2007 is here!

My New Year resolutions

1. To go to the gym more often

2. To be more patient and tolerant

3. To save more money

4. To spend more time with my family

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!

The strategy to make you come back for more!

Can't believe my facial took 2.5 hours today...the longest ever! But you know what, I've got nice, clear, blemish-free skin (at least for now), plus perfectly-arched eyebrows! The lady who attended to me was damn "lao jiao". I think she could do a facial with her eyes closed.

As with all facial therapists, these people can never heap out positive comments whole-heartedly, without some sort of a qualification.

Facial therapist (FT): Wow, your complexion looks good! Don't think I have to do much squeezing today.

Me: *mutters* Thanks!

FT: But I feel many small pimples beneath your skin that may pop out at any moment. Have you been drinking water?

Bummer! See what I mean? Make me happy, then make me sad so that I'll come back for more!

Oh the weather outside is frightful

Best place to be: In bed tucked under layers of blanket right up to the neck / Under a hot shower

Best thing to do : Nap, sleep and snooze (wait, aren't they all the same thing!?) / Do nothing

Best food : French loaf dipped in spicy curry chicken to give your stomach that kick! / My very own spaghetti bolognaise (recommended for both rain and shine!)

Best drink : Double-boiled soup (any kind!) / Hot chinese tea

Best music : Jazz / Lullabies

Worst place to be : Out in the rain and cold (brrrrrr!) / My office

Worst thing to do : Work / For once, I'll have to say shop :(

Worst food : Cold salad / Raw food (unless taken with some alcohol..hic!)

Worst drink : Anything from the fridge / Cold soup

Worst music : Trance / Techno

I must be running out of things to blog, or the cold must have frozen my mind! I love this frightful weather!!

A logcake too many??

When I was a little girl, I always bugged my dad to buy me a logcake for Christmas. I always imagined the logcake to be the house of Santa, his reindeers and the random cute characters you see resting on the log. My dad, being the all-practical father who believed that logcakes are no different from normal cakes but a lot more expensive, never bought me one.

The magic of a logcake stayed with me until I started having my own parties. It was then that I realised that my dad is right (as he always is). But I still think logcakes are oh-so-pretty!! Check out the ones I had this Christmas....

Logcake 3 wins hands-down in the "2006 Christmas Logcake Competition". It's dark chocolate cake with layers of rich, gooey, dark chocolate in between. Heavenly!

Ironies

IRONY 1 : The new, swanky office

Looks darn cool, right? Did I mention that we have a karaoke room and a pool table? Alrite, stop drooling with envy, 'coz despite the cool amenities, I still think our office sucks. 'Coz they gave me a FREAKING LOUSY seat in the office. It's right outside the photocopy room and next to a door. So I get the hear the photocopier warm-up every morning and the shredder ravage pieces of paper fed into it. And rude, noisy people banging around looking for paper or see the photocopier room as a nice, cosy place to chit-chat and giggle.

And if that's not enough disturbances, the movers and workers hammer on my door constantly. Excuse me, I'm not your personal butler but the noise affects me badly, so out of the goodness of my heart I open the door for you and leave it ajar 'coz I know you have a job to do. But instead of gratitude, these people reward me by singing in the corridor outside at the top of their voices. And mind you, they don't exactly sound like nightingales! Hey misters, the karaoke room is just downstairs, so why don't you bring your melodious voices there instead?!?!?!

I haven't gotten past a day since I moved to the new office without a splitting headache. My partner has "kindly" offered to relocate me but gave me 2 less-than-pleasant alternatives (I shall not elaborate on this one, ask me if you really want to know).

So I chose to remain where I am.

IRONY 2 : View from my office

On the right.....

On the left.....

xxxxx

On a happier note, I caught Charlotte's Web on Friday and enjoyed it tremendously. It was a sweet and touching portrayal of friendship between a pink pig and an ugly-looking spider. It reduced my guy friend to tears, so it must be good, ya?

Christmas is finally here!! 2nd Christmas with Mr. P and still counting! :)

The highly coveted chair

Meet the OSIM iMedic PRO.

Hay and I have been contemplating this gift for my parents and finally decided to pool our $$ together to purchase this baby. We were really excited 'coz we knew our parents would be totally bowled over by this gift and we couldn't wait to see the look of surprise/elation/delight on their faces!

So we planned and plotted, and finally presented the gift (in the form of brochure and invoice) to my Mom before dinner. We watched her expression closely, awaiting the much-anticipated response. But her reaction was something that we did not quite expect.

MOM: "But we bought the chair too!"

I stared at my brother in dismay. How coincidental can things get?! Buying the chair has always been on the cards, but who would have expected us both to get the chair at the same time! Bummer! Instead of words of thanks, we were hollered at for not discussing this expensive and important purchase with them first.

ME: "But Mom, it was meant to be a surprise!"

Sadly, one does not get credit for the effort put into creating a surprise. Surprises, unfortunately, are considered impulsive, whimsical, unnecessary and in this case, somewhat expensive.

To look on the bright side of things, we finally own that chair! I'm really looking forward to hours of pure, indulgent massage for my tired body. Ooohh yeah, baby, yea!!!

Freak show

When I saw this picture, I stared at it for a good 10 minutes. What the hell is it? And don't you be a smart aleck and say "But you took this picture!", 'coz I didn't! Initially, I thought it was just a regular bird-next-door, but why would anyone take a picture of a plain jane? And the realization struck me: it's a WHITE CROW!

Everyone knows I am terrified of crows, regardless of colour, though I can't imagine anyone taking a blue crow seriously. If you didn't, time for you to sit up and listen. 'Coz these birds are smart. I once saw this Japanese programme of a crow dropping a walnut onto the zebra crossing so that the cars can run over and crack open the nut. When the pedestrian light turned green and the cars stopped, this conniving bird flew down and pecked its way through the broken pieces. Is that smart or what? Man, I was horror-struck!

I've always been scared of birds, but the ultimatum came when I was attacked by a black crow 3-4 years ago. AND I DID NOT PROVOKE THAT DARN BIRD! I ran all the way home while that bird hovered over me and swooped down to peck my head as and when its fancy was tickled. By the time I got home, I was a nervous wreck! Of course, I swore vengeance against crows and gave AVA a friendly call to invite them down to my neighbourhood for a shoot-out session.

Anyway, I digress. Here's another freak picture I found. Looks like my friend's fat cat Punch split into two....hmmmm. I hope that cat is a stuffed one and not alive and jumping around in the glass box. Looks pretty real, huh?

Late night blogging

An interesting photo, starring "The toothpick man", "The girl who stared at my breast", "The visually violated girl" and "The girl with the real assets".

Proper blogging will resume this weekend, hopefully! Good night! :)

3rd time lucky

Annual D&D at Swissotel hotel last Thursday. Lo and behold, guess who walked away with a prize for the lucky draw again? Yeah, it's none other than moi :)

Call it coincidence, but I've been really lucky. My 6th D&D, my 3rd prize...it's been 1 every alternate year. I've been bragging to all my colleagues that this is my year to win again, and it would have been truly embarrassing if I didn't. Unfortunately, the prize I won was nothing to brag about - 4 Shaw movie tickets....a downgrade from the Enzer mini hi-fi I won in 2004, and the LG vacuum cleaner I won in 2002. But useful nonetheless, wouldn't you say?

The theme this year was "Red carpet". I was pretty impressed that some of my colleagues went through great lengths to have their make-up and hair professionally done, and most came decked in their best! Pictures to come later!!

Oh, did I mention that the filet mignon I was stuffing myself with at Mortons prior to the D&D killed my appetite for dinner? But they were so succulent and yummy! I wanna go back to try the chocolate martini soon!