A Leisurely Day of Shopping

Happiness - Spoils from a day of shopping. Tangs were having a members sale with discounts and 12% rebate. Funny though none of these are christmas gifts for others!

Udden Kitchen Trolley

From Ikea. Mobile, nice quality, took about 30 minutes to put together. Great for stashing other kitchen appliances.

Green Fingers - A Sudden Flourish

I thought it wasn't going to grow. But it suddenly flourish late last week. It must have been hampered by my 无奈 before and now that I have been 解脱, it is blossoming. They do feel.

Sharp Air Purifier with Humidifier KC-A40E - Fresher Air!

I've been meaning to get a air purifier for the bed room for the longest time. For some odd reason which I still can't figure out, our master bedroom is extremely dusty. I still remember how surprised I was at the amount of dust in the room. I had to clean the vacuum floor brush 3 times before I was done with the room. So I always wanted to buy a purifier for the room so we don't have to breathe in the particle laden air. And it made more sense with the extreme haze this year.

So wala, we just purchased a Sharp KE-A40E air purifier with humidifier. Comes with 3 filters, HEPA, deodoriser and humidifier filter. I love that you don't have to change the filters, the instruction manual explicitly specifies that the filters will last 10 years with proper care. Wonderful, no constant add-on of additional cost, which in this case can sum up to amounts more than the whole unit itself in a few years as HEPA filters run around $100-200.

Ok coming to the operations, simple and clear buttons, no over the top flashing lights nor complex selections. The fastest fan can be noisy but you don't need it unless you are in extreme dusty conditions. I switched it to Auto and the fan was running at low speed the whole night and was practically silent. Also you can switch off the lights on the machine if you don't like lights in the room when you sleep. The humidifier really helps as we sleep in air-con nightly.

At $499 it's expensive, but most HEPA machines are about the range of $400-600. If you are going to buy a purifier, might as well buy one that works well.

Christmas 2013 - Changi Christmas Decor

Much better this year, last year's tree branch inspired fixtures sure bombed. More traditional and festive looking this year.

Christmas 2013 - Presents!

Early Christmas present from Meimei. New Mug, perfect gift for Christmas!

解脱！

我终于解脱了。 这一年半的折磨可害得我好苦啊。我相信因果报应，你们会受到惩罚的。

Now I can concentrate on the coming exams in end Nov and then a break for the holidays. I'll most probably pick up a half year contract after the new year while working through the final project for my MBA. I think something not Accounting related would be fun and the primary criteria would be that it is flexible in terms of hours as my focus would largely be on the project. Once I graduate then I can concentrate on a full time job.

Meimei says I look so much more relax and calm. And she is right, no regrets nor sadness. I did the best I could for them and do not owe anyone anything. I can look back and say I held my end of the bargain. That's why I am so calm and cool about it. Meimei says it is a good thing and happy that it happened. Thank you dear *muach!

Chipped Pedestal

I must have accidentally clip it while vacuuming. Sigh ... I love this Cellini piece.

Bintang

Our favourite beer. Not available in Singapore. Hand carried goodness from Indonesia.

我是个宅男

Meimei has lovingly labeled me a 宅男, "Home Boy".

I like to stay at home. I do like to eat out and groceries shopping but those don't count. To be fair I don't mind going out if there is something to do out there. But there aren't a whole lot of places to sight see nor activities to participate in Singapore. I think the top leisurely activities in Singapore go something like this:

1) Retail therapy

There is just about a mall every 20 kilometres in every direction. The malls are busy on week nights and horribly packed on weekends. You have to shove your way through the crowd to get anywhere. For most Singaporeans, this is the de-facto place to go when you leave the house on a weekend.

2) Food hunt

Singaporeans love their food. We will go out of the way to jump into an hour long queue just to try out a stall critics and reviewers have rave about. Nevermind the wait and arrogant rude hawker, we simply have a "if there is a queue it must be good" mentality that overrides all other logical sense. Personally I'm sometimes guilty of this though I tend to be very specific and more choosy than your average Singaporean on what I would queue for.

3) Catching a movie at the Cineplex

There is a cinema in every neighbourhood in Singapore. Why? Just because that's what people do. Go spend several hours at movies. Top that with the meal and window shopping before and after the show, you have the cluster mess of endless crowds at the malls.

I think this is partly driven by the weather. You are likely to break into oozes of perspiration with every step you take outdoors. It is hot and humid year round and with rising global temperatures, it can only get worst. So people seek out indoor activities where they can enjoy the comforts of air conditioning.

I rather keep away from the crowds. I've never been a people person and having to squeeze through the hordes of people isn't something I look forward to. It's been ages since I've been to a pub or night spot. I think the last time was sometime back 15 years ago?

I much prefer to potter around the house. We spend enough time at work that staying home is a welcomed event. True to my 宅男-ness, I like to clean the house. Some of my favourites are:

1) Vacuum

It's a good workout, not muscle intensive but enough to have me perspire till my whole back is wet. Also the clean floor is something I prize since I don't walk around in a slipper. It just feels wonderful to stroll on the dust free surface. I have my trusty vacuum cleaner to thank for that. It's one of my favourite household equipment.

2) Iron

I iron all my clothes and some of Meimei's. I think this is the most tiring part of laundry but also the most satisfying. A whole row of crisp straight shirts for 2 weeks, nice.

3) Tidying Meimei's table

This is like a mini treasure hunt. You never know what you may find. Sometimes you find little trinkets and scratch your head wondering what they do. Other times you find 'rubbish' hidden in weird corners and crevasses. I try to do this when Meimei is not around and always with a plastic bag in hand to throw the many receipts, empty boxes, cloth tags etc that litter the table.

So with so much to do and only 2 short days in the weekend, we pretty much filled it with TV and simple chores. Not an exciting life but I'm contented.

I Am A Couch Potato

I like lazing in front of the TV. It brings me into another world full of charm, laughter, suspense and intrigue. I would have preferred to sit around the dining table to chat but conversations are not my strength. I tend to listen, and mostly to interesting topics or I fade away. Hence my affinity to the TV where you are bombarded with sights and colours you would never see in the little dot Singapore.

Thanks to the internet subscription package we receive a basic selection of cable channels 'free' and that expanded the entertaining programmes. You can never catch every show you want to watch. There isn't enough time!

I also like to watch movies at home. Until recently I would only buy the ones on sale but as I did some quick calculations the normal priced ones are also affordable. I mean going to the movie theatre would set us back by at least $10 a ticket, add on parking, popcorn, drinks etc and it is more expensive. Plus the stress of getting a good seat, getting there on time, the wait for the show to start, the inflexible show hours and only getting to watch it once, no replay- ability. Watching in the comforts of home wins every factor of consideration. So I have started to purchase latest DVD on release.

And to track the ever-expanding DVD collection, I've setup a new page to outline the title I already own, and add in a touch of pointless feedback to each.

So with TV and DVDs I never have to leave home for entertainment!

Bottling the Seasons

Interesting bottles depicting the 4 seasons. Add appropriate spice to represent each season.

Home Cooked Goodness - Fish Paste Brinjal

Always like Brinjal, love the texture and sweetness. Couple this with a salty fish paste brings out the smoothness of the vegetable.

Fish Paste Brinjal in Oyster Sauce

This was a weekend of cooking as Meimei was sick. It gave me the impetus to finally put on a chef's hat and start my culinary cooking journey.

Yesterday I cooked fish soup, teriyaki gindara and red grouper, and threw together a fresh salad for vege intake. Today I went with one of the favourites in Mama's repertoire. I've been meaning to cook this for the last year.

We bought the brinjal and fish paste a few months ago but wasted it eventually as we didn't get to cooking it. We threw the ingredients after they went bad after a month.

We didn't make the same wasteful attempt this time. Today we made a wonderful batch of fish paste bringjal in oyster sauce. The salty paste eaten together with the sweet and fullness of the brinjal is really something to savour. I have to declare that it was success on the first try.

Vase 303 - 2013 13th Oct

Simple purple elegance. The tiny flowers backdrop give the piece an appealing contrast.