woke Cheery

Felt really good after my yoga tonight.

It gave me peace of mind and the solitude I needed, surely a good way to end my week and I'm so looking forward to spending time with ling and Cheery over the weekend.

Pictures Source : Fotosearch
http://www.fotosearch.com/

That's not me in the pictures of course (exposing myself in red bra this way will surely incur great wrath from Mike and give me never-ending peace for the weekend), just wanna post some yoga poses, that's all.

Halfway writing this post, Cheery trottered out of the bedroom into the study room to look for me (she was already sleeping on the bed in the bedroom earlier).

Her eyes sleepy and somewhat bewildered, she came looking for me as though reconfirming my presence in the house, sniffing and checking me out as I hugged her.

I asked her if she had a bad scare from her dream and if she wanted to go back into the bedroom. Only when she saw that Mike and I had both entered the bedroom, did she trotter back in slowly.

I stayed on the bed with her for a while, singing her nightly lullaby and gently coaxing her to sleep.

My poor girl, looking so sleepy but making sure I'm still on the bed with her.

Even the slightest movement I had when I tried to take this picture of her made her think that I was leaving the bed.

I'm finishing this post now and going back to bed with her.

I promised her I will be back in 5 minutes and it's already been 10.

In a blurry daze...

For a moment now, I sit in front of the PC with a blank stare at the blogger template, lots of images and thoughts clouding my mind, but I couldn't construct anything vivid.

I've really been quite an emotional wreck lately. Apart from crying at the very 1st tune of the song "Qiang Qiang" (if you hadn't noticed, I'd removed the auto-play function in the video here before I had to see an optometrist.), I keep imagining what's going to happen to Cheery when she passes on and what's going to be left of me, other than crying my heart out everyday.

And there's always the love-hate relationship I have towards my job.

I really love the friendship and bond I've built with people in the company, it always feels like one big extended family (since I'm working in one of the biggest organisation in Singapore island), but I also dislike some of the processes and systems, basically how things are being done sometimes.

Not to mention how much I loathe the politics going around.

It's been especially difficult at work in the last few months - eshop project is not materialising, targets are skyrocketing, endless meetings are not realising any conclusions, and I can feel my energy slowly but surely sipping out of me, and morale taking a nose dive.

Alarmingly, I start to worry what all my staff could also be going through if this is the way I feel.

What would a good leader do at this point? But do I even want to lead now, I can't help but feel so drained.

I've got to lead, I've got to motivate, I've got to inspire, I've got to plan, I've got to stay focus, I've got to be objective, I've got to perform, I've got to produce results, I've got to...

Life's got many "I've got tos..."

Is there even an end to it at all?

What a wrong choice I made

This is what I wore to work this morning. I thought I looked cute & sexy (with black stockings).

WRONG CHOICE.

It was a wet wet, windy day.

And when I crossed the over-head bridge (yes, because I still can't take car ride from Mike), the wind was blowing like it was typhoon 3 and my short dress was flying all over!!!

An umbrella in my hands, hair plastered all over my face, I really don't care that I gotta peer in-between those strands of hair over my eyes to look ahead, I just had to hang on to the hems of my dress, making sure it does not fly UP!

NOW, this lady has more brain sense than me. Wear a short skirt on a windy day, yes, but keep it tight, so that you wouldn't be caught with your skirt flying!

But Miss, my ma taught me to always keep my legs close together for a girl, esp if you are wearing such a short skirt.

And also not glam to show panty line.

My Monday morning

It was a bad start to my week on a Monday morning.

Mike left early for his 1st day back to being a reservist today, so I'm left to have to take bus to the train station myself...cannot take a ride from him...boo hoo hoo.

Finished blow-drying my hair and wanted to clip my hair into a "gong kway tao" (tks to Kaline's Hokkien), which I've done several times. Just have to grab the whole butch of fringe and clip it up, right?

But it took me 15 minutes to complete the job, the uncooperative clip just kept sliding off my hair!

By the time I finished, beads of perspiration had already formed on my forehead because I had chosen to wear an outfit that looked like it was snowing in Singapore today. Great.

To take a bus, I had to cross the over-head bridge. It was so dreadful climbing those never-ending steps, I just wished I could set a bomb to blow it up (if this statement is going to land me in an investigation enquiry with the FBI as a potential case of terrorist act, great as well).

Reached the train station and lo and behold, an entourage of a mother with her 3 kids (1 of them was wailing away) and 1 maid decided to stand next to me while waiting for the train.

The wailing kid was crying at the top of her lungs, "I want Mommy, I WAAAAAANNNNNNTTT MOMMMMMYYYYY....HURRRRRRRR AAAAAAHHHHHH HUUUUUUURRRRR!!!"

I thought I was going to go deaf, so I walked a cabin door away.

And that kid went on with that screaming for the rest of my journey.

What a way to start my week...from my look, can you even imagine what's brewing inside of me?

It feels so good to walk into office now and know that I can get on with my work and the rest of my day...

Lunch gone wrong

Mike helped to get lunch today and I placed my order on duck "kway teow teng".

When he came back with lunch, horrors of horrors, I saw "tau gays" swimming about in my soup! I DON'T EAT VEGETABLES! So, "tau gays" are no-no!

Thought I didn't wanna make a big fuss over it, just have to spend the next 10 minutes picking out those freaking seedlings embedded in my "kway teow" and duck meat. No big deal.

BUT also not such a big deal to just tell the duck auntie not to put "tau gays" in the 1st place right!

Nevermind.

Then, I realised he didn't ask for chilli sauce as well...how to eat duck meat without chilli sauce!

Being the picky, fussy me with food, I lost all appetite.

But the one thought that was really on my mind, WHY CAN'T HE REMEMBER WHAT I EAT AND WHAT I DON'T EAT?

Why is it a person whom I've lived with for the last 4 years and known for 10 years not know by now?

Why is it that friends who spend a lesser amount of time with me can remember and not him?

Is he really being forgetful, or merely thoughtless to my likes and dislikes?

By the time I write this post, I just tell myself, 'don't let the petty woman in me act up'.

Afterall, there will always been another time...cos' I've known him for 10 years!

Happy Post-Deepavali!

Just me, being a camwhore.

All ready for work, getting ready to leave the house.

Today is Fri! And I'm going shopping with Cat and Jacelynn!

And Cheery, quite the camwhore like I am!

She's looking forward to her Fri too, cos' it's countdown to her weekend outings!

TO ALL THE CONCEITED SUCKERS!

"Wah! SHE got time to do all this hor! SOOO FREE HOR!"

This is what I've heard for a while now! What an annoying assumption some people just have!

So you think my blog is a result of me being sooo free?? You think I've got nothing better to do in my life other than putting up pictures and writing out my thoughts up here? You think you have a much "un-FREE-ER" life than me? You think, you think, you think!

Here's what I think!

I think you are just a conceited, presumptuous, judgemental, cheapskate hypocrite who really has nothing much better to do in your life than coming in here, reading FREE blogs!

While you are reading FREE blogs, written by people who are supposedly so FREE (as what you think), I suggest you take up an English class, you obviously have great difficulty understanding English.

Because my FREE blog here reads "SAMEMORIES". It means "SAMMIE'S MEMORIES" and the word "memories" means "the mental capacity or faculty of retaining and reviving facts, events, impressions, etc., or of recalling or recognizing previous experiences" (cited from dictionary.com). WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM DOING! And I have a good number of people who appreciate this effort!

OH, just don't come crawling to me to say you are sorry and that it is a harmless remark! You don't say "Wah, your tits so small hor!" to a woman with breast size 30AA and then say "Sorry, it was a harmless remark" right!

If you have diffculty understanding this analogy, you REALLY are a moron!

And one more point, I'm NOT EXACTLY VERY FREE ROTTING MY LIFE AWAY, I spent many late nights, sititng down in front of my pc, putting down thoughts that matter to me and my LOVED ones! Again, English class for you, "LATE NIGHTS"! I have a damn "UN-FREE" life in the DAY!

YOU'VE JUST PISSED ME OFF!

I've LS for almost 2 weeks!

I’ve been seeing the advertisement of a certain cultured milk drink and the benefits of it, especially since the brand recently launched a new range - let’s just say it’s along the benefits of anti-ageing.

The day after implementing this drink into my diet, I ended up with stomach spasms every other day.

Almost every other day in the office, you will hear me run from my cube to the toilet, along the way telling staff “Don’t come toilet, stay away!”

So, a week later, I began to have a small suspicion.

And I did a little experiment.

Over the weekend, I stopped totally…and just as I expected, the diarrhoea ceased.

I started back on it…and the urgent toilet calls came again.

Soz, I have concluded I cannot benefit from this drink. I probably have a sensitive stomach to it but I have already bought 3 rolls from NTUC on a promotion!

Can you make out what brand from the picture?

Disclaimer : I only said I may have a sensitive stomach to it, please don't sue me for defamation!

Haunted by gas pipes & the old motorcar

I should have known better than to sleep after my hubby the other night.

I usually make it a habit to sleep before him because I know I would have suffered if I don’t…but I have been busy keeping late nights feeding my friends with cookies and buying them beer in facebook lately.

2 nights ago, I climbed onto the bed, with him already half asleep.

I kissed him the usual goodnight, he mumbled something in response and went back into deep slumber.

My agony started here…

10mins into sleep, I got blasted by the wheezing and heavy puffing of a seriously choked gas pipe…or maybe it sounded like a few dozen gas pipes…

It went on for the next 15mins, with me tossing and turning in bed.

An hour later, I was still wide awake. The volume has ceased a little - NOW it was like listening to the old rumble of a broken down motorcar…

I cannot remember how long it was before I managed to fall asleep myself...

It felt like a lifetime…

I HATE RATATOUILLE!

I’m going to die! I’m going to die!

I’m going to amputate my leg!

I just cannot believe a rat brushed my leg last night!!!

Was at my ma’s place buying dinner and we entered the coffeeshop from the backdoor.

Ok, if you live in a normal neighbourhood like me, you will know that every coffeeshop has sorta like a backdoor, where the washing takes place, rubbish pile and where the toilets are.

So we went in by the so-called backdoor, cos’ we parked our car at the carpark behind it.

I was threading carefully down the narrow corridor cos’ the floor was kinda wet and slippery, not to mention, dirty.

And just as I walked past the toilet entrance, I felt it!

I thought someone has just splattered water on my left ankle. With a knee-jerk reaction, I turned around and stared at Mike, asking “Did somebody just splashed water out and kena me?”

He looked at me, already in disgusted shock, and said “Did you see a big RAT??!”

“Huh!!! What rat??”

And almost immediately, “PLS DON’T tell me thhhhaaaat was a rat that just brushed past me!”

I didn’t need him to answer at all, I know the answer, it was the RAT’s WET, SLIMY, DIRTY TAIL that brushed me!!!

I almost went hysterical! EEEEEEEEKKKKKSSS!

I went back home and scrubbed my whole leg with tons of dettol!

Mike kept emphazing the rat was HUGE! "REALLY HUGE!", he said, and gesticulated what he meant by HUGE with his hands!

I felt like killing the rat, AND THEN kill him!

FREAKING RATS!

The day I 'shifted' house

I have just shifted 'house' from moblog to blogspot.

Started out in moblog because it allows me to work within a template. Found it really user-friendly and easy to use for a newbie like me.

But within a week of serious blogging, I realised that moblog has quite a few constraints and because I could hear my creativity calling out to me from within, I decided it was time to move to blogspot.

So, here I am. And to show you how serious I've been working on my new blogsite, I had this picture taken.

MY DARK EYE RINGS!

I was at my pc for 5 hours yesterday.

I ate, drank and even masked (ya, face mask lah!) there, working hard at setting up a nice template for my new blog.

Really, I don't wanna see anymore HTML codings for the next 24 hours!