Durians! 2012

It's durian season and we've been on a binge recently. Meimei's colleague has a contact at the popular durian stall up at Upper Serangoon Road which specialises in the Mao Shan Wang variety. I love this breed, sweet with tingle of bitterness and all so creamy! We would literally drive down every time there was a deal. Even then it wasn't cheap but it was worth it. Typically we would spend $60-70 each trip. We must have made 2 trips a week recently haha. Well it's not going to last too long since the season can be short at about 2 months. So we are enjoying as much as we can on this wonderful King of Fruits.

Aircon Mayhem

The air-con in the master bedroom leaks. Could be due to the constant daily use or just plain bad luck that the installation was not done properly. Over the past year we had the maintenance folks come look at it several times and invested in steam cleaning with hopes that it will solve the problem.

Recently it started dripping badly and especially so in the wee hours of the morning between 4-6am. We would hear sounds of *droop droop droop every few seconds. It's driving us mad! We had to put a pail at the spot and even then the maddening noise is preventing sleep. I could cover my ears with pillow but I know the sound is keeping Meimei awake. She is a light sleeper and this must be excruciating for her.

So eventually we decided that we want this solved once and for all. This is not the first problem we had with our air-con. About a year back we had to re-lay the whole wiring as the initial installer used inferior wires which burnt off. That cost us $300. This time, we decided to spend $1.2K to redo the entire insulation and piping. Have a look at the picture, the left is the insulation we are changing to and the right one is the lousy cheap-skate version used. Basically the initial installer used all the crappy materials they could get their hands on. And the price isn't even cheaper than other place! 

The new installers had to tear off some of the false ceiling and casings in the rooms and even drilled bigger holes through some of the walls to fit the new insulation. The place is now in a mess. We'll going to have to engage a contractor to put up the false ceiling and concealments again. We are crossing our fingers the air-con doesn't give us any more problems ... We had put up with enough anguish, frustration and sleepless nights.

I Quit!! . . . 4th Time Lucky?

Yes I quit. For the 4th time. Since I'm gonna zombie for the next month while I serve out my notice, why don't I put this time to good use? 

Meimei has been away to Spain for holiday with Sis and Mama since last week. So I might as well start now, maybe this would be the Anniversary gift for Meimei. She has longed for me to stop smoking. Though I must say she is being very very patient with me. And I truly thank her for that. Most wives would nag and nag at their husbands, but not Meimei. She would tell me to smoke less in her good natured way and frown when I grin and sneak off to smoke. She would never have that menace or resentment, just a quick show of disappointment and then with a simple smile move on. *kiss thank you ... You don't know how much that means to me.

So yeah I'm trying for the 4th time now. Hopefully I won't have stuffy dripping nose, headaches, cold sweats, etc like the previous times.

Getting Used To MacMac

Maybe it's just me but I'm having a hard time getting used to the Lion's keyboard shortcut. It's as though it's non-existant. Going through various web forums you'll see many gripes on Mac's over reliance on the mouse. Yes Lion OS is build intuitively where almost every action is just a mouse click away. But can using a mouse be faster than a simple keyboard shortcut key? Never in a million years. Naturally Apple fanatics will retort that this is the Mac OS we are using, and not the Windows PC. And Windows copied much of Mac's interface. But that's another topic all together. Back to the shortcuts, it seems Mac OS never had a cut and paste shortcut function key until Lion. Goodness .... you are literally forced to use the mouse to drag a file from one folder location to another if you are using an earlier OS version.

The other inconvenience I'm facing is the different shortcut keys for MSOffice applications. Mac MSOffice have different shortcut keys so a simple edit F2 function in PC's MSExcel is now replaced by Ctrl-U in Mac. So I had to fumble each time I try to edit a cell in Excel. Let's face it, if you are working you are more likely to be using a Windows version MSOffice application than you would a Mac.

So now every time I have to consciously remind myself which OS I'm working on so that I get the right shortcuts. Hopefully I'll get to the immediate level of using Lion. For now, I have resorted to adding a Safari link on Office keyboard shortcuts for reference http://mac2.microsoft.com/help/office/12/en-us/excel/item/64766a97-9258-4f78-9feb-2742ce769041. I'm still looking out for a good list for OS shortcuts ...

Oldie Rock?

I was going through Meimei's iTunes songs today and found a number of rock songs from All Stars United, Ataris, Green Day etc. She's always been the oldies and cutie songs fan and I never pegged her for rock. I found out later that it is one of her phases, ala dreamed of being an assassin phase. Hehe silly girl. I placed 1 star rating for all of rock ones ... I just don't get it haha.

New Flipflops

Was at Tan Tock Seng Hospital today and dropped by Novena mall as it was along the way. I've been wanting to get this flipflop from a store there for sometime now. It didn't have a mango color in my size anymore and so I went with another design. Turns out, it looks pretty good and it kinda matches the bermudas I like to wear.

Starving At Work

Well it has to come to this again. I've just tendered my resignation. And this is the first time I've had to serve a 2 months notice *yawn. The best part is that my boss refuses to allow me to clear my leave. Seriously ... if you need me to handover things nicely to the replacement, you could at least make me happy by letting me take leave yah? If I have to attend interviews, how am I going to go without being able to take leave? So yeah, stupid decision ... well you see why I had to leave. 

The other thing was that I was only having one meal a day. There isn't any eateries nearby and driving out takes roughly 15 minutes to get to a hawker center. So I've been on a one meal diet for the past few months and basically surviving on cigarettes when I get hungry. The lack of food is making me very depressed. Cramped in a bomb shelter room without windows, no breakfast or lunch, crappy colleagues, idiotic boss. Nah, enough is enough. 

I've delivered what I was hired for, which is to managed the outsourcing of 3 Accountant roles. They hate my guts for it, but hey, I wasn't the one who made the decision to have you made redundant. Why don't you grow up and take it out on the people responsible, I'm only a facilitator. Being nasty to me isn't going to save your job. You don't deserve the pay you are getting with the elementary skill sets and technical knowledge. Live with it, that's how the world is, our neighbours are becoming more educated and they are cheaper. Think the 80s when we took over jobs from the West, it's our turn now.

So yeah, I've done everything above board. Did my part and lived up to my personal integrity. So off I go now for the next challenge ... Though these 2 months are going to be boring haha. This is the first time I've signed a contract that had a 2 month notice and I'll never do it again. :-)

Yum Cha Dim Sum Delivery

First there was the pizza delivery, then came the fast food burger deliveries and fried chickens. Now there is Dim Sum delivery. It may have been around for some time but I've only found out about it in recent months. Smart move by the Yum Cha chain seeing that there may not be any other rivals in the Dim Sum category, though it would have to compete with others in the overall home delivery arena.

And judging by the standard of the home delivery Dim Sum, I must say the delivery is notching up pluses for its brand. The quality and taste of the Dim Sum are good, and I especially like the Fried Mee Sua. Oh and the Crispy Red Bean Paste with Banana is to die for.

This has just gone into my list of favorite restaurants, even if it was just the home delivery option.

Another iToy!!

Meimei just bought me a new iToy!! A Macbook Pro 13" hehehe I love it I love it I love it!! Thank you dear *kiss

Finally I can replace my old desktop PC. Though i'm not going to be able to play PC games but I haven't been really gaming anyways since I left FFXI. So yeah, this works perfectly. A portable machine I can bring to bed to blog ... oops errrr to use for studying *looks around. Yup, Meimei bought it for me to work on my MBA. And yes I'll do that, but I can also use it for other stuff yah?

Her First Branded Bag

She came back last night with big frowns and was close to tears as she described how the strap on her Calvin Klein bag had torn. She bought the bag just a few months ago on her December Las Vegas trip. I can tell from her eyes she loved the bag very much and sense the immense sadness in her heart. Oh I can feel it too.

That night I 'whatsapp' Joey and Agnes and begged them to find if DFS carried something similar to the CK. Eventually after much discussion we set out to meet the next night to shop for a new bag for Meimei. It just so happens Meimei had to attend an office dinner the same night too. So the three of us plotted on the shopping trip secretly. Meimei tried to find out what I was up to in bed but I couldn't let the cat out of the bag could I. She was all "why is Boyboy chatting with someone? He doesn't usually go messaging anyone at night ..." Heheh.

So I picked the girls up from office the next day and off we go. We covered practically almost all the boutique in the DFS Scotts store. There were several close shaves as Joey and Agnes each were tempted by bags from Prada. After an hour and a half I finally had a short list of a classic Louis Vuitton Tote, a Burberry Bag and a Gucci treated leather bag.

I knew Meimei's dream is to get her hands on a LV bag. But I think it's a little too common plus the classic would make Meimei look 'mature'. It was still the number one choice as we browse through several other brands like Prada, Bottega, Marc Jacobs, Coach etc.

Finally as we rounded up the boutiques and were making our way back to LV, I noticed a Fendi store. Hey we've not been there let's take a look. Nah nothing much in there I thought as I began to walk out. Then suddenly Joey called out to me, 'Hey this looks like something that W would like', 'Bling bling yah just like her CK bag'. Ka-ching! Well the rest were all the modeling, comparison and 'hum and hor' as we deliberated this against the LV. But really, this looks so much better than the classic LV.

And so was to be Meimei's first Branded bag. It's very subjective as to what is branded. Any bag with a brand name is branded yah? But well, this is to be her first 'LV category' branded bag. I can still remember her grin when I presented it to her and her words 'I thought you said you will never ever buy a branded bag because you know the cost?' Yes yes, I said that, but I didn't bank on my heart being melted by puppy eyes. *kiss I did it for love.

Pong! Pong! Hu!

Over the past few months I've been addicted to a game. It's not a passing infatuation like the Tower Defense or Pet growing games. I did play FF3 for a while on the Ipad but stop when I completed the game.

The one game that has me hooked all this while is a iPhone Mahjong Game - 麻将天下. You won't find this in most Apple Stores, I think it's only available in the Hong Kong one. It's quite basic without all the fanfare graphics and distractions and solely focuses your attention to the game. As with the mahjong game itself, you can play it over and over again without ever being bored of it.

So, I've been playing Mahjong whenever I'm bored or waiting, say for food at a restaurant. I even play it when I'm in the potty since the iPhone has now replaced newspapers and magazines as the 'to-bring' item. Hey, I choose between reading the news over the phone or play games on it can't I.

So well, being the cheapskate that I am, I don't really like to gamble on the real game, I'm glad Meimei downloaded this on my phone. Now the challenge is to win on those big big combinations, which would never happen in my lifetime if it were the real thing.

The Mentalist

We love this TV series. Meimei is in love with Patrick Jane, the lead character in the The Mentalist series. The quirky and suave way he goes about solving crimes is so interesting and different from the other crimes series. We are into the 4th season now and hoping for many more to come.

If you haven't seen this series before, you are truly missing out on one of the best. Be sure to start from the first as the storyline plays from season to season.

NS Charge

I didn't take my IPPT last year, so I'm charged again for failing to perform my civic duty as a member of the Singapore Armed Forces. This is the 2nd time I'm being called to attend a 'hearing'. Hey, hello ... do you think we have time to be doing all this. 

We have to compete in the workforce with so many other 'Foreign Talent' (or Foreign Trash) who do not have to spend time off work to waste their time in Reservist. The rich folks can spend a couple thousands and obtain medical certificates excusing them for anything from grass, physical perspiration to the freaking sun. The rest of us have to spend 3 weeks a year rotting in a desolated camp while feeding the entire mosquito population in the forest.

So yah, sometimes we just don't have the time to go physical training and pass the IPPT. I've never passed it outside of the 2 and half years in full time National Service. And now that my unit is standing down and I'm been send to a Brigade Unit, it looks like I'm gonna have to come time and again to answer charges, up till 40. Whatever, here's $50. And get off my back, I have work and contribute to the Singapore economy.

Jakarta 2012 - 20th to 24th Jan

Almost every company were giving their staff half day on Friday as the first day of CNY was on a Monday. We flew into Jakarta on a 8pm flight. We had a quick A&W dinner and Papa came to pick us up at the airport. CNY is not an official holiday in Indonesia so Papa had to work. He left us the car and driver so we could go around the malls. So we spend the next few days going around Jakarta in its eternal jams and horrid highways to have our meals. There were of course several highlights.

21st Jan - Lunch was at the big prawn place again. The prawns have strung, most probably due to over harvesting. Dinner's at 4th Uncle's Japanese restaurant, it's a yearly tradition. It's my first though and the dinner is really good.

22nd Jan - We are at 1st Uncle's home for dinner tonight. Mama had a hand in the cooking, so that guaranteed top quality dishes. I've always joked that Mama could open her own restaurant with her skills and recipes.

23rd Jan - We are at 4th Uncle's home today. It's a huge bungalow, complete with it's own garage, mailrooms, swimming pool etc. It really is a beautiful house. Meimei had a great time with playing with their 2 dogs.

Going back on 24th. I really liked coming to Jakarta for CNY. I can't say I would like to do this every year. I would like to go visit relatives with Dad and Mum too. I suppose we have to make the alternative year arrangement work. :-)

Early CNY Dinner 2012

I had this agreement with Meimei that we will try to alternate our CNY celebration between Singapore and Jakarta. So last year we spent the first day of CNY visiting relatives and then flew to Jakarta after. This year we are skipping CNY in Singapore and going to Jakarta instead. So we decided to have an early CNY dinner with Dad, Mum, Bro and Sis-In-Law at our place. 

Thankfully Dad and Mum were ok with the idea. We were afraid one of them would be unhappy about it. If they did, they didn't show it. So we had them over for a steamboat lunch. I specially peeled the shell off the prawns as Dad isn't the type to do it himself. I wonder what the arrangement would be like next year.