yep the weekend was a disaster :P and this picture of my doomed green chicken curry that exploded all over my kitchen stove just about sums it up . How did it get to this stage? did it get worse? read on ...
Last week was pretty sucky at work.
Many senior level executives representing our business interests in AP were in town for a big event , sales team was feeling the pressure to show management the money and no surprises, I get to face the brunt of their frustrations in full force. To top it all off, last week came crashing and burning to a glorious end when i recieved seperate notifications on Friday itself that my couterparts in Japan and the US had been retrenched/ made redundant (whatever management wants to call it) -- the guys are *poof* gone! it was especially disturbing and extremely painful, when i look back at the hours of late night phone calls that i had spent working with these individuals, discussing over projects with them. Hmmm not looking forward to having to do everything all over again! hmmm mabbe i should be grateful i still have all of this work to re-do all over again.
It was a Weekend of Doom at Home too
So there i was relived the work week was finally over, I was excitedly planning a nice quiet weekend , catching up with the people I love... little did i know it was to turn into the weekend of DOOM!
What are Buah Keluah Nuts?
It got into my head I will invite the folks and sibs over for a nice home cooked dinner. I was goin to experiment with making an entirely Peranakan inspired comfort food dinner.
The ambitious menu (google if you dont know what they are) :
- Ayam Buah Keluah
- Garlic Clams in XO sauce
- Sitrfried Petai with Prawns
- Sayur Lodeh
- Chinchalok Omlette
1. I could not find Buah Keluah Nuts anywhere, I went to Shengsiong, I went to fairprice, I went to old wetmarkets in Yishun , I went to upmarket supermarkets in town, NO BUAH KELUAH NUTS!
2. without Buah Keluah nuts, naturally i could not make Ayam Buah Keluah , so i had to change the menu alittle, a change in menu meant i had to buy new ingredients . it was a mad dash back to the supermarket again to buy ingredients for Thai Green Curry Chicken instead.
3. the grand finale -- i finally settled down to cooking the thai green curry chicken i thought i was using stove proof pot - from corelle. after throwing in the ladies fingers, chicken pieces, eggplant, green curry spices and tamarind leaves, everything was brought to a boil...then suddenly there was a loud "cRRAAAAACCCCKKK" and there was broken porcelain pieces and green curry all over the stove top .
4. try wiping piping hot green curry off the stove, and scooping pices of broken porceilain off a hot stove. icky, yucky and MESSY!
5. my stove does not work now. -- Brilliant.
Ultimately I brought the entire family to Ivins Peranakan restaurant along sembawang road for ironically a delicious spread of Peranakan food ( very much an exact replica- sans clams -like what i had intended to cook above) the meal for 6 cost me under 60 bucks . whoopee . and it tasted good too.
And that was Saturday.
Sunday was another itchy backside fiasco
Guppys should not be left to fiddle with the fish tank on her own.
It got into my head that the fish were pooping more than ever, and that the tank had really high nitrate levels. Not to mention something was up with the main water pumps because it was getting a tad too noisy with the pump motors. Did i measure the nitrate level ? actually no... was the water pump working ? actually yes...
Anyway, i had nothing to do, So my creative mind hatched project "water change" and project " sound proofing" . spent a bomb at the fish shop buying marine salt, anti-cholrine, filter wool etc etc.. and went about project "sound proofing" first .
I dont know how i screwed it up but , along the way of moving pumps and pipes around in the sump tank , i managed to "crack" the silicone gel securing the main pipes that led to the main water pump. and now it leaks. -->Brilliant! and i havent even started project "waterchange" yet . worried that i might have a mini flood in my home, i quickly sent S.O.S messages to Buoy, who promptly came over within a few minutes *my hero* ...BUT Alas..it was an itchy backside damage that even the fishtank guru could not fix on the spot *cry* .
long story short I now have to live with the same rumbling noise from the pump, a newly leaky pump pipe, and i have to find silicone gel to fix the pipe...IF... it is fixable in the first place.
Boooooooo
The weekend sucked for this guppy. I hope yours wasn't a washout like mine .
Monday and the new work week...please be kind to little traumatised guppies
Guppies LOVE messy delicious eat with your hands and your friends food fare. 
Camwhoring at Manila Airport (awaiting our domestic flight into Legaspi) 
check out our dive bags -- "UNCLE!" 
Surface interval views ...sigh...we'll make do i guess 
Overview of our journey : 
Touch down ulu legaspi airport! 
careful not to fall off the stairs! 
a short walk from the tarmac to legaspi airport ermm terminal 
exiting the airport we were met with our host Conz..and his mini van 
views of legaspi city from the van it was a hot day. 
we stopped by a provision store , 
Glenn waiting for everyone to return to the van 
Eve and her Froggy friend waits in the van too 
we arrived at our hotel -and to our horror it was still underconstruction HAHAHAH! in this pic we are actually walking over where the Swimming pool is supposed to be...
where is the door to the bedroom? aaaa!!!
Whaleshark interaction rego form 
Whaleshark interaction guidelines 
MY DREAM COME TRUE! BUTANDINGS SIGHTED!!!!! 
Group shot! 
San Miguel - 3 caves dive site
urchins urchins everywhere 
Porcupine fishy! 
PERCULAS 
Starfish 
Bladdy jellyfish...i got stung while surfacing on the 2nd dive.. 
pipefish! 
our sturdy vessel 
more group shots 
dinner time!
this shot was taken on day 1 dive when we returned to our hotel room, the door wouldnt open the lock was spoilt and all 4 of us had to wait in the makeshift pub area of the hotel , wet , cold ..waiting for the super slow hotel staff to fix the door to our room . we tried to order food and hot tea but everything was not forthcoming, (painfully slow) lucky for us cynthia had delicious crackers with her and milo powder, so we were wet but at least we were not starving. 
Guppies love cheap corn ice-cream! 
setting off on our evening firefly tour! it was amazing Id never seen fireflies until this trip...twinkle twinkle twinkle...so beautiful
