People come, people go

Today is the last day of Joyce's career with 01 Computer. Joyce, as you all may remember, is my immediate boss, and now, also a friend and a confidante.

She is the mad woman who thinks that dressing up as Mickey Mouse to a formal Dinner and Dance is a good idea.

She is a crazy go getter who championed and saw to fruition many new projects and ideas that changed the way we do business.

She is the consummate working mother who feels guilty about leaving her two boys to the maid in one breath, and in the next is brainstorming ideas that will tie her even longer to the office desk.

She is the perfect boss, whose leadership and guidance are so gentle, that you walk away thinking it was your own idea.

She is the model employee, who thinks for the company, even when it means she takes the fall.

And she is the friend, whom you can trust with secrets, giggle with over lunch and cry to when needed.

Thanks Joyce, for being all those things. I am jealous of the people who will get you. And feel sorry for those who don't know what they lost.

Pepper Lunch - Restaurant Review

For some reason, I keep being convinced to eat at restaurants that go again everything that I beleive a restaurant should be.

People go out to eat because 1) They want to enjoy the luxury of someone else cooking for them and 2) because they want to eat something they cannot reproduce themselves. Among other reasons.

So places whose "concept" is food that you cook yourself just does not compute. What is so thrilling about stirring around some raw meat on a hot plate, adding your own sauce and getting a facial steaming from the result of said stirring? All the things you tried to avoid my going out to eat!

Ok, enough of a rant, this post was supposed to be about Pepper Lunch, the newest range of cook it yourself places to come to Singapore. A Japanese franchise, Pepper Lunch is a small fast food concept where u order at the counter, they served u your dish, which you then proceed to cook through, season and eat.


Yawn. Been there, done that. It's nice that its steak, good steak at that, juicy and as rare or as cooked as you want it. And its nice that they have a few differentiators like their brown sauce (like Hp Sauce meets BBQ) and a garlic soya sauce which adds a nice kick.


What I really liked though was the ice cream. Yes, it was regular soft serve. But what made it extra special was thick molassy syrup that not only laced the top but thickly coated the bottom of the cup. This "gula melaka" like syrup was the perfect way to finish a meal, any meal, even one as mediocre as the ones at Pepper Lunch.

Go for the ice cream. It's good!

For Jason

Goodbye Jason. I hope you are in the safe arms of our Father.

A rose by any other name

PERFUMES FOR SALE!

The ever enterprising and hardworking ah-neh is at it again, this time peddling sweet smelling fragrances to all his friends and enemies alike.

If some of you feel it's time to get the olfactory help that you so desperately need, please click on the above picture. He will hook you up.

Hair Dos

I finally found what what rebonding means.

It stands for rearranging the hair bond, cleverly shortened to rebond. The process involves using chemicals to loosen the way your hair is bonded (which is what gives it its natural texture) and giving it a new arrangement, ie a straightened bond.

The reason I know so much about this now, is because I finally succumbed to the temptation and had it done.

Xavier at the Jurong East branch of Kimage was an extremely well informed and professional hair stylist. He was quick to tell me about the pros AND cons of rebonding. Throughout the procedure (which took 3.5 hours!!!), he was telling me about how to take care of my new hairstyle and how it would change over time.

If you have to get your hair rebonded, I strongly recommend Xavier. After years of being treated like an imbecile by my previous hair stylist, its nice to be consulted and listened to. And to not be told to, "Just sit down and be quiet ok? I know what you need!" Ppfffft.

Batam View

The sunset view from our room balcony at Harris Resort.
For more pictures, click here.

Movie Review - Ghost Rider

Going out on Chinese New Year Eve is fanstastic. The streets are empty, and also many businessed are closed, many others like TCC and McDonalds are open. And of course the cinemas are open.

That's how Rhordan, Yeronn, Dalton and I ended up watching the 12:10 showing of 'Ghost Rider'. The other movie showing at that time was Notes on a Scandal, which neither of the children were keen on seeing. So Marvel mayhem it was.

If you are really into either Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendes, good computer graphics, or all three, then you may find this movie quite entertaining. Don't expect any deep social or moral lessons, a la Spiderman, or deep rooted character development.

The story is about stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze who gives up his soul to become a vigilante, to fight against power hungry Blackheart, the son of the devil himself. Blackheart and his gang of weird fallen angels provided for much enjoyed creepy fight scenes and great CG.

The stoy of course, is based on the comic character created by the inimitable Stan Lee, who is one of the executive producers of the movie. Nicholas Cage who got into serious shape for this role (we were wondering if his 6 pack was CGI-ed as well!), did justice to the character of Blaze, with his long expressive fingers pointing out villains. Even though half the time, he is portrayed as a blazing skull, fans of Nick wil still get to see enough of him.

The Eva Mendes character, however, was kept shallow and "damsel in distress". Playing Roxanne, Johnny's love interest, Eva was constantly dresed in tight fitting, boob revealing blouses that did great justice to her supple body, but not to her reputation as a skilled actress.

Restaurant Review - Zingdo

Everytime I walk through Jurong Entertainement Centre, I notice this fiery, hot corner that looked like it was on well, fire.

Yesterday, hanging around with Hui Min, we decided to check it out. Turns out it was Zingdo, a Korean fast food restaurant, managed by the same people who run Seoul Garden.

Basically I think any restuarant that requires you to cook your own food is a rip off. So usually steamboat and such is not on my food shortlist. But this place had other cooked options as well, like bimibap and noodles, so went in at sat down.

Their decor is strange. Orange floor. Orange ceiling. Orange walls.Orange chairs and tables. ALL in the same shade. My guess is, they got the paint free and lots of it. All in all, its like sitting in an oven. espcially with the wisps of steam rising from your meal.

The service, however, is exceptional and fast. Not only do they bring you your food within 10 mins of order, but they also give you detailed instructions on how to cook your meal on the hot plate. (I still think since they are the experts, they should have just done it for us in the kitchen, but again, that's just me.)


The food was - ok lah, as we say here. Nothing to write home about. Bulgogi chicken/ beef cooked in a mainly soya sauce marinade, served with veggies and short grained rice. They also had this thing called kimchi soup, which was basically soup with chilli oil floating on top and unidentfied cabbagy things at the bottom.

Was it good? No.
Was it edible? Yes.
Worth $8.90? No, I rather go to the Food Horizon food court and eat the Teppanyaki Black Pepper Chicken" for $4.50.

Go only if you are stuck in the area and will DIE if you don't have Korean food.

"What?", "Yes?" and "Yes, sir?"

My brother works as a project engineer. Recently he went to have a cup of coffee at a nearby coffeeshop with his Myanma site worker, Tun, and his German project consultant,Hans. Tun was the first one up.

Coffeeshop girl: What?
Tun: 1 coffee please.

Tun takes his coffee and moves aside. My brother is next.

Coffeeshop girl: Yes?
Brother: 1 coffee please.

Brother takes his coffee and stands aside.
Hans is next.

Coffeeshop girl: Yes, sir?
Hans: 1 coffee please.

Hans gets his coffee. My brother could not stand it.

Brother (points to each of them in turn): "What" "Yes" and "Yes, sir". Your coffee still 80 cents a cup.

Yes, colonial thought and prejudice is alive and well in our fair nation. At least, I hope it is prejudice and not bias.

The Power of Three

The ah-neh, he gave me flowers for Valentine's Day. Delivered them personally. Meaning took a cab to the end of the civilised world, where I work, encountered my ultra rude colleagues and left without even the gratification of seeing the look on my face.

I lau him. Happy Valentine's Day to you too, bro!

Swimmingly

It was a busy and event filled weekend at the Barrett household. Hanan had his first ever swimming test - Survival (Bronze Award).
7 year old babies are expected to do the following:-
- swim 50 metres in pyjamas (obviously in case you are asleep on a cruise ship and it hits an iceberg.)
- Tread water for 4 minutes (because evidently your cruise ship goes down in a main shipping line and a ship passes ever so often)
- take off their pyjamas, throw the shirt onto a near-by beach (simulated by edge of pool) and make a floatation device out of their trousers, all while treading water.
- swim 400m, first executing the elegant Sophie's Dive, 'cos even when you are diving off a sinking ship, style mesti ada.

I am proud to say that my son, along with the rest of his cohort passed with flying colours. Despite being tested at 1 pm under the burning noonday tropical sun.

He is none the worse for wear, except for some red cheeks and two toned legs.


Getting last minutes instructions for swimming coach, Uncle Prakash. This man has coached at least 4 kids in my family, the oldest, Naga, is 21.


Hanan looking confidently out at the water.


Taking the first plunge (the little head in the water is Hanan)


The aftermath - Hanan's 2 toned legs

Chinese New Year comes to 01 Computer

How do you know our partners love us? They send us these Chinese New Year hampers - towering, garish, orange and red monstrosities that cost no less than $388 a pop, although I dare say the ones here cost a darn sight more.

They are usually filled with things like canned abalone, shark's fin, bird's nest and other food types on the exotic (and endangered) list. There are also cheaper fillers like cookies, chocolates and the ubiquitous love letters. The topper (like the star on a Christmas Tree) is usually a cognac or brandy, XO and Otard being hot favourites.

We currently have 7 of these beauties, with hope of more, seeing there are 2 more weeks to CNY. Then, all these hampers are dismantled and the contents distributed to the staff, with the bosses keeping the hard liquor. Of course.

I want the Ferraro Rocher Chocolates. The rest are welcome to the other stuff.

Theatre Review - Multiple Personality Disorder

If you have not bought tickets for Hossan Leong's one man play, Multiple Personality Disorder, DO IT NOW.

Breaking ALL the rules about comedy in Singapore, this play took irreverence and taboo to a new comedic level.

Taking on subjects as sensitive as the water issue, foreign talent, rich Indonesians and *lowers voice* official contempt for gays, Hossan rips through all the pre-conceived barriers to take Singapore theatre further than our most remote foreign talent.

The show started right on time, which only happens with local acts. And played to a full house on a Tuesday night, which was extremely encouraging. He started with some small talk, stand up style, with very current issues, which shows this is not some dumb, "I just follow the script" comedian.

Basically the story is about this government servant of the (fictitious) newly formed Ministry for Attracting Foreign Talent (MAFT), who looks for ways to attract rich influential foreign talent to our fare shores. A large number of them happened to be celebrities who either have disappeared or are down and out. Like Kenny Rogers, Whitney Houston, Julio Inglesias and Joe Estrada. ALL played by Hossan Leong. To perfection.

Sure he made a few gaffs, missed a few cues, but which actor doesn't? And Hossan has this perfect little face that he makes when he is recovering, which is so comic, it lets you forgive him quite easily.

So yes, go watch it. It ain't no Forbidden City (thank God), but has so much more originality, creativity and just plain fun in it. And if you are Singaporean, it helps you realise that all the foreign talent that we need is right.here. After all, how many of us can trace back more than 3 generations in this country? That technically makes us all foreign talent, right?

And at the end, if the queue for autographs is not too long, Hossan just might smile sweetly for a picture with you. (even if you make him wait 2 mins while you teach you friend how to use your camera)

New Readers

My webstats showed that my reader ship has gone up by about 200% since this time last year,which is a fact that I am thrilled to bits about. So to all my readers, new and old, a big thank you. I only know maybe about 10 of you personally, so for the rest, this is quite a big thing for me.

What is not as thrilling of course, is that I don't really know you guys are there, unless I check my Statcounter account. I mean, no comments? no tags? Hello! Read the title of my tagboard, and you will see my desperation show.

So V for Vendetta, Shan, Rhys, Urban Bourbon Ninja, thanks for commenting/ tagging. The rest of you lot, u know what to do.

*******

Meanwhile, in my search for a good Klingonese cheatsheet (yeah I know *rolls eyes*), I came across this article. I thought it was pretty darn amazing.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/05/10/offbeat.klingon.interpreter/

An eye for an eye

Looks like the Neighbourhood Police Centre in Yishun needs some help with its "Engrish"

Eyeing - To look at something carefully
Keep an eye on - To keep them or it under observation.

Or maybe there are swimming pool perps who actually keep your bag under observation carefully.

A quick google search shows that alot of people commit this faux pas in grammar.

My 7 year old wears size 6 shoes

Hanan has been bugging me to buy him these roller shoes for the longest time (since Christmas), so I finally tracked down a brand that I can afford and makes good quality ones. Forget Heely's, they are like $100 a pair, and you will soon see why I am not making that investment.


I invested in the cheaper Taiwanese brand e-rollers, which at a fraction of the cost, seemed like a much better make of shoes.

Because Hanan was not with me, I used the scientific method utilised by mothers everywhere - I used my hand to gauge his size. His feet are about one inch longer than my hand, wrist to tip of middle finger. So I figured Size 5 will be the best bet.

The shortfall of this method is, it does not account for width. There is no way to measure that. Or the thickness of the foot. I brought the shoes home, put them on a very excited boy and realised there is no way we are going to get these laced up. There was simply no room.

Back to the store (it was one of the kiosk vendor things at Jurong East, so I thank God they were still there). The lady kindly exchanges them for a pair of size 6 erollers, which fit the boy perfectly, with a little room for socks.

I think I better start researching where Shaquille O'Neal buys shoes. Gonna need that info before too long.

Still can't believe it.

Extraordinary lunches at Pandan Loop

This may look like an ordinary pasta marinara to most of you. But when you work in Pandan Loop, Boondocks, End of the Civilised World, there is nothing ordinary about it.

Staples is a little restaurant on the 2nd floor, above the canteen, that caters to people who desperately need a change from the food that is served in the canteen downstairs. Like me today. I knew that if I had to grapple with ladies who save seats with tissue packs, or people who peer at your food while you are eating it, somebody would lose life.

I won't go into how bad the situation is, because I have covered that in this other post, but suffice it to say, it's bad enough to make a plate of some soggy overcooked pasta and a few randomly selected seafood bits drowned in tomato sauce seem likeMichelin 3 star quality.

How much did that little dish, plus a starter and dessert set me back? $13.90
How much is the food downstairs $2.50
But, man, was it worth it!

Good Boss, or bad boss?

There was once a boss who was very very wealthy. He himself was rich and his company was super rich as well. Of course, there were some divisions that were more profit-generating than others, but the boss always maintained that whatever one division made was to be shared with all the others.

So imagine the shock and horror on the boss' face when he realised that some of his staff were paid extremely low wages. Not only that, some of them were also made to raise their own salaries, in a sense, by getting sympathy sales from customers who were friends and family and paying themselves out of the commission of the sales.

The boss was deeply grieved. He called his staff together one day and he said," I found out recently that not only are some of my brightest and best staff not being paid well, they are made to raise their own salary. Do any of the division heads have anything to say about this?"

Shamefacedly, one by one, the division managers stepped forward. Their reasons spanned the entire spectrum of excuses.

"Sorry sir, but I was afraid to ask you for the extra funding because it's such a minor issue. I thought I could handle it myself."

"Sir, I thought you would approve of the staff raising their own pay because it proved that they were hardworking and loyal."

"I wanted to ask you for a higher salary,sir, but I didn't feel like I deserved it."

The boss listened to all the reasons stonily. Then, in the silence, he spoke.

"I have no need for your sacrifices or your offerings. Don't you know that I own the cattle on a thousand hills?

And everything that I have, I freely give to you. All you have to do is ask! And ask without fear, for I don't give because you deserve it. Because you don't.

I give because a long time ago, my son took over the company for a while, and he fixed things so that none of you will ever have to prove your worth to me, or feel afraid to talk to me, or try to earn my favour!"

All the staff thought about this. They remembered the son and felt ashamed for trying to accomplish what he had already done - make them the best employees of the year , from today to the day they left the company.

The boss saw their faces and smiled. His heart was filled with compassion for these, his staff who loved him and wanted so much to please him. And he said to them, "I will blots out your wrongdoings from my memory, for my own sake, and remember your sins no more. All you have to do is love me. From now, that is the only task I require of you."

- Inspired by Psalms 50 and Isaiah 43

Sugar Pushing

Yesterday's lesson, while no less fun, was really gruelling. I actually broke a sweat this time. Thankfully, the partners I dance with are real nice fellas, who commented neither on the wetness, nor the er, aroma.

Dancing is very sexual. I have covered this point on a previous post about Salsa already, but the need to re-iterate this is because of a move that we learned yesterday. The Sugar Push.

Imagine 2 sticks with connection by toffee. Now pull those two sticks apart and they will provide resistance to come back together. That's what a sugar push is.

This is sorta what it looks like. These people in the video are doing it very modestly, but its really a very sensual move. The way my teachers do it looks a lot more raw.
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I had such a hard time getting over my initial embarassment doing it. The thing is, its actually a very nice move when executed well. I just ended up cracking my knuckles and almost breaking my partner's fingers.

Losing a friend to greener pastures

This has been stressing me out for the the past week, and now that it's been made official, I can finally vent about it.

My boss just tendered her resignation. What does this mean for me? No, it doesn't mean a promotion for Nalinee, because firstly I am not ready for that kinda workload and secondly, this is not the kind of organisation that will promote er... non-homogenous staff.

No, what it means is this.

1) I will lose the only person in this company who speaks my language. English. By choice.

2) The only person who gets me, gets my puns, my jokes and pop cultural references.
Example 1
Rainy day. Pouring. I come in and announce,
Nal: Doesn't this weather just whet your appetite?
Joyce: Ha ha ha ha, so corny!!
Everyone else: Wet your appetite? How can your appetite get wet? You mean your tapau breakfast got wet in the rain huh?
Nalinee: Thank you Joyce!

Example 2
Big Boss: Nowsaday, we need to blah blah blah
Nal(snickering, whispers): NowSaday?
Joyce(snickering): sssshhh, don't get me started!
Everyone else: Funny meh?

3) Joyce is sort of like a self repairing shield. She shields me from the crap that hurtles our way from the other departments, and only allows important radio signals and hails to go through, while all the asteroid dust and crap get deflected off her.
So when the shield fails or disappears, what happens? Yes, the Enterprise is in deep danger from damage. Unless I engage warp speed and get the hell away.

4) Joyce, Ashley and I are the only Christians in the company, and Joyce leaving is a 33% decrease in prayers, hopes and shared beleifs and values. Yes, it makes a difference.

5) I am a big picture person. Joyce is a nitty gritty person. Between the 2 of us, we managed to do a bang up job with all our projects and deliverables. When she's gone, I expect I will have to be both. Waaah!

I will miss our lunches together, our shared alliances and enemies, the way it was marketing against the world. I will miss talking about our kids, their various blessings and issues. I will miss your pragmatic world view on things like planning, finances and family, and I will miss shocking you with my unplanning, non controlled, "God will take care of me" attitude. I will miss your running around like a chicken with its head cut off and mindless panic attacks about nothing.

I hope you miss me too.