End of 2009

Time of the year to reflect upon what had happened for the past 1 year… with my fuzzy memory, I remembered that:

I got married, went for a kick-ass honeymoon in Japan, bought a multi-generation HDB flat, failed my CFA level3, slapped myself for not buying more equities in March 09 and hold till Dec 31 2009.

Besides the above, I am in good health and everyone around me is also still well and alive. That alone, is the best part of 2009.

Going forward, here’s what to expect:

1) My long-awaited, designer flat. This designer and contractor better be good…. The renovation is stretching to 6 months and I’m about to DIE with anticipation already!

2) I gotta pass my CFA Level 3 and be a real CFA -> Certified Financial Analyst. Yes, I really do need that title to boost my ego.

3) Put my green fingers to test. My new place will be a little green house. Hrm…. If I didn’t inherit my mum’s genes, too bad. I’ll be buying fake greens instead then.

4) Adopt 2 bunnies? Although hubby is more keen to keep a pair of cats as pets… but seriously, cats and dogs are simply too demanding. If the bunnies don’t work out, I can always cook a rabbit stew with truffles instead.

5) Be a domestic goddess. I can’t wait to cook and eat, cook and eat, cook and eat in my brand new dry-and-wet kitchen, with an island, a kick-ass oven, a small herb garden and many days of dinners with friends.

Hopefully, 2010 will be a good year as well! Happy new year and may 2010 be a fruitful year for you!

10 weird things about me…

I’ve just read another blogger’s post about her 10 weird things, and to keep the spirit of “10 weird things” alive, I have to share 10 weird and totally honest things about myself or else… I will never strike lottery in my entire life. (Or something really bad along that line)

Ok, here goes:

(1) I daydream almost everyday about what I’ll do with the 2 million bucks if I ever strike TOTO or the Big Sweep. It keeps me going every morning; especially when my equity investments are under-water or when I feel broke. (that’s almost everyday, now that my new place is under renovation)

(2) I have already picked names for my future children and pets. Well… I might never, ever own a parrot, but I already HAVE a name for my parrot if I ever have one! Similarly, I do not have children at the moment, but I have already decided on their names, regardless of whether Hubby likes the names or not.

(3) I am a tree-hugger at heart. I recycled what-ever I can at home. I’ll sort out the rubbish and dispose them in the designated recycling bins near my block. I keep a set of chopsticks & spoon, and fork & spoon in office so that I do not have to use disposables when I lunch in. I also bring my own grocery bag when I do marketing and recently also started to bring my own shopping bag, so that I do not use paper bags/plastic bags during shopping sessions.

(4) I still get nervous whenever I drive. That’s partly because I do not drive often enough. But I do make sure that I drive at least once a week (courtesy to Kahshare Rental) to improve on my driving, and most importantly, PARKING.

(5) I am quite a paranoid. I’ll always buy Travel Insurance whenever I travel, even a short trip to Malaysia. Before the trip, I’ll email my brothers the details of ALL the insurance plans that I have, and all the bank accounts as well. Then I’ll pray to who-ever-is-up-there that I’ll make it home alive and well.

(6) I dream to be a Stay-At-Home-Mum who runs her own business and yet, can look after her kids at the same time. Once again, I do not have kids yet; guess I’ll look into this when I eventually have kids.

(7) I have scoliosis, which means that I have a curved spine. For a period of time, I was so resentful of my abnormal curvature that I dreaded the mirror and moped around, feeling so sorry for myself. Then I started volunteering at RDA and realized my so-called “disability” is nothing compared to the kids who have real disability. I am just glad that I can walk normally; I have hands and fingers to type my emails, cook, wash my clothes, and basically be a normal person.

(8) I worry CONSTANTLY that I will age faster than Hubby. To start with, Hubby has a super baby-face, and he is currently in some dragon-boat team, training hard every weekend. Hubby’s like Benjamin Button, he is getting hunkier as he aged?! Not that I am complaining since I get to “enjoy” his hard work (wink wink). But that gives me a lot of pressure to look youthful. I do not wana look like his elder sister when we’re out!

(9) I cry easily. Read a book, cry. Watch a movie, cry. Listen to a song, cry. Someone is sad, cry. Someone is happy, also cry.

(10) I always overeat. This is a bad habit that I’ve been trying to kick. The thing is that my brain seems to be unusually slow to detect that I’m actually full. And by the time I recognize that I’m about to explore with food, it will be too late. Then I’ll spend the rest of the evening feeling sick and the following weeks, feeling fat.

Yup, 10 weird things about me. Happy holidays!

First to call my own…

I’m so excited! I’m going to collect my very first digital camera ever in about 1 hr’s time!

Can you believe that in my 30 years of life, I have yet to own a digiCam? I’ll usually borrow a Casio ex-slim from Hubby, or I’ll just use my camera-phone if I need to take any pictures.

I guess the issue is that, I seldom take any pictures to start with… There are always someone else, carrying a DSLR taking pictures anyway. All I need is to pose, be polite and ask someone to take pictures for me, and then I’ll just go Facebook and copy the photos.

Even when I am on a holiday, Hubby will be the one taking the photos and I’ll just…. Well, stand and look around. Observe the surroundings and take mental photos in my brains.

That used to work…. Until I realized that I am getting old and fuddy, and cannot exactly remember places and people anymore... ...

And yet, I scoff at the idea of carrying a brick around my neck. The whole idea of a holiday is to be carefree and enjoy myself, instead of fuddling around with high-tech equipment (ie: DSLR camera, with 1 extra lens, with a tripod, spare battery and a camera backpack) that is 30% of my bodyweight.

However, with an up & coming trip to Taiwan with my family, I think it’s time to buy a decently small yet powerful camera and take some memorable pictures! Especially since this is my first family trip ever, and I’ll really like to take more pictures of my mum… … … Pictures that will allow me to show MY grand children how great their grant-grandmother was…

So, after some research, I chanced upon Canon Powershot S90 from the famous blog: ieatishootipost, where the blooger, Dr. Leslie Tay gave his honest review on the camera. After viewing some of the pictures taken by this small and compact camera, I am totally sold!

This must be THE only compact camera with manual settings where you can control the ISO, shutter-speed and shoot in RAW format. Well, other than Panasonic LX3. However, this S90 is easily 20% smaller and sleeker than the LX3.

Well… it is still NOT a DSLR, so gotta managed your expectations. But for such a small compact camera, this sounds as good as it gets.

Ok, I’ll collect the camera later during lunch, and play around with this new baby and see how I’ll like it?!

I am so excited! Ahhhhh!

Pretty Woman

Feeling ugly today. Urgh. Even the new intern dresses better than me.

It is such a hassle to be a woman. Gotta watch my hair, face, figure, nails, legs… Argh, I’m going crazy already!

I think most girls find doing girly things fun. Facial, shopping for new clothes & shoes, going for pedicure, shopping for make-up … … etc.

For me, I’m doing the bare minimum just to look presentable. I’ve never been trendy to start with. I just make sure that I look okay so that I do not embarrass my friends or my hubby when we walk together.

For special occasions, I will make an effort to dress up. Got to at least show some respect to the hosts of the gala dinners or weddings or parties, and since I do not attend such events often, it can be rather fun to play “dress-up” once a while.

But normal day-to-day… I can be rather nonchalant. Come’on, my brain cannot function at 7 am in the morning, the act of mix-and-match is beyond me. I just grab what-ever has been ironed. And I only iron my clothes once every few years…

But, today… it hit me that I really gotta watch my dressing. I look really STUMPY today. Urgh… like an auntie.

Time to go shopping during lunch.

Cookbooks vs recipes from the internet

I have never bought a cookbook in my life. EVER.

I’ve always thought that why would anyone buy cookbooks when you can:

(1) Borrow from the library
(2) Tons of FREE recipes from the internet
(3) Free recipes from cooking blogs
(4) Recipes from Telly programs on Channel 16: Discovery Travel and Living
(5) FREE recipes from newspapers (eg: Sunday Times) and magazines (Ok, not exactly Free free since you have to buy/subscribe for the papers/mags in the 1st place)

So far, whatever I’ve cooked are from the above mentioned resources. I simply cannot bring myself to buy any cookbooks.

But I realized that I ENJOY receiving cookbooks as presents! Quite a while back, hubby bought 2 cookbooks from some crazy discounted store at $10 each, really cheap for a fully illustrated cookbook. I just LOVE looking at beautiful pictures of beautiful food. In fact, I’ll just read them again and again, just to look at the pictures and fantasize about myself cooking these dishes and throwing awesome dinner parties, and people will swoon at my wonderfully-cooked, beautifully presented dinner.

All these will be a reality once I have my own place! But of course, I need to practice on my cooking 1st…

So, hrm… in case for those who wonders about what gifts to buy for me, a cookbook will always be appreciated! Doesn’t have to be expensive, a $10 book was enough to keep me very happy for days!

In fact, I’ll definitely cook you a meal or bake you a cake from the very same cookbook!