Babies Galore!

From top to bottom, done in true Indian style: Baby Lucas s/o Mdm Stephanie Tham, Baby Tiffany d/o Mr Melvin Tan, Baby Caleb s/o Mdm Sharon Fong and Baby Isaac n(nephew)/o Mr P

Aren't the babies cute? I never could imagine myself a mother, and honestly, I still can't. But over the weekend, as Baby Caleb and Baby Tiffany set eyes on each other, I thought, how nice it would be if my own baby could join in the fun! Maybe cooing over all the adorable toddlers have awakened my maternal instincts. And it has also made me realise that I am now 2 phases behind my peers.

Up to the point when I started working, I never felt the disparity. Although I've known my friends at different points of my life, we've always moved together, from P1 to P6, S1 to S4, J1 to J2, U1 to U3. Hardly anyone I knew ever got left behind, and even if they were, I never saw them as being different from myself.

The situation has since changed. Most of my friends have upgraded themselves from "Singlehood" into "Marriagehood" and, appallingly for some, "Parenthood". Parenthood, the word itself scares me shitless. Though I turn 28 this year, I could scarcely consider myself an adult. I cringe and complain when I have to do "adult" stuff, such as getting a loan for my house. I'm still a "Toys R' Us" kid at heart, and I still yearn for that re-assuring pat on the head that tells me things are dandy or I'm doing good. Which makes me wonder how I could ever be a parent to anyone?

Kudos to all the mamas and papas out there!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year for me this year, was an understated affair. My first day was spent wandering along Jonker Street in Malacca searching for our favourite chicken rice balls for lunch. Sadly, the "original" shop under the bridge was closed and we had to settle for a copy-cat.

Despite opting for the pricey "Kampong" chicken ($50 ringgit, mind you), we were still a tad disappointed. The chicken, for one, did not have the aromatic fragrance that would make you drool before you can even shove a chunk into your mouth. The meat was slightly tough and the rice balls were too salty. Nonetheless, a delicious and satisfying meal for 5 hungry travellers!

Couldn't say the same for dinner, unfortunately. The service sucked and the food was mediocre. But I had fun catching up with my relatives!

Disgusted parents looking on while greedy brother displays his voracious appetite!

Chanting auspicious greetings whilst tossing "Yee Sang" to herald in the New Year!

Spending time with granny dearest!

xxxxx

P came to visit on Monday and off we packed into our favourite restaurant, TGI Fridays, for dinner!

Daddy and Mommy :)

Posing brudders!

"I'm not sharing my margarita!"

A Bad Trip

I was rushing down to Sushi Tei @ Taka after work on Friday to meet the gals. To escape the madding crowd, I exited from the train station and walked from the Wisma taxi stand to Taka, picking up pace so that the gals would not be kept waiting too long.

Being the multi-tasker that every Singaporean is conditioned to be, I was busy reading and sending SMSes as I strode purposefully towards my destination. So absorbed was I that I did not notice a black chain in my path that sent me, my skirt and handphone flying! My mind blacked out momentarily and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on all fours in the middle of the road, not just any road, but ORCHARD ROAD! The fall left me feeling stunned and my initial instinct was to cry, as my nervous system picked up the signals from the fresh scrapes, cuts and bruises. But with an Indian man standing behind me plus a busload of people staring at me from the other side of the road, I was more intent on picking myself up and looking unfazzled by the fall. Of course, with messy hair and a raw and bloody knee, who was I kidding?

New challenge

2 days into the new job. So far, it's been a whirlwind of faces, names, emotions and expectations. Truth be told, I have yet to recognise more than 10 faces or commit to memory more than 10 names of my new colleagues. More appalling is the fact that the 10 names and faces I can remember belong mostly to either ex-colleagues or acquaintances from yonks ago. Which goes to show that I have a long-term memory but not a short-term one. I must be getting old and senile.....

I'm sure most of you would agree that it is rather tiresome to say hi and make small talk with people whom you know are not going to make a difference in your life. But life leaves you with little choice. Seems rather jaded and anti-social to say this, I know. As we go through the daily grind, how many farces do we have to put up each day? It struck me especially hard after I met 2 of my ex-colleagues for lunch. With them, I need not pretend to be another person and I can talk my heart out without reservations. Boy, do I miss them *sob*

My emotions also went through a tumultous time, suffering mostly from a case of the nerves. Apprehensive about whether I can step up to the job and prove my worth, given the change in my job scope. Gee...why am I even putting so much pressure on myself at this point? I'm only into my 2nd day at work?!?! I too, find myself quite ridiculous.

Am I ready to face up to the challenges ahead of me? I certainly hope so. One of the biggest blunder a person can make is to have high expectations - of himself and the people around him. My friend Sinner subscribes to this equation: "No expectation = No disappointment". Could that be the key ingredient to happiness?

3 more fell out!

You will not believe this, but last Saturday, I dreamt that another 3 of my teeth fell out! Some of you might think this is funny and heyy, go ahead and laugh at my expense man, evil fellas...but when your teeth fall out for real next time, you ain't gonna get any sympathy from me! Hmmmpphhh!

Startled by this uncanny coincidence, I decided to test out a theory from the dream interpretation (See blog entry: Interpretation of Dream - http://jellbellfrhell.blogspot.com/2007/01/interpretation-of-dream.html). Motivated by the allure of a windfall, I headed straight for the 4D shop after tennis on Sunday and bought 4343, 0043 and 4300 - $1 big each. Initially, I thought 4343 alone was good enough, but the very masterful and imaginative P threw up 2 other alternatives (and he might have come up with more permutations had I not stopped him in time!)

Sadly, none of the numbers made it. As always, my gambling luck stinks and the only way I'm ever going to get rich is to slog my butt off! :(

The Healthy Tai-Tai

I was utterly dismayed when realization hit me that my 1-week break is almost over. Many of you might be wondering what I've been up to for the past couple of days. Here's a lowdown of my activities for the week:-

Monday: Woke up to a late lunch and met my ex-roommate from uni for dinner.

Tuesday: Pre-medical check-up and gym in the morning, met Hay for sashimi and sushi for lunch, followed by movie: The Painted Veil (Rated: 3.5/5)

Wednesday: Shopping and met my secondary school cum JC friend for dinner @ New York New York. Had a mushroom sandwich and salad, in line with the "Eat Healthy" campaign.

Thursday: Gym in the morning, lunch with an ex-colleague and met P for martinis and filet mignon @ Morton's in the evening. Yum yum!

I would also add that on all days, I managed to squeeze in a bit of shopping here and there. You see, what I've been up to is basically to lead the life of a tai-tai. Except I don't play mahjong but go to the gym instead. Haha I have this comic visual of a tai-tai, with bee-hive hair and heavy makeup, sweating it out at the gym and getting her mascara-laced lashes all smudgy. I guess you could call me a new-age tai-tai! :o)

I could really get used to this lifestyle, you know.....