I Choose

I choose to be happy

I choose to eliminate all people and things that result in negativity from my life.

Happenings

I spent the weekend working on a pitch project with my boss and teammate, amongst others and didn't end up at home until 6 am on Monday morning. No shit.

However I must say that I am beginning to enjoy my new playground. My colleagues are wonderful, full of consideration for people. They have their quirks too for sure but in all honesty, my new work place feels like one big family. For once, I am a happy worker.

Thus boss dearest gave me a day off and I went for a two hour massage where this strange lady therapist read my fortune and soothed my achy breaky back at the same time! How strange right? But I am starting to get used to it... for the past 31 years, strange things usually happen to me - but then again, it gives me conversation fodder! After which, my sister and I darted in to our fav shopping haunt and bought, between us two, 5 tops, one pair of stockings and a dress. So yes, it's been great.

Great - save for the usual weekly fights, quarrels and petty walk aways. Sigh, at least they always end up making me feel more like the real man!

My Week

It's been a rather crazy week but I managed to accomplish a lot:-
1) Finished a rather dark, distubing chick lit entitled, "The 2nd Husband". Story surrounds a mother, her teenage daughter and a new good looking male lodger. Need I say more?...
2) Tried (finally) Double Bay, the new aussie joint at Raffles City and had the most gorgeous fish and chips on the planet. I love the Cod with Beer Batter
3) Painted my toenails purple... Yes, it's an OPI colour too!
4) Ate dinner with Mo at Great Wall congee

Jazz class starts today. yippee-dee-do.

What A Week

It's been a tiring week. Within the past seven days, I'd managed to:-
1) Appear on the cover page of the national newspaper

2) Set up stall at a bazaar and sold most of the bags I own at dirt cheap price (yay! more bag shopping for the bag hag)

3) Watched a feminist documentary - "We Love Roses Too". Thanks to Mau, BB and I managed to catch this Italian documentary - part of the Indie Film Fest. It reminded me of the stuff we had to watch in Uni as part of our coursework (case in point, never let your daughter study arts in a western environment. They'll make her watch and read feminist stuff)

Musings

Cas, the character in Game Over's planning her wedding. Like her, I had never given a thought about weddings, not even when I was a wee child. Reading this made me think about how I'd want mine when the time comes. Here are my initial thoughts:-

When
June (It's summer and the time of the year when I was born)

Colour
Sunshine yellow or blue and silver (with silver bells)

Where
Somewhere outdoors, with a big, huge white tent and proper wood flooring so that high-heels won't sink into the the ground.

What
Intimate and exclusive. Either canapes or sit-down, with a kids section (a clown perhaps) so that children are entertained

String-quartet or a singing trio that goes around to clusters of guests to belt out upbeat tunes to lift spirits (generates good ch'i)

Good host with great humour and strong presence to work the room (a male perhaps, like Vernon A)

Favours
Something Asian and pseudo-traditional... such as five-stones in a pretty mesh bag or fortune-cookies in a ketupat case

Attire
If I strike lottery, something from Kai (I like his style and he is very very patient) - perhaps a themed dress or something to reflect my peranakan roots

Music
The musical trio or quartet should suffice but in the event that it doesn't, the background music should be jazzy and quasi-oriental. Like "ye shanghai" with a twist.

Entertainment
A tune or two by my former housemate, who is a trained singer. And my many friends to make short speeches

Honeymoon
But of course since it is me, I may just run away and do without the whole works. But it has to be a cool-climate, romantic venue, such as Paris or Switzerland

What's On...

My current addictionI like Parks. She develops characters whom I can so identify with. In this instance, I feel like Cas, a stone-hearted, commitment-phobe woman.

New Finds!

On Make-up
I am not a big fan of liquid eyeliners as I am terrified of the dye contaminating my contacts. However, since I have embarked on my new fitness regime this week, I was inspired to try on the new smudge-proof liquid eyeliner that Mau, Pam and Moninet got me last Christmas from Sasa (it's called Maxigrade and the packaging comes with a whole mumbo jumbo of Japanese which I can't comprehend). I am pleased to say that it survived the rain and a strenuous workout! Hurrah to a great product find =)

Gastronomical Finds
In addition, I had a media lunch today at OTTO, a fairly new Italian joint at the Red Dot and had a fantabulous time catching up with an old editorial contact. Since it was an official lunch, with my ED in tow, there was no way I could whip out my camera to snap pictures of the food but for its price, it was a really scrumptuous fare. The portions were just right for a four course meal.
I had the prawns for starters, fish as main and the banana for dessert. I was a good girl - I chose my food with thought =)

On Thoughts
Having spent my entire working career selling profiles to the media, an old editorial contact of mine called last week to ask if I could do an interview on positive thoughts during these turbulent times. I paused for a bit before agreeing. It was an interesting experience, to be on the other side and to be queried on my thoughts and take on life.

Even the photoshoot was fun, with the photographer coaxing me to step amongst the flora and fauna in the middle of Shenton Way and "look up in hopefulness to the sky". Hur hur.

Rat-tat-too-eek!

After fooling around my my sister's new mac, she decided to snap a candid shot of Scruffy, the latest addition to the rat pack

The existing rat wannabe decides to fight for the limelight

Life Is Good

Two weeks into my new job and I fell dreadfully ill! Must be due to all that excitement and built-up. Six whole weeks of no work done was bliss and I am still trying to get adjusted to the wake-up-at-7.30-brush-teeth-wash-face-go-to-work routine. I am missing Thailand, Taiwan and even done-to-death Bintan.

But on the bright side - yes, yes, I have new-found positivity these days. I am happily employed (hurrah!) and I have a very nice boss (double hurrah!) who doesn't hover around me nor bothers about my step-by-step processes (triple hurrah!). But as I was sharing with my ex-colleague, Mou, over FB earlier, I am just super glad that I don't have to do the horrid monthly cost centre management - the much dreaded LEAP (Latest Estimates) and CC-tools (personnel costings) - all of which closes when our dear old HQ colleagues decide to balek kampong. Bleh.

For the first time, I must say that I am leading a very normal, borderline blissful office life. Yea... you must wonder about the type of life I'd been leading over the past ten years. I have a nice lady colleague who is from HK (let's call her V) who is my unofficial lunch kaki and a fantastic IT guru who sits beside me (let's call him C) who patiently fields all my strange IT requests and queries. I smell some politics and I recognise them but as I always do, I refused to get entangled in the web of bleakness and fall prey to their bitchiness (and yes, the women are always on the large side). I want a good night's rest =)

I am doing the stuff that makes me happy out of work and my boss leaves me to turn around press releases and articles on a day-to-day basis (what more can a gal ask for?). I love to write and I am now paid to write daily. Life is bliss =)

Loooong Day

After having not worked for six weeks, today's a considerable long day for me. Whilst I must say that the majority of the population at my new office is rather nice, I have also realised that there are people who are highly political and underhanded. Not sure who I'd offended but safe to say, my folder in the common drive mysteriously disappeared after my first day.

hmmm...