Guppies back at work

Its day three of the lunar new year . and Im back in the office.

All is quiet. only a few "hardworking mice" are here with me in the rat race

Many people are still off on an extended holiday ( from the lunar new year) apparently today was a good day for Dragons to start work..so there i was bright and perky sitting at my desk checking my emails .

Its a double edged sword these long breaks from work.

on one hand we all need a break from our hectic work lives, on another hand, these occasional breaks just makes it so hard for one to get back into the daily grind of work. rats.

I brought in some tiramisu i made over the holidays , the verdict - too moist too much alcohol but still yummy :D note to self - must practice harder! actually made some tiramisu for a few friends but havent gotten around to giving them all out yet.

I was actually feeling a little pissy. I wasnt able to reach buoy over the past few days properly. was it because it was the lunar new year holidays and he had to spend time with his family , that he had no time for me , or was it something else . Not to mention he nows has a new habit that is really trying my patience. he doesnt pick up my calls, chosing to call me back after i ring, or only replying my smses half a day later. I am annoyed. I told him so. He laughed and didnt address my complaints . how annoying. now I want to strangle his little neck and clobber him bad. where are my golf clubs?!

Porkchop has a new obsession, he wants to buy a condominium in Singapore. now he calls me more often long distance only to remind me he wants to buy a condominium in Singapore. Not how he misses me or any other topic. I wonder if i can pay someone to fly to melbourne to clobber him i will supply the golf clubs.

Bijoux is on a whirlwind tour of Seoul all by her lonesome. sometimes i admire her courage - and insanity , and bank balance. my my thats alot of long holidays. heh mabbe i join her some day. but alas city tours never really appeal coz they all feel too much like work.. plus im spoilt. i do like my five star hotel accomodations when i travel. hmmmm if i had to slum it ..i rather be on an island by the beach near my beloved ocean and fishies. neeways hope she is safe, cant wait to see her again. me so bored.

one highlight of today --- i have begin project FMMAM. the word is out. I love you moo. we shall FMMAM yet!

aaargh! its past 11 and i have no mood to do my work. i should just go sleep. wake up early and get in to the office by 8am to get some work done tomorrow. mmmmm wonder i will make it.

How was your day today true believers!?

Rememberance

Lunar New Years Eve today.

Things are pretty quiet as grandma passed away last year. so we are still in mourning. no big hoo ha no celebrations. we are keeping it quite simple today .

We already finished with the reunion dinner a day earlier last night, which frees us today to go visit grandma and grandpa at the temple. ( their remains are interred in 2 different temples in the Toa Payoh area)


After paying our respects, there was nothing much to do, we ended up whiling the day away at Changi , taking in the ocean winds, watching sailboats swing by, while omnimous dark clouds hung overhead . Yarrl Chookie and I even managed to swing a dip in a totally empty olympic sized pool!

All in all it was a great way to spend a lazy sunday i must add.

I also gave my parents and siblings their redpackets today , yea its a day early but i thought since everyone was around, i should just give the redpackets out before I ermm lose it some how ?

How was your reunion dinner my happie gupsters?

2 more days to the lunar new year.

Ushering in the year of the Ox -An early Reunion Meal

Yep , i havent been blogging religiously. I've been quite busy at work , market is bad and we are working hard trying to come up with strategies to stay competitive while protecting everybody's job. Hmmm.

On a positive note, on the home front, things are a little quiet and unlike last year, I find myself -- physically exhausted. But ah...we should still get ourselves in the lunar new year cheery mood aye?

Angpow from boss chick at work - checked!

Auspicious lucky couplets -checked!

"Welcoming Spring and ushering luck into the home.""All your wishes come true"

Mandarin Oranges - checked! Happie auspicious lunar new year deco golden cows - checked!

Auspicious fishies ushering wealth into my home - checked!

An early reunion dinner

Mom got so excited over lunar new year, she decided that we would have reunion Meal TODAY .

One day earlier than everybody else ! whahahah! Its tradition - mom made her famous , Ngoh hiang ( pork sausages with 5 spice powder , chicken curry with potatoes, Braised Duck and eggs, Garlic Prawns, Leek with tofu, Abalone soup there was just too much food! ofcourse this little guppy was on hand to be the chef's assistant chopping up the ingredients and cleaning up after the chef! heheheheh

I spent the evening trying to learn as much as I can, all of her cooking instructions, tips on braising an entire duck by hand :P eeeks.. i must say cooking an duck..with an entire face and a neck..is erm abit disturbing. I felt like hannibal lectre from silence of the lambs :P same goes for fish with faces.

Anyways by mealtime, I got too hungry and greedy after smelling mom's cooking before i realised it we had almost finished the dinner and so i managed to catch only remnents of food..i forgot to take pics la! damn!

Braised duck chopped up

mom's famous chicken curry...

"Jas i know how you feel baby!"

The verdict -- A delicious yummy reunion dinner meal - as always :D compliments to my mom the chef!

One bored kitty :

The only one not in the lunar newyear celeration madness mood..is kitty :

Kitty misses the year of the rat,

"wake me when the new years over!" "Me so bored"

"Any food for me?"

"Bah humbug"

"Bored Bored Bored Bored.."

Awwwwwwww....

A Petty Grudge for 5 days...or forever?

Unexpected Disrespect.

The Importance Of A Sister
© Shiv Sharma

A sister is someone who loves you from the heart,
No matter how much you argue you cannot be drawn apart.

She is a joy that cannot be taken away,
Once she enters your life, she is there to stay.

A friend who helps you through difficult times,
Her comforting words are worth much more than dimes.

A partner who fills your life with laughs and smile,
These memories last for miles and miles.

When she is by your side, the world is filled with life,
When she is not around, your days are full of strife.

A sister is a blessing, who fills your heart with love,
She flies with you in life with the beauty of a dove.

A companion to whom you can express your feelings,
She doesn’t let you get bored at family dealings.

Whether you are having your ups or downs,
She always helps you with a smile and never frowns.

With a sister you cannot have a grudge,
She is as sweet as chocolate and as smooth as fudge.

Having a sister is not just a trend,
It is knowing you can always turn to her, your best friend.

Clay-mates Day Out!

Went Clay Shooting Today!

Inline with my motto to try everything at least once! This guppy rallied moomoo, anthon and tracie out for a day of Clay shooting! As we were all "virgins" we had to hire an instructor to teach us how to shoot.

We arrived at the Bukit Timah Gun Club in the morning , After a half hour of theory lecture, we were off shooting! I love the smell of gun powder !Claymates Moo, Guppy, Peter Lee (our instructor) and Anth , who spent the whole morning stressing the ear muffs had spoilt his hairdo! aaargh! cannot be more vain!
Ready ...Aim...PULL!!!!

Anth was the best of the 3 of us. ( im attributing it to his national service stint *sulk*) moo wasnt that bad . for a right hander with a lazy right eye (left eye dominant) . She was doing pretty well too!

The verdict : Gunpowder smells are shiok! Actually shooting a clay target successfully..is very exciting, and strangely therapeutic. with 25 rounds of ammunition per set, I think with 5 hits out of 25, this wasnt that bad a start! I'll definitely be back!

Everything BUT the fish?!

How Could I have forgotten the Ikan Bilis ?

Made Nasi Lemak for the first time this evening. Moo, Jas and the kids Ryan and Roy came over for din din!

Dinner time! Nasi lemak with so many dishes!

Chicken Nuggets, Spam, Beef Rendang, Chicken Wings, Sayur Lodeh (veg curry) , Otah (bought by moo) , omlette, sambal chilli etc ..But where's the ikan bilis?! how can nasi lemak have no ikan bilis?! yup as usual with all the mad cooking, i completely forgot to fry the dried ikan bilis..duh duh duh

Dessert Time! Ben and Jerry's Choc Fudge Ice Cream and Cherry Garcia Ice cream! -- With extra sweeties! We shall create the best ice cream with our special ingredients of M&MS , Strawberries, Pocky, Raisins...but only aunty guppy likes bananas ... :P

we love ice - cream! Roy and Ryan hamming it up for the camera!

Is Roy's icecream creation cool or what?

Checkout Ryan's cool hairdo! handsome sia!

Roy adding the final touches to his masterpiece!

we finished off dinner with a special flower tea..pop in a ball of tealeaves and in the hot water it blossoms into a special bouquet of flowers. ... i thought the tea had a light fragrance and taste. moo couldnt taste squat. and jas claimed the stuff tasted like kangkong. :P ... yes ryan and roy this is the tentacled alien monster that bites you...

Aidan,"Phew. Kiddies have gone home..now i can take a nap "

kitty fell asleep by the pc as i loaded these pics . exhausted at the end of the day after playing with ryan and roy .

This guppy is thinking. Its fun having people over for dinner. I aint no kantang (potato) ok i can cook local foods too...just need a little help from instant sauces and mixes hahahha . Must do more .

Playing Catch-up

It was sucky all day.

i started the car and was about to make my way out of the parking lot when a call came in from Malaysia. It was a work call. It wasnt a nice call . It was an exasperatingly STUPID call. and it ruined the start of my beautiful morning as I fumed and sped all the way to work.--- Sucky.

I wasnt that mad when i finally arrived . Malaysia problem sorted itself out eventually by my very able team mate . But when i settled in to answering my emails, more grief. It also didnt help that my boss decided that TODAY was the day he would be super on the ball..--- Sucky.

I did my numbers. We are a good USD200k plus away from hitting our Q2 target. Got to move faster!!!!! Sell Sell Sell! .--- Sucky.

By 5pm. i was exhausted. Horrible. Sucky. Terrible . Shitty day where everything n anything that could possibly go wrong, or annoy me..DID.

Oh gawd the work year has only begun... LOVE AND PEACE! LOVE AND PEACE! Stay calm guppy keep yer cool! :P

Thank goodness it ended Happie.

Luckily, i had made plans to catch up with Abi over dinner ...this dinner really saved the day . Abi just got back from her trip to Mumbai and got me this adorable Jet Airway bear! ---Happie!

We rocked up to a famous authentic Hokkien Cuisine restaurant near the Hokkien Clan Association .---Happie!!!!

Abi and I camwhored wit Jet Airways bear ! --- HAPPIE!

Before we began feasting on this award winning Hokkien cuisine , the first dish !

Stirfried Kailan with prawns! mmmmm this is the simplest yet the best dish - only possible when fried in a wok that is "seasoned" by years of cooking. not sure how to describe., when you try it you will know. Crispy Oyster Omlette. This is so crispy its like eating biscuits!Steamed soon hock fish..yeah i got greedy and ate almost half the fish before realising that i forgot to take a pic of the yum yum .. :P
Steamed herbal chicken!
And this , another signature dish - Fried Mee Swa! ( this aint normal noodles ok, and you cant get this outside at the hawker stalls)

Then we finished off our delicious meal with a nice stroll through the Carrefoure Supermarket and ofcourse...had some delicious Gelato to end our day .--- Happie!

Thank u Abi!

Yup nothing like a girlfriend to make a blyeah day ...Happie!

How was your day happie gupsters?

A brand new start , A brand new year!

Be positive and know that the universe can give you all that you want

I sent porkchop off at the airport today. cannot believe i am really starting a brand new year all by my lonesome :P sigh.

And now for the yearly ritual of putting in "writing" my New Year's Resolution --2009's Ultimate to do list .

1. Get lasik surgery on my beautiful big brown eyes *ego*
2. Get certified a master scuba diver
3. Get back to archery
4. Get back to the gym *god damn it!* at least once a week
5. Go swimming at least once a week
6. Go jogging at least once a week

7. Take better care of fishies and aidan my kitty

If you had been following my blog since in started this time last year, you would have noticed that items 2 and 4 are not new . in fact , yup you've guessed it, I never did complete my 2007 new years resolutions too! aaaargh!!

This new years resolutions thingy stinks. But its a start.

2009 will see this little guppy live life to the fullest! there is not much time to lose, so much to do so little time. I must work harder , times are tough and the tough will get tougher! :D

Gambate happie gupsters! we hang on to our jobs! we work hard! we will survive 2009 ! Wil this guppy survive 2009 unscathed? will she be happier?

A friend and i had a conversation and found our beliefs quite similar - "be positive and know that the universe can give you all that you want" - Indeed , I Believe mon amie!