i've kind of lost track of time with the surge in number of gatherings and parties happening the past week. the barbecue i had on thursday evening is now leaving me with a dry throat and somewhat stuffy nose (which seemed to be stuck to me this whole rainy season), but it was great fun. we (with my colleagues) finally got down to organising this event, after talking about it for almost a year, haa, talk about procrastination. we extended our invitation to some of our customers, hoping to use the opportunity to foster a better relationship, especially now that we have a group of new engineers. oh yes, my potato salad was a great hit, it's seriously one of the easiest dish to make (just diced everything, throw in the mayo and sprinkle the bacon bits), and i made it like THREE times this holiday. guess it was good to close the working year with a fun-filled event, and look forward to 2007... i'm seriously thankful i'm working with this excellent team, very self-motivated, passionate about their work, and are always willing to help or advise.
anyway, i think some of you know this, i still meet up with my PRIMARY SCHOOL classmates, six other girls. everytime i tell others that i'm having a p6 gathering, they'll be like "WHAT? you still keep in contact with your primary school friends!? POWER!" we started this gift exchange tradition since we were twelve (probably extremely bored after PSLE, and it was at zer's house), so this year's the 14th time! we always try to accomodate everybody every year, but there were always be a few years where we missed one or two, especially zer who used to fly back only every christmas so we had to catch her within that 1-2 weeks and now there's xueling who is stationed overseas for work. there're bound to be changes in each other's life since we only meet up this often - jobs, partners... we go around the table interrogating each other - how old, what's his name, where is he from, how do you know him, is he THE one, when are you getting married, we just go on and on throughout dinner at spageddies (you know, girls). zer, i'm looking forward to 2008 already, one full table please for all of us (don't want to share!), don't worry about the ang pow. :P as for the gift exchange, i bought a m)phosis clutch bag and it suits xuehan perfectly, great! and in return, i received an origins miniature facial set from zer, and i'm going to stop being lazy and start using the clear improvement mask to clear my gunk-filled pores! and yes, those of you who are NOT on friendster yet, please get yourself registered and catch zer and all the narcissism in action. thank you girls, for such a fun night!
edited to add: what else... the pictures!
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Gift offensive - by Shane Watson
Everyone has their worst Christmas present ever. Mine was a saltcellar, in the days before I had a kitchen or any reason to cook. My father once gave my mother an umbrella for Christmas (famously, her present low point) and she used it to bash him on the head, there and then. It was the moment when I understood why we mind about Christmas presents, because in them we see how other people see us — or how little they have bothered to look.
The worst presents might be devoid of thought, or heaving with assumptions the giver has made about you — and it’s debatable which is more depressing. The pungent turquoise bath oil, when all scented products give you galloping eczema? Or the small book on the exotic spa retreats of the rich and famous, aka “a present for a shallow woman with no interests”? Either will make you feel considerably less loved and appreciated than you did before, which is something you want to avoid in a present. I have a friend with webbed feet who once got three sets of toe socks for Christmas, but she was much more disappointed by the beauty gift voucher her husband produced last year. To her, it said that he’d given up trying; a peephole bra in the wrong size would have been preferable.
You might loosely call those the negative presents. Then there’s one stage on from negative, which is offensive. An offensive present can come in many forms. My favourite is the one that would have been ideal for the girlfriend before you. The one-size-fits-all present is a blow to the heart and the ego: it reminds you that you are just one in a long line of more or less indistinguishable blondes, and that another model will be along soon. There’s also the obviously-on-sale present (the almost-nice cashmere cardigan, but in peach and a size too big), and the someone-else-chose-it present (perfectly nice, but creepily specific to some other woman’s taste — dark velvet pillows for the bed... why?).
And no list of offensive presents is complete without the nonpresents (essential-oil burners, nests of bowls, random bath products) that are so bland and pointless, it’s like receiving a bottle of water with a note that reads: “Dear whoever you are, here is something with no discernible taste. Consider yourself dealt with.”
Finally, there are the killer bad presents. These come in two categories: thoughtless, cheap and as potentially useful to the giver as to you (this includes umbrellas), and the one that I regard as most soul-destroying: the what-are-we-going-to-do-with-this? present.
You know them only too well. We all have a stash tucked away in a drawer somewhere: the bottle of scent, the novelty teapot, the surprisingly small photo album. There is stuff in there that might well make someone happy, but that person isn’t you, or anyone you know — which is how you can be sure that these presents will never find a home. Unless — you haven’t, have you?
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
You are The Wheel of Fortune
Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of intoxication with success
The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
the theme of our masterpiece: sometimes it's the little things in life that make the biggest difference. and we won!
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
steamboat dinner, sticky chewy chocolate ice-cream topped with baileys, chocolate moose log cake, surprise gifts from our secret santas (some were made to look kinky), toy car racing session and good company. this was in fact one of the more challenging gift exchange presents to get, we didn't exactly have a budget to play around with... and my dearest santee wasn't an accessories-crazy kind of girl, which would have otherwise made my job much easier. my initial plan was to get a michael schumacher/formula one thing or czech republic tour book (still your honeymoon destination?), anyway, hope you'll find the nike toiletry bag useful! (btw, this also happened to be what jack bought for xp, what great minds.) well, no surprises - it's accessories for me from SY! :P a pair of versatile silver drop earrings, purple rose studs (which i wore for three days in a row) and a small jewellery box (ah haa, finally something to help keep bf's closet neat). thank you, my santarina! ;) and not forgeting, mr & mrs liew for hosting us.
Monday, December 25, 2006
from left:
[1] our oriental turkey from crystal jade
[2] santa claus on chocolate fudge cupcakes (i 'stole' the christmas ornaments from the office party that same afternoon, haa.)
[3] we finally found a nice snowman ornament for the tree - one with a POINTED orange nose. :-)
[4] the cupcakes with the colourful christmas ornaments
[5] potato salad with lots of eggs, lots of ham and lots of bacon bits! i think we have this at almost every one of our parties.
[6] xp posing with the cuppies
[7] the bf's mum made alot of fried chicken wings
[8] jack and lion with the presents from their respective santas
[9] okay, santa with their santee...ig's santa = xp. present = a white puma tee.
[10] lion and i being greedy, me with the turkey drumstick bone.
[11] jack's santa = ig. present = a retro-looking purple nike shirt... the initial plan was to get a pink metrosexual shirt (haa), but we thought this was pretty cool.
[12 & 13] MY santa = lion! and my present is stila's all over glow! all along, i thought this was a sephora's exclusive, so it really came as a surprise! i started using it already, two days in a row in fact! and i think it's as good as benefit dandelion, which is not sold in singapore. thank you, santa! ;)
[14] the bf and me with our presents
[15] xp's santa = jack. present = a adidas singlet, nike toiletry bag and some kind of artwork featuring a sheep (xp claims it's cheena-looking, oh well, it's imported from china...)
[16] reindeer pjs from la senza! finally my first set of christmas-y pjs! and check out my handmade card and that snowman. the bf's getting more creative with his cards, but it's crazy to work till 4am to get a card done... i'm just as happy with a sweet message, so no more late nights for you! :P oh yes, i'm glad he likes his new nokia E60, he has been whining for the longest of time about his wired headset and bluetooth-less phone, which apparently distracts him during driving (*shrugs*). silly boy has been playing around with the functions of his new phone, especially now that he bought himself the bluetooth headset and mmc card. no prize for guessing what he's doing now... transferring mp3s and images to his phone. hmmm, oh well, hope this sudden craze of his will just last a couple of days. :P
[17] and the final pair... lion's santa = xp! another top! this time round, it's a roxy tee, something she has been wanting to buy. (xp, you got to thank jack and me for making things easy by dropping the hints... hmmm, they're not hints actually, basically telling you exactly which one to buy!) if you people realised... where is MY santee?!? argh, poor daniel was down with fever!
anyway, i can't believe we played bridge till 5am, it's crazy.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
oh boy, i'm tired. by this afternoon, the colourful chocolate chip cookies, i think close to 300 pieces, were nicely packed in little cookie bags with a silver or gold ribbon... ready to be distributed to the colleagues. initially i only had about ten on my list, but it gradually gets longer as the day passes.
i've also prepared potato salad and chocolate cupcakes for tomorrow's christmas party. making the cupcakes was quite a disaster, i tried using buttermilk instead of normal milk, which supposedly give a better cake texture, BUT forgot to replace the baking powder with baking soda. this supposedly upsetted the balance of alkaline to acid... the cake didn't rise enough and came out hard. i ended up making a total new batch of cupcakes, the chocolate ganache was pretty messy to work with, and my patience was really running out (my feet's aching from standing the whole day!) - that explains why they look kind of awful, but let's hope they taste alright. haa. more food pictures tomorrow!
for those having office christmas celebrations tomorrow, have fun!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
and i'm loving my romeo and joliet pedicure in a dark, shimmery brown.
Friday, December 15, 2006
You Have a Choleric Temperament |
You are a person of great enthusiasm - easily excited by many things. Unsatisfied by the ordinary, you are reaching for an epic, extraordinary life. You want the best. The best life. The best love. The best reputation. You posses a sharp and keen intellect. Your mind is your primary weapon. Strong willed, nothing can keep you down. Your energy can break down any wall. You're an instantly passionate person - and this passion gives you an intoxicating power over others. At your worst, you are a narcissist. Full of yourself and even proud of your faults. Stubborn and opinionated, you know what you think is right. End of discussion. A bit of a misanthrope, you often see others as weak, ignorant, and inferior. |
Monday, December 11, 2006
jack and his b&w modes - pretty cool, huh?
i just realised there's no picture of dear old jack, we should have taken more group pictures! mistake, mistake... let's take more pictures on the 22nd. anyway, these pictures are taken at (from left) wisma atria, paragon, a dbs booth near tong building and ngee ann city.
and what have we been up to the whole weekend? ta-dah! we finally started on our phuket photo album, after months of procrastination. 11 out of our estimated 29 pages, we're more than 1/3 there! we also spent the whole saturday afternoon setting up the christmas tree and putting up the mini christmas wreaths... we're now just left with the finishing touches. 14 more days to christmas!
page 1 of our phuket photo collection
Friday, December 08, 2006
DOHA : Singapore's Tao Li caused an upset against China by snatching the gold medal in the women's 50-metre butterfly in a time of 26.73 seconds.
The 16-year-old won the first swimming gold for Singapore at the Games by beating Chinese double gold medallist Xu Yanwei into second place with Yuka Kato of Japan third.
Tao was born in China's Hubei province but moved to Singapore with her mother four years ago and was granted citizenship only last year.
She set a personal best and clipped 29 hundredths of a second off her winning time in the Asian Championships.
"I had no expectations before the race and there were no expectations from my coaches and my colleagues," she said.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
i think i've been a really lucky on-line buyer so far. don't get me wrong, i'm not one of those who have loads of time on their hands to surf aimlessly everyday looking for stuff for victoria's secrets lingerie, sephora make-up or urban outfitters tees, although i used to enjoy such luxury when i was still schooling. (btw, if you don't know what i'm talking about here, you're probably normal. :P) anyway, why i said i'm lucky is because i seem to always meet all the sweetest ladies (nah, i don't deal with male sellers)!
belinda is one of them. belinda makes classic accessories out of good quality stones and beads; she appeared on sunday times a couple of weeks ago (the report was heart-warming and yet funny at the same time), and believing i'm one of her so-called "loyal supporters" who buys from her about once a month, i dropped her a note to say hi. anyway, i was truly surprised she actually mentioned this in her blog, eh so sweet! i still recall that after buying my first item from her (never stopped since then!), she actually named her next creation after me. cool. and just to add, her cousin, simone, is an equally sweet lady, and was the one who created the cameo necklace which drew many compliments. upon request, she also did up a second strand as a totally separate necklace so that i could layer it with my other necklaces, and guess what, she did not even charge me for it.
and what actually influenced me to write this entry today is because of a pleasant surprise from this other lady - suzanna from suzz.com. my most recent purchase was a vintage rose necklace from her website, but when i opened the package two days ago, i realised she actually sent me a bracelet by mistake. i was most willing to meet up with her to do the exchange, but she actually requested i accept the bracelet, while she send the necklace over. it's the generosity and professionalism of these sellers that make on-line shopping such a wonderful experience. and btw, i find singaporean buyers on yahoo auctions who often try to bargain down the price, or avoid paying that mere 50 cents for postage extremely irritating. can don't so cheapskate?
sunday in town with the girls: