Meow?

So many things to do, so little time...

The Lunar New Year Celebrations are drawing closer...Only 2 more weeks till Feb 14th. ( incidentally yep Lunar New Year celebrations fall on Valentine's day as well) looks like no romantic valentines day celebrations for me...but i digress.

Went shopping for new year supplies ..at the local supermarket, yes i chose the less crowded, but airconditioned shopping venue option over trawling through the super crowded streets of chinatown with Ochayo and Moo anytime.... I just simply hate crowds.

Unlike most other chinese families, there wasnt much to buy . nobody comes to my place as Im not an "elder" and we dont have a very big family anyway, Im the one that does the visiting and mostly immediate family and a few close friends. thats about it.

Anyways, i wanted to buy some lunar new year gifts for my family , checked out the hampers available and almost choked on their prices...the cheapest hamper was over 80 bucks , while abaolone etc were averaging 40-50 bucks a can. what crap!

Finally settled on this cute basket of mandarin oranges.. the basket was made out of metal, shaped into cute little tigers! I bought 10 of these cuties, 24 pax cartonssss of TIGER beer..(hahaha) but had to stop there.. there was no one to help carry all my purchases to my car. I guess i will do my 2nd load of shopping another time.

lucky for my the folks at cold storage were kind enough to wheel out trolleys and help me carry all my new tiger friends to my car. we were certainly an attention grabbing sight ! creating a procession of trolleys loaded to the brim with metal tiger shaped baskets full of mandarin oranges...and tiger beer ahhahha

Some tigers loaded into ashton's boot. the rest spilled over to the back seat..as well as the front seat. I could not resist. they were so cute ...its as if, they were happy to come home with me !

"let us in! let us in!" cried lil tigers! Toffee got really excited to meet her new friends...

"ok troops! attenshun! are u ready to take on the year of the tiger~??!?!" cried Toffee

Looks like i'll have to do a 2nd round of shopping, spring cleaning, and hanging up all the chinese new year wall hangings another time. And then theres my fish tank project that still hasnt gotten off the ground yet! aaargh!!!!

So much to do, so little time.

Girls Night Out

Havent done the local "club" scene for quite awhile.

So when Jas said she'd bring me and moo to this "happening" place called the Supper Club... I thought...oh well why not? i had nothing to do this balmy saturday evening anyway...

Decided not to drink too much so I can drive myself home..and not have to jostle for a cab in the wee hours of the morning... Met Jas and Moomoo at MacDs along Bras Basah road before we were led to this Supper Club place..

When we got there. It was a [pleasant surprise to learn that it was ladies night! so we had free entry plus free 5 drinks :D woohoo!! The music was MY kinda music...R&B black moosic, but alot from the late 80s.. The place was pretty cool..people were dressed nicely but alas THEY WERE ALL KIDSSS ...I mean who wears a beanie!? ...where are the real men? aaargh!
Boooooo absolutely no eye candy at all...what the hell...I felt like pulling one of them beanie donning boys...and asking him - "hello boy, u finished your homework yet? "

There was also a marked differnece between our table and other clubbers table at the supper club..our table's full of food and nibblies...everyone elses table...had nothing but hard liqour and booze :P hahahahMoo feeds this happie guppy There was nothing much to do here except cam whore and enjoy the cool mooosic! Jas did some moves on the dancefloor..but i could not bring myself to bother making any moves with kiddie winks on the dance floor... no matter how they are dressed...some chicks were in dresses so short, i found myself asking..damn did they forget their pants? shorts?

later in the night, we decided to exit Supper Club, and move on to somewhere more adult. We met up with Jas's cousin Janice...then made our way across the road to the LONG BAR at Raffles Hotel...

Despite the older more sedate crowd, we made our way to a nice seat in front of the live band but before we could settle to order some drinks...the band started to play a TOM JONEs piece..."Its not unusual.." hahahha Jas's face cramped up...and we all broke into insane laughter Clearly this was not a place for us...we then exited the Long Bar.....as quickly as we could before Jas started to curse and swear ahahahahah!

Refusing to give up, we decided to drive to Clarke Quay to check out China One.
Im glad we did so...Now China One - THAT WAS A CLUB...now we're talking..hahahaha ultimate cool live band, playing the best music ive heard all night...great crowd...plenty of eye candy...all sorts...white, yellow, black, asian.,..anything I want to perve on...theres a nice handsome tall version there...

I was truly a happy guppy...and so were the girls HAHAHAHAHAHAH
Coz i was driving, i decided to have another can of Red bull...ahhahaha danced the night away...

The problem with clark Quay , for this guppy at least ...is i am always fearful that i would run into people from work...coz this was the so called default cool clubbing strip in Singapore. And i try so very hard to maintain this image of a non party-teetotaller.. "me no like boozing" guppy image at work...ahahaha Unfortunately my fears came true. and i ran into not 1 but 2 colleagues

hahahahaha

Guess there goes my teetotaller image :P

Another annoying thing about clubbing? is this ever present PRESENCE of those damn irritating SPGs...Sarong Party Girls...at China One, a row of 4-5 girls...obviously Singaporean chinese, ,, skinnyyy, with long long straight hair...wearing next to nothing...writhing away...trying to act sexy...not really dancing,, just gyrating...it was annoying to watch as they moved hard *haha* to try to attract every white guy that passes by...Oh so very irritating. It was exceptionally annoying for me because i was standing behind one and she kept moving her head...her hair flicking at my face..aaaaaaaaargh! wanted to slap her...but decided to hop away with my can of red bull instead...

Thanks for the clubbin invite Jas! hahaha and yes you do look GREAT lah ...you all did...But methinks..mabbe Clubbing aint for me....after 2 redbulls, I came home..i plonked myself into bed and i dozed off. I was THAT exhausted!

Nope i am a lousy party guppy HAHAHAHAH

Let's take a walk

Tracie and Moo wanna go walkies...

It was a cloudy rainy Thursday evening...i harboured hopes it would rain cats and dogs...but alas. By the time we got off work..the rains stopped and there was no weaseling out of our walkies pact.

Oh well..at least it was a new route....

Tracie and Moo were pumped and excited! Here we go here we go here we go...Tracie in shock - this guppy did not weasel out of the run-walk-talkcock-singsong walkies session. Meanwhile...i was still plotting how to make my quick getaway ... too bad all ideas failed as i slowly realised..the further we walked..the more lost i was.. :P Got no choice...i had to stick with the crazy walkers...orelse i wont be able to find my way home..

Sleepy Guppy : " are we there yet? wah so prettyy....where are we? "

Turns out our route would take us past Tanjong Rhu ( no wonder the condominiums here cost a bomb..such a nice giant "river" longkang...quite peaceful and tranquil in this neck of the woods ) All the way to Stadium Waterfront...Tracie spots a doggy lying on a patch of grasss...she tries to go over and make friends...but the dog did not bother to get up...zzzzzzz -- yeap at least some doggy out there's got the right idea...its such a beautiful evening. everybody should be napping...

Yeah...we've done our... workout...we're HOT! HOT! HOT!The walk-a-jog took us to a shopping mall.. where we rationalised that we needed to eat some yoghurt ....before our erm well deserved dinner hahaha!!On the last leg of our walk-a-jog, We swung by a nearby hawker centre to buy some dishes to go with the yam rice auntie Irene cooked for dinner....

Owkay! So what was for dinner?!Home cooked Yam rice , mincemeat bittergourd, fried fish, store bought porkchops, gnhor hiang (5 spice tofu sausage)Coffee Pork

Sooooo much food! hahahahah If our pissy little walkies "workout" buys me such a sumptious feast all the time, lets do this everyday!!!

Didnt head straight home after work today

Went with Moo to see Jas and the kids instead

"Now u see me!"

Look at her now? shooooo adorable! Big Big eyes ..totally pinchable chubby cheeks , and such beautiful soft hair. I can still remember how tiny she was just 6 months ago when Moo, Kulcha and I went to visit Jas at the Hospital after Reyna just came to this world..

"Now u don't!"

How time flies...It was great catching up with Jas again..i think I agreed to go clubbing with Jas over the weekend. stay tuned ...hahah meanwhile, Baby Reyna hasnt spoken her first words yet...so i have hope! if i keep saying my name to her..her first words could be...MY NAME!!!!! MUAHAHAHHAAH!!

After catching up with the happy Obias family...
We then headed to Old Airport Road Food Centre for Dinner

Where moomoo introduced me to one of the yummiest garlic gravy sauced porkchop i had ever tasted!

Yes my happie gupsters if you havent heard it yet, I declare the western food at BBQ Delights stall at Old Airport Road Food Centre to be amongst some of the yummiest western hawker foods i had ever tasted!

Was it the garlic? was it the spice? I dunno but i am now officially in love with the chops here...Delicious comfort food, lovely comfortable dinner company what more could a guppy ask for?

Moo had the lamb chops while i had ...what else? Porkchops hahaha!Mmmmm cheapy and goody!

After our delish meal, i whipped out a freebie packet of tissue for us to use ( i got it during lunch , someone was distributing these tissue packets with marketing messages on them )

When moo actually saw the "ad"on the tissue, it annoyed her so much, she literally ripped the tissues out of the printed packaging. Hahahah see what mooo did? What could have sparked off such a violent tissue packet massacre by sweet moomoo ?

Hahaha it was this atrocious dated promo for a website called De Rice Bowl..hahahah ok we are still unclear if its a jobsite for recruiters or recruitees ...because the ad had such terrible cheesy copy ...oh it was just bad ..

What day and age are we at already that people still think its cool to name their shop/ business "De" Anything? oh man we laughed till our sides hurt...Check out the cheesy messaging,

Best part is, you dont see the URL in bold...in fact the URL only appears in the tiniest font possible at the bottom of one of the panels of the tissue packaging.

What a waste of marketing dollars. "Where Asian Talents Meet" --- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA we could not stop laughing...it was just BADDDDD! .. so if im white, non asian, i cant joint this site...?? i still dont get it...

Awww chill mooomoo, at least we got something to wipe our mouths with after we eat our meal, and have a good laugh at this silly ad..

Booooo to crappy ads!!!! Banzai to yummy chops and cute babies! Banzai!!!

How was your middle of the work week my happie gupsters? are we having fun yet?

Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss

But what about grass?

Have you ever read a book, and midway through a book, you finished an important chapter and said to yourself..."Wow...what was that all about ? what the hell? " and had to put the book down, take a short break, let the plot twists settle in your mind before you carry on reading?

Well..Im in that phase right now...

Kulcha left town today for his training stint in China. afterwhich the plan is he will permanently park his ass in Vietnam. With his departure , I have completed reading the chapter : "One Little Pufferfish" on the book : "The Adventures of Happie Guppy"

I really hate goodbyes. so I did not go to the airport to send him off. Besides, I thought it best to let the lovers have some private time with each other before he leaves.

Was this chapter an exciting read?

Well it was a good read. It spanned a little more than 6 months, but this chapter saw the entry of a new character , a personable pufferfish who actually managed to make an impression with not just one happie little guppy, but also other important characters that i love and cared about in the book. Especially one favourite character moomoo.

I'm sure the pufferfish and moo wrote their own special private story too. But this blog is about one happie little guppy, so we will not discuss their private book. hahaha

One thing's for sure. If the puffer and moo continue to add chapters to their private storybook. We will certainly see the return of that little pufferfish character in my adventures yet.

Did i like how the chapter ended ? The answer is NO.

It was certainly an unexpected plot twist. With the pufferfish's exit, there will be no more happy morning greeting smses for the heroine Happie Guppy, no more pleasant lunch company. no more entertaining dinner company, no more watch education and perve kaki and most importantly, there will be no one to guard her back while playing badminton doubles , heck with no pufferfish to guard her back, badminton will not be the same no more for the guppy

Even the heated arguments, and disagreements will be no more. With the Puffers exit, there will be no more characters out there to disagree with the guppy...how sad.

Damn it, why is it almost all the characters in the book "Adventures of Happie Guppy" are like rolling stones.. like that song .. "papa was a rolling stone..wherever he laid his hat was his home" cant the writer think of something better? writes in a new character ...lets them enter the story abruptly...and then writes them out of the story just as abruptly as well... this sucks big time.

Wow with such a plot twist at the end of the chapter , I really am not sure how the next chapter will unfold. How will the story end? Will he happie little guppy remain ...well happie? will the pufferfish character return ?

Ive made myself a cup of hot chocolate. settled into my nice warm bed. A new chapter awaits... Im ready to read on.......

Where are you my Tom Sawyer?

Its too soon to be feeling the itch for adventure...

Just too soon, I mean work has just started hasnt it? But Im feeling it. Am i feeling melancholic because of all the changes going on around me? or am I possibly a little jealous, jealous that a friend has found something new, something that will take him to different places. new adventures ahead ?

or am I simply..just looking around me and thinking - gosh everyone's back into "work mode" and the ever ending rat race .

A conversation with moo reminded me of my need for adventure. I always fancied myself a Huckleberry Finn , always off to a new adventure ..perhaps with my buddy ...is he Tom Sawyer ? we will build a raft and row ourselves down some river in Malaysia . (actually a long time ago, buoy did mention this idea adventure he had with his bros to me , little did he know that this was a dream of mine too hhahaha not the actual act, but the spirit of adventure)

Moo reckons i dont have it in me to build a raft. I told her ive got money we will hire them Orang Lauts to build some bamboo rafts for us. yes i think she rolled her eyes till they cramped ...tsk tsk.

Where is my next new adventure? where is my next new thrill, will you be there beside me ?

and we will be on that raft some day...singing this simple tune..

Moon River, wider than a mile,
I'm crossing you in style some day.
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker,
wherever you're going I'm going your way.

Two drifters off to see the world.
There's such a lot of world to see.
We're after the same rainbow's end--
waiting 'round the bend,
my huckleberry friend,
Moon River and me.

Are you my Tom Sawyer ? Take me on an adventure soon.

Forgotten Little Seal

Conversation with a little seal

Staffy : "Mommy, i haven't seen or heard from Uncle Puffer in awhile, is he still in town?"

Guppy : " Oh I just heard from your auntie moo today , that your Uncle Puffer found a new job, and he will be leaving town in 2 weeks time for China..and he will be living there for a few months...and then he will move permanently to Vietnam"

Staffy : " HUH?! So soon? Mommy, where is China?? is it very far away? Where is Vietnam do they welcome little seals there can i swim there? Why didnt you tell me sooner mommy? Why didnt Uncle Puffer tell me himself? I have mobile phone! I have email! I have msn! Why he keep quiet ? Is he coming back ?"

Guppy : " Your uncle puffer didnt tell me anything either. I just found out from your auntie Moomoo today."

Staffy : *cry* "Moommmyyy..uncle Puffer forgot all about little Staffy before he even left town???...sobsss sob sobsss.." *cry*

Guppy : *hugs little staffy* " awwww...dont be sad... you should be happy, your uncle Puffer finally located that "mole on his chest", he is going to build himself a real career...mommy will find you a new uncle to play with. "

Staffy : " ??@#?? Mommy...what is career?....will Uncle Puffer say goodbye before he leaves? will uncle Puffer ever come back? Will Staffy ever see Uncle Puffer again ??"

Guppy : " I Dunno baby. "

Staffy : " Are you sad too mommy? "

Guppy : " Dont be silly baby, your auntie moomoo so brave , never said she is sad , you be a good boy , cannot say we are sad and we will miss him ok? Be a good boy yah. no more crying "

Staffy : " Owkay mommy ..sniff sniff .. auntie moomoo must feel so sad.. we must go and cheer her up! Auntie moomoo loves little Staffy too!"

Guppy : " Yes little one :) "

Staffy : " Mommy...uncle Puffer will still keep in contact with us...Right? He is your buddy and he loves little Staffy too right ? "

Guppy : " See how larh...now no more acting silly ... :D lets go out and play okay? wanna eat some bah kwa? "

Staffy :" Heeeee Okays Mommy ! feed meee! arf arf arf!"

Not The Same

First day of work in 2010

Everything is the same...yet not the same.

Ir's good to be back at work, sitting in my little cubicle, logging on to my work PC.....saying hi to all my colleagues, trying to dive head long full force into work. Everyone seems to be fully recharged and energised, excited to start the year on the right foot. I too am excited but despite everything being the same, I cant help but notice that from this day forward, many things will no longer be the same.

For starters...As I drove by the coffeeshop where i used to have breakfast with Buoy on the way in to work, ...found myself looking out to see if i can catch a glimpse of him hahah. There will be no more early breakfasts before work in 2010

Today a new member joined my team. there are now more mouths to feed, and naturally the additional headcount means management is expecting revenue results to go along with it as well. I quite like her, but its still something very new I will need to get used to. Boss seems to be in an enthusiastic cheery mood, but I am a realist - i know he is a mercenary - its all about the bottomline.

I went online, hoping to see familiar faces on my msn chat ...but everyone seems to be busy today. Ochayo, Moo and Kulcha were not online. and I found myself oddly missing them? How spastic. I used to think everyone was too free hehe can find the time to chat with me online.,..and now that everyone is busy...It was quiet. tooo quiet on the chat front!

I am now chatting on a black berry with other black berry fellow user buddies like Abi? yeah plotting the next get away..itchy feet guppy still has not fulfilled the itch to walk on Vietnamese soil , drink vietnamese coffee and munch on baguettes yet.... Macau, Mumbai , Delhi are also part of our "windy heart" discussion ahhaaha . we were supposed to go mid Jan, but i discovered work has a big deliverable end feb. booooo. will we make it anywhere this year? stay tuned true believers!

And then it was lunch. I still remember complaining a few months back that lunch with Kulcha was not the same, as lunch with buoy. Now that he has moved on to a newer better job and is no longer working conveniently a block away from me, I find myself missing my lunch buddy! damn it.

Lunch at Tanjong Pagar area anyone? msg me pls...its fun to eat with me! really :D!!!

After lunch, I automatically made my way to my favourite fruit juice shop ...i was gonna order my usual Avocado drink...but stopped myself. Since this start of the new work year has a running theme of change all day, I thought i should go all the way. and NOT drink my usual Avocado milk shake. I will order something new -- strawberry and banana drink.

The verdict --- Happie Guppy does not like change :(

*cry*

On a happier note one good thing that has carried over from 2009, Project FMMAM is stronger than ever , Moo has suddenly gotten into her head that we should all play a game of badminton. ( methinks its coz they both have gotten themselves some matching badminton gear , clothes, shoes, sweat bands etc HAHAHAH) anywayz, she booked a court for Friday night , and wants to play a game with kulcha, me and she will find some other 4th person to join us. You go girl!!!! hahahahah

Yeah I think I really dont take change very well.

More of the old, more of the familiar please...like this old delicious taste i re-discovered over the weekend. I went to Thomson plaza on sunday and for old times sakes, I ordered a dish of my favourite special beehoon, from this humble little stall in the foodcourt that i used to patronise when i was still living with my parents many years ago. (the stall selling the poh piah) there was no meat in this dish except for the 2 prawns...only lime, peanuts, tao kwa, fried shallots, corriander, spring onion , carrots, eggplant and eggs.. so simple yet each mouthful was a burst of delicious flavour! -- now that ive rediscovered it, I crave it all over again...

Will 2010 be a year of many changes ? please be kind to me buddha...

Let me be surrounded by the familiar and the true.

How was the start of your new work year my happie gupsters? I hope it was a good one! I feel a sore throat , a bad one..i think i may have caught the cold bug from porkchop last week. woe woe woe

A Brand New Year!

Happie New Year my happiegupsters!

How time flies. Its already 2 years since i started blogging at the end of 2007. Now im into my 3rd year. hmmmm wonder if i should continue?

How did you spend your new year's eve? as always I was at home, enjoying a quiet meal, and then spent the rest of the evening re-reading all my entries for the past year ....accompanied by more delicious rose moscato.

A simple NYE dinner - sausages and pasta with mushroom , tomato and pinenuts..

A few entries made me smile...i had almost forgotten some of the happie stuff that i had done, but many of the entries were not so happy. I spent a moment reflecting on alot of the things i had done...alot of the people that came into my life, and some of the people that have exited. Do i have any regrets? Frankly, no :) Have i grown for the better ? ( or mabbe gotten more evil) over this past year? In all honesty I believe I have gotten stronger

When i read the New Years resolution list i wrote at the beginning of last year ...i realised , hmmm I had not achieved a single one on my list ...sigh

I then sat for an hour or two in front of my PC chatting with friends who are also home and not partying at some NYE Countdown party in town (yes squeezing with strangers and gawking at fireworks just dont turn me on) , I wondered if i should still prepare a New Years Resolution for 2010 since i did not accomplish one single task i set out for myself from last year? aaargh! ...just before midnight, I went to light some sparklies ...just like last year ...

Goodbye 2009 ...it was a bumpy..BUT STILL FUN ride indeed....

Hello 2010 ! This is gonna be MY year to SHINE !!!!! ...I can feel it in my bones!!!!

First meal of 2010 with the Family! - and an early birthday celebration for Bijoux :D

Bijoux's birthday wont be for another week at least , but since the family was gathering for a meal, we decided to give her an early birthday celebration meal :)

We went to our family's favourite little Peranakan cuisine restaurant along upper Thomson road - IVINS. Ordered our favourite - Nonya Fishhead Curry, Assam Tiger Prawns, Kechap Manis Tiger prawns, Egg FooYong, Ayam Buah Keluah , Stirfried Ladies Fingers, Sayur Lodeh , Honey Pork, there was so much food!

2010 will be a new beginning for my family. They have moved out of the house behind Macritchie Reservoir..into a newer but smaller place in town. There are so many new exciting adventures that await us this new year!

After lunch, Bijoux and I went SHOPPING in Orchard road...we checked out the two new malls Orchard Central - 313 @ somerset and Orchard Central. I must say i was more in awe of the food and restaurant selections than the shopping options. Nothing in the 2 malls appealed to me at all . In the end we spent our monies enjoying drinks and sweets instead

One of the cafes we vegetated in between shopping was this place called Heaven's Loft , the much touted dessert place turned out to be another Ben and Jerry's Ice-cream joint . hmmm over priced Ben and Jerry's but the place kina pretty ...

Happie early birthday chookie!

New Years Resolution for 2010 ?

I think its time to seriously put a list of MUST DOs for 2010 and stick to it this time

1. Dive Raja Ampat, Maldives and Manado!
2. I didnt get back into archery, but i got back into Badminton! - so 2010 I will get better at Badminton, make sure i play it at least once a week!
3. Eat healthier !
4. Spend more time with my family
5. Focus my energy on work! Get serious! Fight Fight Fight!
6. Get myself a new kitchen
7. Get that darn PPCDL License
8. Get that darn Master Scuba Diver License

So there, Ive listed it. all 8 big tasks.

Will i succeed? Stay tuned true believers. Lets get to it everybody! :D