Tuesday, January 31, 2006

of the long weekend

snippets of the lunar new year holiday...

27 jan friday
for once she's glad the agency did something right by giving them a full day off while most others were cramming the half/ full day before the long CNY hols this weekend. kick ass.

woke up at 8am all geared up for gym.
left house at 8.45am with gym bag.
came back to house at 8.50am to dump gym bag based on a lame excuse "the bag's too heavy to lug round the whole day, reckon i'll be better off shopping today and working out tomorrow instead."

pathetic.

...............................

28 jan saturday
the eve of lunar new year.

woke up and headed off to gym after a three week reprieve. walked a great distance on the treadmill just before the gastric hit. ordered herself a soup and ham sandwich only to recall that she was supposed to head to grandma's for lunch... how fucking retarded was she to forget something important like this? tried cancelling the orders but the usually slow deli chose to be uncommonly efficient that morning. shit.

after stuffing her face silly with untasty ham, she found herself in a flurry rushing home from town to pick her folks up to grandma's place. shit always happens when you're in a rush, thank god it wasn't her car though. as she was exiting paragon, a comfort cab got into an accident (windscreen smashed but no one's hurt) on the left and two black saloon cars on the right got into a minor scuffle when they refused to give way and ended up banging each other sideways (what morons). both events led the narrow three lane road outside paragon into a bottleneck. thank God she managed to escape cos she was way up ahead.

had steamboat for BOTH lunch and dinner and it kinda ruined the whole experience of pseudo healthy communal dining. the aftertaste of too much "unseasoned" food (ie not slathered in oyster or soya sauce) can make a once delish dish repulsive. *brrr*

drove up to other half's place in the evening and watched fun with dick and jane. eek.

..............................
29 jan sunday
first day of lunar new year

woke up at 7am to pay their respects to paternal grandfolk's at a hokkien temple off serangoon road. headed home after and waited for some cousins to arrive before setting off again, this time to ah poh's place. not exactly the most exciting considering she's never been close to the paternal end (that side of the family's kinda warped).

today's also day one of card gambling at gramps. lost $20. double shit.

watched her movie-of-choice memoirs of a geisha which obviously paled in comparison to the book. nonetheless, zhang ziyi's perfect for the role (other than the flawed fact of a chinese playing japanese) and her performance as a vulnerable rebel's brilliant.

...................................

30 jan monday
second day of lunar new year

did more house visiting and headed to gramps place for late lunch and another session of cards. made loads this time with winnings of $40. joined other half for his family dinner and ended up stuffing herself with kueh pie tees, fak choi, peking duck, gado gado, keropok, orh nee plus strawberry cheesecake dessert amongst others. wished she could've taken the food pics but it would've looked silly to the large group of relatives haha. they must be thinking what's wrong with this oddball...

picked trish up at tanah merah and the three of them headed out to LASH (ex embargo chillout bar). bloody slow service and VV limited beverage choices, nothing much to keep them there after one drink and so they decided to move across to post bar instead. little ms smart aleck bee then suggested to the other two that she could drive them across so that they don't have to walk all the way back later (to one fullerton). it took them (or her haha) touring around the carpark three times before she realised there's only ONE carpark (shared between one fullerton and fullerton hotel) and that they should've taken another lift up instead.

*bimbo! smacks own forehead*

the caprinha at postbar was strong and due to the lack of proper sleep (bout 5 hours each the past two nights), the wee bit of alcohol almost knocked her out. the other half tried stuffing her with "wake up" foods (ba kua) so that she doesn't find herself contributing to the next festive statistic (car accident) as she drove herself home tired and all.

...........................................

31 jan tuesday
third day of lunar new year

slept till 11.30am and woke up in time to potter over to gramps again for the highly anticipated cantonese peanut porridge. met celine at prego's to pick up the wonderful kueh lapis compliments of her mom, yum! plus, discovered pseudo master's actually her cai shen ye (fortune God) *ermmm* cos she only wins at card games whenever he's seated next to her. strange.

am sitting at her favourite corner of other half's place updating her blog now heh. she hates to think of work tomorrow argh.

* hope ya all had a great CNY hol too!*

bee wrote this at 8:11 PM

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Friday, January 27, 2006

of realisation

being an only child, she's used to taking things for granted.

people especially, cos her folks have always been there for her the day she came wailing into this world. she's always been the centre of attention in the household and only started adapting to different dynamics when she entered princessdonna territories in the primary school.

she thought she's got it all figured out.

but she was wrong indeed.

it wasn't until a few hours ago that it hit her on how selfish she was. how she didn't realise what sacrifices some loved ones made for her. but it's never too late and she's glad the thought hit her when it did.

thank you to the big guy up there for giving us each other, it's nice to know you're loved.

bee wrote this at 1:12 AM

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Thursday, January 26, 2006

of a thursday morning

she hates it when people give instructions without getting the story right first.
what happens then?

time's wasted, precious resources misused and people get pissed off.

jeez.

bee wrote this at 9:57 AM

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Tuesday, January 24, 2006

the davis

this is THE place for her next bangkok trip. kick ass.

bee wrote this at 2:15 PM

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house hunt

this is just way over the top. oh my...

a slightly more affordable version in burnley street, richmond

river street south yarra and highett street richmond, perhaps she could rent the third room to a rich indonesian/ singaporean student

awesome warehouse on regent street, richmond. warehouses are a luxury for her at the moment but nothing beats the kinda rush you feel knowing how or what you can do to the open spaces...like modular furniture. less rigidity and absolute freedom at our whims and fancies.

bee wrote this at 9:56 AM

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Monday, January 23, 2006

of singaporean OLs

did the traditional chinese thing (her legal excuse) and went all out for new clothes and whathaveyous over the weekend. though she found some real good pieces (2 dresses and an evening bag) for a bargain, the shopping experience over sunday was a tough one involving arm wrestling and foot stomping with one particular singaporean specie; the singaporean OL (blue collar Office Ladies). there's nothing wrong with being an OL, she's just being a complete snooty bitch right now cos she's freshly pissed by their brusque mannerisms and disregard for others, which happen to be traits less prevalent in other categories.

here's a mini profile she's observed over the years. Singaporean OLs are often chinese or dialect speaking lians or aunties who usually have no regard for any other human presence, in other words, in a complete world of their own. traits include shopping in packs of three or more, talking real LOUD in changing rooms, snatching clothes off the racks and throwing them back in a bundle instead of attempting a decent effort at folding it, barking at salespeople like they're your maids (this includes the annoying mainland "nouveau riche"), grabbing the exact same design as you have after giving you the top-to-bottom perusal (at times glare), making their men wait around the stores (hence blocking precious space) to whip the credit cards for them.

eek.

bee wrote this at 8:58 AM

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Friday, January 20, 2006

of semiotics

if you decided to change your mind about a creative at the eleventh hour, tell it like it is. just don't accuse people of misinterpreting or miscommunication when three pairs of ears are telling you what they heard was right.

damn fucking annoying.

bee wrote this at 6:13 PM

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Thursday, January 19, 2006

the fold

darn cool site, go check out Installations (center for disease control). awesome.

bee wrote this at 3:57 PM

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006

of suay moments

you've just joined a bloody long cabline. but since its moving pretty steadily, you decided to wait in line. then you discover the cabs stopped coming (for what reason?) and it's taking FUCKING long just as soon as you arrive at the front. its silly to call for a cab now cos its your turn (soon) and so you keep waiting.

and waiting
and waiting
and waiting

and finally show the white flag cos you need the cab like NOW.

the $4 extra cab finally arrives and a disgrunted you hops in immediately.

nothing wrong with that...EXCEPT AN EMPTY CAB ARRIVES SOON AFTER YOU STEPPED INTO THE DAILED CAB.

...

bee wrote this at 12:45 PM

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of living a life

it's amazing how little work mails they get in the inbox here, like... less than six mails each morning? she's so used to coming in to work early just so to clear the darn avalanche of thirty something emails that usually streams in past two am. not kidding but that's how the ex clients used to work, it could be the tech industry but she could be wrong. she's so glad the move to join the client as a marcom person didn't materialise cos she's not sure if that's the kind of life she could handle. it was a great brand name to be on her portfolio, an esteemed american organisation. but did she really want to handle the immature journalist, the messy unstable power struggle, sort out creative accounting, handle overdue BIG projects and on top of it all, manage an insolent old auntie who refuse to do what's part of her job scope? the brand, money and position may be very promising but can she survive the battle? it's very disheartening working in places where you spend 99% of your time shooting arrows and covering your asses instead of some real work. she's had the good opportunity to work with really good leaders and thinkers (who're slightly different from the former) and she's thankful for that cos some sure ain't know how to treasure gems till they lose them *kicks herself*

where's a good boss when everyone needs one?
----------------------------

on the other hand, she should think positive and focus on the better things in life. like saving money for the place in melbourne (or sydney), planning for a new vacation destination (where she'll need to spend at least one week), annual perth pilgrimage (LONG OVERDUE), reading up on more strategic planning for better account management (should buy this as a gift for a certain top person), actioning her volunteer plans instead of thinking them, channeling her unhealthy vicious vengeful mind away and focusing more on God and his greater plans (wow! that coming from a used to be agnostic), spending enough time with family, growing together with the other half and laughing with her mates.

life should be about encompassing all elements which makes you YOU. when she leaves this world, she wants to know that she's led a fulfilling life instead of one filled with angst and bitterness over something called work.

sometimes it's just not worth it.

bee wrote this at 8:38 AM

1peekaboos

Monday, January 16, 2006

of armageddon and discipline

had a major crisis at work late noon last friday. shit always had to happen on TGIFs don't they? anyhow, the team spent the entire (almost) sat at the post house trying their best to salvage a very important top man's wrath *shudders* thank god everyone was cooperative and the situation's saved when a forwarded "thank you guys for fast turnaround" sms note came from the client through her team leader on sunday. let's hope the cheery mood stays for now and it's nice knowing that efforts have not gone unappreciated. the wooha over the weekend made her realise her mistake in undermining the capabilities of certain person who got on her nerves. nonetheless, they both have different working styles and she doubts she could handle brown nosing 24-7; meaning she's better off venturing to a greener grass patch at the other department if possible.

-------------------------------
finally dragged her ass up for the gym sunday morning. it's been three whole weeks without cardio workouts and her body felt totally useless and lethargic. she's really lacking discipline these days. nodded off when she was supposed to call the other half back in a minute. guess she didn't realise how tired she was mentally with only eight hours of sleep from fri to sunday.

bee wrote this at 8:55 AM

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Friday, January 13, 2006

of biting her tongue

mind boggling moments of the week:
- drivers who park on a narrow two way street. hello?
- a high flier who doesn't possess apt skills for the industry, suffers from severe selective amnesia and does all talk zero action THEN turns round to bite you in the ass. she's just been "gary-ed" again by the same species.
- people who promote people based on relationships and not how good they are at work. huh? then she's better off as an air stewardess right?
- people who overcompensate their insecurity by thinking too highly of themselves
- had a pep talk with another department and am considering moving a step up the ladder (not in title hierarchy per se but overall job scope)
- people who constantly and conveniently disappear just when you need them
- plucked up the courage to go for a course that brings her closer to faith and God

bee wrote this at 9:01 AM

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Wednesday, January 11, 2006

of recounting bangkok memories

she had to admit that the bangkok getaway was a great form of recharge for the soul.

what a surprise since its a city of dust balls, soot, blaring horns, crazy jams and time consuming transport bargaining sessions. the trip was made in a bigger entourage this time, with andrew and jan, andrew's mom joyce and neville plus gary and mates. it was meant as a pseudo work trip for the other half who's helping the soon-to-be-wed couple andrew and jan with their new place. and man did she wish she had a better budget to stay at gary's hotel of choice, the metropolitan. ah well, there's always a next time.

to market to market...
the market was a haven for this bohemian queen where she found countless wants at the chatuchak market. mother of pearl jewellery, boho cushion covers and lampshades, huge avant garde art pieces for less than S$500, hippie clothing, summer hats, wooden home decor pieces and dirt cheap weekend chill outfits. how many places can you find great digs at such affordable prices? the positive chatuchak experience surprised her indeed. such a fine memory of them sitting in the middle of the market sipping watermelon freezes with michael buble humming in the background and the cool breeze blowing in their faces. she's definitely making a trip there when the new place is up this september.

to shopping to shopping..
she's always raised brows at people carrying fake products. but before some people start calling her snobbish, pls note that there is a clear distinction between carrying a lookalike and a fake. anyhow that's something that deserves a blog session of its own so she'll leave it as that for now. which brings us to maboonkrong. the palace of counterfeit products from abercrombie, nike to gucci and louis vuittons. that place sure is colourful and entertaining as hell. found this absolute balenciaga leather cum fake fur beauty on the ground floor of MBK. was glad she didn't give in to a S$200 balenciaga counterfeit though she would have gladly paid that same amount without the label cos she loved the design so much. crap.

to makan to makan...
aside from shopping, the food deserved endless praise as well. siam paragon mall's awesome high tech looking foodcourt puts ours to shame, really. if you're looking for authentic thai food at reasonable rates (S$40-$50), pls do make an effort to head over to the blue elephant. trust me, you'll not regret that trip, almost everything on the menu is excellent and the coconut flan dessert was to die for. cyan at the metropolitan hotel was such a BIG DISAPPOINTMENT considering how snazzy it looked (yeah, the prices too). she's never in her life seen a maincourse in a starter size, and to think they waited anxiously over an hour for the food to arrive. no wonder they kept serving bread rolls round the table (though it was really fine bread she must say). dropped by the QBar and Vertigo for some chilling out and goodness, how on earth did QBar get such positive reviews from newsweek as THE bar to visit in bangkok when it turned out sleazy and crappy? for a unique bar experience, try vertigo, this cool open air concept bar sits at the roof of banyan tree. totally rocked.

to knead and to run amok...
if you've got a high tolerance for pain, thai massage it is. went to healthland spa and the thai massage nearly killed us. so we got smarter the next time and opted for the aromatherapy sessions instead. damn good deals at S$15-$30 for two hour massages. she's got to reconsider visiting local spas from now on. she's also discovered the crazy streak in her when she fell head over heels with the tuktuk. those drivers are just mad! hahah, they are exactly what you see in the VISA ads (pierce brosnan and zhang ziyi on a tuktuk in thailand), their aggro yet strangely safe and deft road skills impressed the shit outta her. they've also got swift negotiating skills and far better attitudes than cabbies, and best of all, they get you out of horrendous jam situations and work great as backup hairdryers (jan would know what i mean). here's to the tuktuks!

to the first and last time...
on a fucking budget airline. first no assigned seat numbers unlike virgin blue, checking in took so fucking long that they had no time to look-see around DFS despite arriving at the airport so early, then to discover no fucking sandwiches on board even if you had money to buy them (and ending up eating instant noodles)? what's worse, the bad apple lot of singaporeans seemed to have manifested and gathered on the flight back home. kiasu to the core. bloody annoying. no way is she flying budget ever again. brrrr.

but nonetheless, the trip was once again made perfect with her loved one and great company. to mak, drew, jan, joyce (our chief tuktuk negotiator), neville, gary and mates, thank you guys for the wonderful and unforgettable moments of bangkok.

bee wrote this at 11:04 PM

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homecoming

am back after an exciting 4 day hiatus in dusty bangkok only to come back to the hellhole. will post pics and stories later *heh*

bee wrote this at 9:07 AM

2peekaboos

Friday, January 06, 2006

of lousy days and lost sheep

here she is attempting to write a coherent post despite having severe stomach pains.

so how was your day you ask?

fucked up. i rather not talk about it. whatever. i had to get it off my chest anyway. what makes a bad day?

...taking orders from someone who's an order taker (no questions asked)
...taking the rap for something which you've been trying to alert people on but "unfortunately" fell on deaf ears and became erm, your fault again?
...taking time to play despatch to the other side of the island during peak hours forgoing the many crucial todos in the office only to wind up listening to someone lecture her for twenty minutes for not mothering some brattish people enough ie distribute costumes with XX around the department when she had more important things to rush for? given sufficient time she've done that as well to score some brownie points but there just wasn't any luxury for that
...firefighting under mindless political gunfire instead of doing useful thinking work
...thinking some people are mature and sensible enough to understand that shit does happen and believe in teamwork at the end of the day
...finding herself in a situation where she can't change set behaviours and mindsets, so it's either she leaves OR she withers
...losing her spirit not cos of dark skies faced at work but lack of support from some close people
...ending the day with a curt phone call

the only things that made her smile today were
...phone catchup with celine over lunch
...good lunch at aromas
...silly nonsensical email from client

this is the first time in her entire life where she's not exactly enthusiastic about a friday/holiday cos honestly, it doesn't even feel like one at this point in time. spirit trampled, anger subsiding to resignation, heart turning heavy, gastric returning.

it's been a long week.

yes, the situation's not as tough as what she had before or what many others are going through but her soul is just not made of rock at this point in time. not everybody has a focus point in their life. sometimes they may have had but lost it along the way. sometimes they're born knowing what they want. sometimes they never do find it.

not knowing what you want in life doesn't make you any less than someone who is focused. it simply means you need more help and support meandering your way through hoping someday the light will shine and you'll finally know what your purpose on earth or in life is.

baaa. baaa. baaa.

and the sheep jumped over the cliff.

bee wrote this at 11:09 PM

1peekaboos

Thursday, January 05, 2006

of stomach flus

the nightmarish stomach flu which she's been nursing since sunday evening is finally showing signs of retreat. she's been eating almost everything in sight since waking up this morning from japanese crackers to cedele's wholewheat raisin walnut breadroll. this eating vengeance came about after three days of minimal consumption since the smell and taste of most foods make her puke. the only things left remotely appetising to her were herbal soups (no meat) with rice; DIY porridge in other words. it's great to be back (cross fingers) on track this morning and she hopes this good healthy streak will last through the day cos if it does, it'll mean she's fully recovered. aah, just in time for the BKK trip this weekend, kick ass.

bee wrote this at 8:46 AM

4peekaboos

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

of politics

politics in such a dirty game. as much as it keeps your brain active by playing mindgames, its such a bloody waste of time narrowing and shooting targets when it could be more efficiently spent doing quality stuff. it's no wonder why some people chose to work with boutique and much smaller outfits cos there's less of this to deal with. *grieves* then again, political playgrounds are also where the streetsmarts survive, booksmarts dwindle and brownnosers thrive. and if you know how to play your game VERY well, you could even see yourself jumping a couple of notches when your peers are still struggling to work their way up. but is that what you want really? don't you know that you'll lose your cred by getting way ahead of what you can actually handle? sustainability is crucial, all talk no action is way fucked, but then again, why do these people always emerge champs after the race? its like an evil trend in the industry you know. the slightly more senior person who apparently liked giving new colleagues pep talks about herself and how great she is at work and managing her people. the cheeky person who flirted big time with the client. the brownnoser who receives double promotion. the easy lays who sleep their way up.

hmmm. she's beginning to wonder if she's too naive in wanting to believe in work creds, in proving one's own capabilities through honest work with colleagues, bosses and clients.

perhaps not.

bee wrote this at 9:01 PM

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Monday, January 02, 2006

of being in love

note: close friends would probably understand this post better.

it's funny how she and the other half started off in this relationship.
she, who was just healing after a string of unhealthy pseudo whathaveyous.
he, who has just stepped out of somewhat complicated issues.
they met through a dodgy medium, something which she's always sniggered about with her girlfriends.
and look where they ended up from that chance outing at chijmes and the liquid room?

it's not been an easy path she must say. what started out as a comfortable friendship turned into a very meaningful relationship, and the longest one they both had so far. her close friends have been very supportive, wishing her well and telling her how happy they are for her (finally), that they no longer had to see her put herself through pain with rocky-going-nowhere sort of temporary companion relationships.

she's had a fair share of heydays in her early to mid twenties. though she was happy during some moments, the happiness was never longlived. cos the "man" always had some other girl, be it his other companion, his secret serious other half or some harem of lovers from the little black book. she found the strong woman in her breaking down into some pathetic silly putty, always pulling her hair out wondering where and who he was with (when not with her), crying all the time after he leaves when his phone rings at 2am in the morning, pining for his phone calls and smses 24-7 and obsessing unhealthly if he's lost interest in her.

what a loser she was then. it took her three and a half years of messing around with the mind before she finally decided enough was enough. no more stupid temporary companionships with witty, intelligent, charming fuckers.

she prayed for redemption. she prayed for a good man, a decent honest wholesome person whom she could see herself spending some time with without driving her out of her mind.

and He finally answered her prayers.

He gave her someone different. he gave her someone to love and someone to love her back. it was a tough journey initially, but she's glad it was finally something where two people made a joint effort to see things through. close friends were sharp eyed too, they told her this one was different. they too saw potential and hope and encouraged her to be brave and take steps forward.

and it was the most beautiful journey she had so far.

thank you my dear friends. and thank You for giving me a great gift of love.

here's to 2006 with bright hope and good cheer.

bee wrote this at 12:03 PM

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of her favourite food


oysters, originally uploaded by bee s.

there's nothing absolutely better than having a great meal of big juicy oysters for a special day. had this with mom at fish and co on her birthday a month and half ago. oysters RULE.

bee wrote this at 11:50 AM

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Sunday, January 01, 2006

of 2005

what was the best thing that happened to you in 2005?

aah. what a tough question.

2005's been a mediocre year for her, nothing really awful nor special worth shouting about unlike 2004 (oz PR was approved). here're some flashes of jubilant moments and regrets throughout 2005:

the great
- finally joining a gym
- learning to put others before herself
- moving back into advertising from marcom work
- revisiting old neglected friendships
- understanding the importance of having really really good mates
- surviving and bringing the relationship closer and stronger

the bummers
- not visiting the gym as often as she should, hence putting the exorbitant monthly fee of $118 to waste
- still not patient enough with pseudo master's grumpy cum kuai lan days
- feeling extremely insecure and stressed when she was officially out of work for two weeks
- missing chemistry at work
- gave up the fight keeping an ex good friend

so what was the best thing that happened to you in 2005?

bee wrote this at 6:07 PM

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