Holloween Costume: Retired Hooter Girls

This really cracks me up. I was laughing non-stop for 5 mins when I saw this. HAHAHAHA.

I love Halloween!

Dressing up for Halloween…

A conversation with Hubby last night.

Me: If you were to go to a Halloween party with me, what will you dress up as, dear?

Hubby: Hmmmm…. *deep thoughts* ...... ...... ..... I’ll be Astro Boy.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…. *burp*

I think my hubby will make a really good Astro Boy. In fact, knowing him, he will most probably wana show off his body and go around half-naked.

But… I’m just afraid that people will mistake him as Bruno instead.

p/s: if I ever have a son, I’ll dress him up as Astro Boy. So cute!

What exactly do I do for a living?

I realized that I do not actively talk about my job. So much so that, some of my friends do not know exactly what I do for a living…

There’s a reason to why I do not actively talk about my job, unless that person is in the same industry as I am.

The reason is that people will usually ask “what stock will you recommend ah?”

And I’ve learnt not to “anyhow” give advice.

Yes, I’m in the asset management industry, working in a small boutique fund that specializes in stock markets in Singapore, M’sia and HongKong.

Yes, I look at stocks and shares everyday and reading financial newspapers & financial magazines is part of my job. I get to attend briefings and meetings with the management of listed companies, and get to ask questions directly to the CEOs or CFOs on how they run the company.

But no, we are still a small fund and I primarily look at small-cap companies, ie: companies with market capitalization of less than US$500 mil.

Anyway, back to the issue to why I do not actively talk about my job is that I do not want to give advice to what is the “best” stock to buy now… or “is this the time to enter the market?” or “is the worst really over? Will we see a double dip?”

Seriously, if I can answer all those questions with confidence, I will be a stay-at-home-Trader and making tons of money. I doubt even the Guru of all Gurus, Warren Buffet can answer to those questions with conviction (ok, except for the “best” stock to buy now, I’m sure he can recommend a few to you)

I’m more than willing to discuss and offer my personal opinions. But, please do not ask me anything too technical. I wouldn’t want to be blamed for your losses. And even if you make $$, I cannot get to earn any commission either.

So, better to just keep quiet.

Project Habitat Update

Update: NOTHING is going on at Project Habitat yet. N.O.T.H.I.N.G.

I have many friends who asked, whether our new place is ready or are we moving in soon…

Hrm, the seller is still staying at OUR new flat. Previously when we bought the resale flat, the then-owner already mentioned that if the sale were to go through, they will need to rent for at least 1 month.

So now, we gotta honor that agreement although we are dying to start the renovation. DYING…. In fact, we’ll most probably start immediately the moment the occupants move out.

I can’t wait!

Why are these chairs so expensive?!

I’m a sucker for chairs. Whenever I’m at a furniture store or some lifestyle shop, the first place I head for is the Chairs Section.

And I will not leave until I’ve sat on EVERY chair.

Not sofas, but chairs. Somehow, chairs just speak to me. Be it armchairs, dinning chairs, study chairs, even stools, I also like!

And now that I begin shopping for furniture, it just hit me how bloody expensive these chairs can be.

To pay 3k+ for an armchair is rather insane… And these aren’t even designer chairs. Those, I heard go into 5 digits?!?!

These are just made-to-order chairs. Yes, I know it’s made of calf leather. And yes, I know that it’s hand-made, and yes, I know it looks quite expensive BUT STILL?!?!

Ok, maybe I can understand why armchairs can be so expensive. After all, a good leather, cool-looking armchair can be a signature item of the house.

But why are dinning chairs so expensive too?!?! Just a few pieces of wood/plastic/cushion what… Seriously, these people are ripping me off.

OK, maybe it’s time to go into the furniture trade. Maybe I’ll learn how to make chairs instead. I’ll bring in a chair-making master from Thailand or Bali, and I’ll be his apprentice for 3 years and after that I can specialize in making chairs! And in time to come, I can become a Chair-making Master and impart my wonderful chair-making skills to my disciples.

Till then…. I just have to find some other places that sell cheaper replications of what I want…

Project Habitat

Yup, I’ve decided to name my latest and most expensive project ever as “Habitat”. Brought my ID (Interior Designer) and contractors down to my new place last night and the 1st thing that all 3 of them said:

“Woah, must hack until siao”, ie: bonkers.

The new place is not that new, in fact, the flat is 23 years old and the current owners didn’t exactly take good care of the flat. Thus, everything has to go, and I mean EVERYTHING.

Every tile, almost all the walls, windows, doors, cabinets, toilets… you name it, it has to go.

It is strangely rather exciting and liberating to know that everything gotta go. I CANT wait for them to hack. I feel that this place has so much potential to be a really interesting apartment because the layout is so different and I have a lot of space to play with.

Although the ID has already come up with a really cool layout, but after surveying the actual site, he said he needed to see the raw beams and columns before he can promise anything.

Project Habitat is going to be very exciting!

Vertical gardens

Another sign that I’m getting old… I wana pick up gardening.

I know… that’s SO auntie rite? No offence to fellow gardeners, The typical image of a garden is a middle age auntie, who is slightly pudgy, wearing some baggy old T-shirt with old faded shorts. Messy hair in a grandma-bun and of course, classic yellow rubber gloves.

Yup, that’s my idea of someone who enjoys gardening, and yup, I’m describing my mum up there.

But seriously, how many young, hot, sexy gardeners are there out there? Well, I might not be that young anymore but I can still work on the “hot and sexy” part. Ha…

I haven’t really planted anything in my life yet. I mean, how difficult can gardening be rite?
Wrong! Apparently, keeping plants alive and healthy is quite a task. Keeping plants green and not brown seems harder than it looks. Anyway, it will be very soon for me to find out whether I inherit my mother’s green fingers. Since I’m going to have a pretty big balcony at my new place, both hubby and I have decided to do some major “landscaping” work and have already set aside a budget for plants and greenery.

Recently, vertical walls are in vogue. It sure looks cool and super relaxing, but I simply cannot imagine the work to maintain a “living wall”… If you have been to the new T3 at Changi Airport, you’ll know what I’m talking about. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s really very relaxing to look at plants cascading down a wall… leaning over the railing, swaying slightly to the breeze (in T3’s case, it was the draft of the air-con. Haha)

But a girl can dream right? Ahhh… looking at that wall is making me relaxed already.

Movie Trailer of Julie & Julia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjvJHsJD8ic

Pathetic blogger

I think I’m the worst blogger ever. I’m lazy, I do not update my blog regularly, too lazy to take pictures of whatever-i-eat-or-do, even lazier to post them. Not to mention that even if I do take pictures and actually take the effort to post the pictures, the photos suck because I’m such a lousy photographer.

Nonetheless, I still cannot really bring myself to close this blog. The very reason why I wana keep this blog going is that, if ever, one day I passed away suddenly or die young, then my hubby, friends and brothers can have something to read and remember me by…

Kind of a morbid thought, but that’s the key reason why I keep this thing going.

Ok, although I’m pretty sure not many people actually read this, but I will try to make an effort to make this blog a little more interesting.

But, nope. Im no Julie Powell, some spunky lady who decided to blog about her adventures when she decided that she needed to work on a project to prove her self-worth: to cook 524 dishes in 365 days from Julia Child’s recipe book. And from her very popular blog, she ended up writing and publishing a book, and Tadah! Now her book is being made in a movie, starring Meryl Streep!

How cool is that?! The film: “Julie and Julia” is based on two true stories; one is about a lady, Julia learning how to cook at age 37 while she was in Paris; another one is also about a lady, Julie learning how to cook to get her dignity back while staying in New York.

I’m so going to catch this movie!

Rider’s Lodge

Finally, I made my way to Rider’s Lodge in Johor, Kulai. Courtesy to D who organized the 1/2 day trip and to K who was so nice to be the designated driver.

We headed off early, meeting at 6.15 am and everyone was punctual! A great start to a good day, in about 1.5 hrs drive, we arrived at Rider’s Lodge.

This was my first official riding class ever since I came back from the US. I did a crash course previously somewhere near Boston where we did a trail to the mountains to enjoy the dazzling colors of the fall. The slightly cool air, coupled with the amazing colors of red and orange was simply breath-taking. We even spotted a deer and a wild turkey. I still remembered that my horse was a clam, old chestnut, and we were riding “western” style, ie: cowboy style, which is different from the English method that is more popular in this part of the world.

It was such a pleasant experience that I’ve always wanted to go it again. And finally, at Rider’s Lodge, I get to learn how to ride again.

Just sitting on a walking horse isn’t that difficult, but sitting with the correct posture and LOOKING graceful is rather hard. Learning how to move with the horse while it’s trotting/galloping is even more challenging.

I was having such a hard time trying to stay in rhythm and half the time, I thought I was going to fall off the horse. Since I’m like the most accident-prone person in the world (according to my hubby), I was really scared that I’ll fall off and break my hip or leg or anything.

Nonetheless, it was a really, really enjoyable experience! I’ll definitely want to do it again. Heard that the new Equestrian Centre at Kranji will be opening in Nov that will save the hassle of driving up to M’sia.

Fail Fail Fail

Ok, failed the CFA level 3 exam. G.R.E.A.T.... ... ... ... ... Gotta re-take next June. Just the thought of it is enough to make me vomit.

O well, just gotta suck it up. Wailing about doesnt exactly help either. *Playing the violin and making a lot of angsty noise actually did help me feel much better*

Argh... Dun bug me. Im all grumpy and angsty rite now.

Anime: La Corda d'Oro Primo Passo

Ok, too lazy to blog about the food trip in KL-Ipoh anymore. Memory getting hazy anyway. ;)

Anyway… life after exam is indeed good. The moment my exam was over, I’ve been busy keeping myself occupied.

Other than pigging out in M’sia, I also caught up with all the korean dramas that I’ve always wanted to watch. “Boys Before Flowers, Coffee Prince, My Girl and Full House.”
By my 4th consecutive K-dramas, I had such a severe overdose that I swore that I’ll never watch another K-drama again… ha. Nonetheless, best K-drama of all time gotta be Boys Before Flowers.

Then I started cooking again! Didn’t really do anything ambitious due to the limited space in parents-in-law’s kitchen and the lack of an oven. So gotta concenrate on Chinese cooking instead. Learnt to make Ngo Hiang, Wasabi prawns, wantons and claypot rice. Still cant wait for my dream kitchen at my new place…

Hang out with the horses at RDA again… was comtemplating whether to take up riding classes in Singapore but vomited when I saw the cost of lessons. Think I’ll give it a pass for now… I’ll rather do a crash course in M’sia or something…

Then I started on my violin classes, yay! Much to the dismay of my neighbours and fellow family members, I’ve been practising on my violin rather religiously. I aim to play something decent by end of this year… I tell myself that I’ll play Canon in D major someday….

So, to keep my enthusiasm going, I’m currently watching an anime, La Corda d'Oro Primo Passo. It’s about a girl who has no musical background but somehow chanced upon a “music fairy” who granted her a magic violin. And that’s how her advanture with music and fellow musicians begin. A rather educational anime since I get to learn a lot about classical music in a very fun way… heh, I can totally relate to the heroine in the anime… except of the magical violin part.

I just hope that I can pass my level three exam! Results will be out soon. Or else, I’ve to go through another year of mugging and suffering… Noooooooooooooooooo.

Wana post some pictures from Ipoh (part 1) before I proceed to Part 2!


Monster Sea Cucumber at Teck Kee Ipoh. My hand is barely half its length and not even as wide! This dish is ROCKS!

Monster chicken from Man Zhong Ipoh. This is ONE chicken, NOT TWO. How can a single chicken has so much meat???!! Nuts....

Beek Noodle at Tungkak.

Monster prawns at Tangjong Tualang. A close up pic where you can see the roe of the prawns at the heads if you look carefully enough.

Ta-dah! Monster prawns. Some are even bigger than my hand. Geez....

Food trip to Ipoh & KL. (Part 1: Ipoh)

Ok… this is not for the faint hearted. I know this bunch of people are serious foodies, but seriously, our food guide, Dr Wong, in my opinion, the is ultimate Food God who really knows where are all the good stuff.

Warning: super long post.

A total of 12 of us, packed into 3 cars and 2 bikes headed to Ipoh and KL for the ultimate 5-days-4 nights of mega-pig-out sessions.

The very 1st pit-stop was at Tungkak, which is famous for its beef noodles. The version of Tungkak’s beef noodle comes in the form of a super tasty clear broth, with beef and noodles. It was pretty good, but this dish didn’t rock my world. Personally, I will not drive all the way to Tungkak just have a bowl of Beef noodles.

After that, we basically “cheong” for the next 3.5rs to Gopeng (outskirts of Ipoh) to Tanjong Tu-alang to eat some monster prawns. And Geez…. These prawns were indeed the gorzilla types. Each prawn was longer than my hand??!! In fact, the gem lies in the prawn roe, they were so sweet and fragrant that they could easily be mistaken for crab roe!!

This Zhi Char place at Tanjong Tu-alang was indeed fantastic. It was super ulu though…. So ulu that even the GPS didn’t have its address. But, of course, our Food God can always find his way to good food.

After that, another 1 hour’s drive and we hit Ipoh. 1st dinner was at Public Restaurant, aka “Man Zhong”. Due to a special request from our good friend, Porky A, Dr. Wong ordered 2 roasted suckling pigs. TWO??!! Who in the right mind will eat TWO suckling pigs in one sitting??!! Well… this bunch of crazy people actually did. Dr. Wong also ordered a sterilized-rooster steamed in chicken broth, and the chicken was basically a cousin of Gorzilla. It was the size of 3 chickens combined??!! Seriously… Everyone almost fainted when we saw the size of the chicken.

HOW CAN ANYTHING GROW SO BIG??!! Apparently, sterilized cocks can.

The gorzilla chicken was too tough for my delicate palate, and basically I think this chicken had died in vain as most of us didn’t/couldn’t appreciate it.

Next day’s breakfast was a military exercise. All of us gathered at 6.45 am and “cheong” to this kopitiam, located at the Old Town of Ipoh. I’ve forgotten the name of this Kopitiam, but it is directly opposite of the famous “Nan Xiang” kopitiam.

According to Dr Wong, we had to arrive early because this place would get really crowded after 7 am, and he was right. Shortly after we were seated, there was this tour bus that dumped tens of local tourists and the kopitiam got really busy.

Breakfast Part1: Curry Chee Cheong Fan (really good!), with super “gao” (Ie: thick) Old Town Kopi-O, M’sia style French toast, more kaya toast. And some even ate Hakka Yong Tau Foo.
After that, we hopped over to Nan Xiang Kopitiam and continued with Breakfast Part 2:
Penang style Char Kway Tiao, more Old Town Kopi-O, peanut pancakes (super crispy and fragrant).

By then, I was kinda bursting already.

Then we went for breakfast part 3: Another kopitiam to buy more Chinese pastry and Dr. Wong ordered a plate of roasted pork belly.

Argh…. How can these people eat like that??!!

Just when I thought I’m going to skip lunch, Dr. Wong bought 5 salted chickens, supposed to be really famous in Ipoh.

And fuah, IT WAS THE BEST SALTED CHICKEN THAT I’VE EVER EATEN IN MY LIFE. The meat was soft and yet firm (typical of kampong chickens, different from the “factory” chickens that we eat in Spore), it was nicely flavored with Chinese herb and, of course, salt. The chicken was done is a semi-steam/baked style, so the texture of the chicken is similar to our Hainanese chicken rice, but trust me, the flavor was like 100 times better.

It was so incredible… I think I ate almost 1 whole chicken by myself.

And just when I thought I REALLY couldn’t eat anymore for dinner, Dr. Wong brought us to Teck Kee Restaurant, one of the very best in Ipoh. And fuah, it was the best restaurant for the whole trip!

Every dish served was fantastic but the star dish is the monster sea cucumber braised with scallops, chicken and chestnuts (aka Gao Luck). The flavor was robust and sweet-in-the-savory way. The texture of the sea cucumber was chewy and “Q”… really really delicious lah. By the way, the sea cucumber was about 14 inches long??!!

And the best part, each of us only need to pay 30+ sing. Best!!!

Ok, and after that sumptuous dinner, we still manage to find some room to squeeze in Supper: Ipoh Horfan with chicken, porkballs and sprouts. There’s something about the water in Ipoh that the horfan was super silky and the sprouts were super fat and juicy!!

Ok, after that. I simply cannot eat anymore. In fact, I began to feel a bit ill…. We headed back to the hotel and I had to take a indigestion pill to keep my system going.

And that was just Day 2 in Ipoh.

Children vs dogs/cats

I've heard from a few couples of how when a baby comes along, suddenly pets (usually cats and dogs) are seen as threats to the new baby.

“Car fur will cause allergies to the baby”
“What if doggy bites the baby?”
“No time to look after doggie AND the baby”

Soon, it’s a matter of time, these pets are either being given away or being abandoned.

Sigh. And to think that these owners used to call themselves “Daddy and Mummy” of their pets. Some even claim that having a pet if like a “prelude” to having a baby. Yeah right… and you give away your “first born” when the real deal comes along?

I recognize all these issues and to this date, I keep asking myself whether Im ready to have a dog or even a cat, esp when my new place is ready. Or should I just have a baby 1st? Just take my baby as a pet loh?

I’m taking violin lessons!

Yup, now that my exam is over and I can finally have my life back! Yippe!

For the past few months, weekends were spent cooping at home, forcing myself to mug. Now that I’m free, gotta make FULL USE of the precious weekends by learning something new.

Last year, I decided to be a volunteer and it was one of my best decisions ever. I’m still volunteering every Saturday but had to stop for a few weeks to mug. Can finally hang out with the horses and children again, brings a smile to my face just to imagine that.

This year, I’ve decided to learn to play the violin! Yup… I must be the oldest student ever. Ha. I’ll be meeting my violin teacher this sat and looking really forward to buy my very own violin and practice it at home!

I’ve always wanted to play the violin, there’s something heart wrenching about the violin. The quality of the sound is sad and yet so beautiful. Anyone who has watched The Red Violin will know what I’m talking about.

Alrite, cheers to an up and coming musician! :p

Frustrated

I’ve been busy pretending to study for my CFA exam lately. Why pretending? Because I’m simply too frustrated to fully absorb whatever I studied… basically what went into my brains didn’t register for more than 5 mins…

Recently, Hubby and I have been busy looking at apartments. We have been looking for an apartment since 1.5 years ago… previously we thought that property prices have to drop further due to the “greatest” recession since 1930s. So, we waited…. We camped with the in-laws while waiting patiently to buy our very 1st dream apartment at a decent price. In fact, we were so sure that we’ll pick up a good deal that we actually “rejected” a few rather good buys….

Sigh. We were so wrong.

This “greatest” recession ever is fake. Recession. My ASS.

Seems to me that most Singaporeans are still very rich, new property launches were being grabbed like hot cakes. Even resale private apartments’ asking prices have surged immediately by 20%??!!

Singapore is getting to be a REALLY expensive city to live in. Even government public housing flats at so-called “prime” areas like Redhill, Tiong Bahru, Bishan and Toa Payoh are going at min $500 psf.

Suddenly, the thought of immigrating to Australia seems really appealing. For S$1 mil, I can most probably buy a 3000 sqf HOUSE with a nice garden. In Singapore, $1mil cannot even buy you a decent 3 bedroom condo of 1300 sqf.

I’m a “prudent” investor. I didn’t chase after the property during the crazy days of 2007 and yet, I still cannot afford a place now -> even during a recession??!!??!!

What the hell?

Pro-gay vs gay-friendly

Is there a difference? I think there is. I’m gay-friendly but I’m not pro-gay. If you are my friend, I will still love you as my friend regardless of your sexual orientation. I will not discriminate you nor pass any ill-intentioned judgments against you.

However, I’m not pro-gay either because I still believe in the union of 1 man and 1 woman. If one day, my future child were to tell me that he/she is homosexual, I think I will be upset (for at least a while) and be in a state of denial, but finally, I believe that I will still love my child and accept him/her as he/she is. I will most probably question why did that happen and whether my up-bringing cause his/her sexual orientation to be atypical.

However, in any case, I will not be ashamed of my child, just like I’m not ashamed to have gay friends, gay colleagues, gay neighbors… … etc.

The saga of Aware, has brought up issues that have been going on, from “under-current” to main stream. And I’m glad that it has happened because I hope people will, for once, THINK about their values, beliefs and what they stand up for.

Personally, I am behind the Old Guards of Aware because I believe in being “inclusive”. Inclusive means “inclusive – all types of women, in all shapes, sizes, colors.”

Conclusion: I’m not a beach person…

D and I took a short trip to Langkawi to attend a friend’s wedding during the Easter holidays and we have agreed on the following conclusions:

1) Both of us aren’t big fans of beach resorts. I always break out in heat rash when ever it gets really hot and humid. As for D, he needs his wines and beers CHILL…. And these babies don’t stay chill for very long when it’s 33 degrees. No cold beer and you’ll get a grumpy D.

2) I simply cannot stand screaming kids in the pool. I’m not the kind to soak in the pool and do nothing. When I go to the pool, my focus is to swim and exercise. Thus, I get really irritated when kids dash around the pool, or swim zig-zag around me while I’m panting away doing my lap swims. And I thought I’m quite maternal.

3) Sentosa is actually quite a nice beach getaway too if you can block out those oil tankers.

I can take the cold winter in Japan… but the heat simply drives me mad. Nonetheless, it was a really beautiful wedding.

Just that D and I were wishing that the theme of the wedding to be "bikini babes and beach hunks - Zouk Out Style!".

Spruce at Tanglin Road

For those who have read the most recent Sunday Times will know that Spruce, the restaurant was being featured. Reviews were rather positive and the owners of Spruce used to be from the Wine Garage. We used to frequent Wine Garage all the time until it revised the prices UPWARDS by about 50-100%, then we stopped dinning at Wine G.

After a quick check that the restaurant wasn’t expensive, plus if you order a bottle of wine from the restaurant, the corkage will be free on your 1st home-brought bottle. In any case, corkage is $30, which is okay…

Spruce is at Tanglin road, directly opposite to the Brunei Embassy actually. A little ulu but nowadays, ulu restaurants are more popular. Many people, who used to go to Dempsey, are all avoiding the area like mad. We all kinda miss the ulu-ness of Dempsey.

O well.

OK, back to Spruce. The whole restaurant is very understated yet done very stylishly. That gives a good vibe that the restaurant is more into its food than some showy décor. A lot of greenery surround the little restaurant, thus it’s really nice if you can get a seat outdoors, esp if the weather isn’t hot and humid.

Food is good, given for the price. I must say it’s actually damn good value. We had the Onion Crepes and grilled calamari with rockets for our starters. The onion crepes were really good; the sweetness of the onions went really well with the buttery cheese sauce. The calamari was tender and flavorful, nicely done. Both starters were about $15-18.

I ordered the Braised Duck pasta (shown above) in tomato sauce. The dish didn’t look very appetizing at 1st, but do not be fooled, the flavor was robust and the “gaminess” of the duck went really well with the slightly sourness of the tomatoes. Mmmmmm. Yum. That cost $18.

Hubby and K ordered the Spruce burger (shown above). A little disappointed as Hubby and I agreed that Botak Jones’s burgers was at a better value given Botak’s price point. And my personal favorite burger joint is still Relish. Spruce’s Burger is at $18.

A had the steak with fries. I didn’t get to try that but from A’s looks, he seems pleased with his piece of red meat. I cant remember how much was the steak though.

As for dessert, we ordered 4 types of cheeses to share. The truffle cheese was clearly a winner. But then again, truffle with anything is always a winner.

My personally favorite was the cheese with “ashes” infused in it. Very interesting combination. The ashes really brought out the mild saltiness of the cheese and its “cheesy” flavor. Ha. I liked that.

All in all, each of us spent $60 each, inclusive of 2 bottles of wines! A while was ordered from the restaurant and we brought our own red.

I’ll love to retun!