Bye Bye Everyone (for a while)

On my way to meet my client and am using the hot towel to clean my screen – my client has a pet peeve about dirty screens. Patchy screens will immediately be hijacked and suddenly you will see her scrubbing away in the middle of the meeting. If its beyond her repair, she will hand the whole laptop over to her admin for total sterilization… I better start polishing my screen now and shine it on her face later, hope to gain three stars at the start of the meeting.

Anyway I have am blogging in flight because finally I have personal time. “Blog about me, blog about me..” I hear that from Ken and recently Chris!!! Haha yes but in terms of hierarchy of importance, I need to first blog about – Recyclable Enzymes!

Whoever thought of this brilliant idea is a true contributor to the world. Let me explain for those who now look confused.

Industries use enzymes to speed up chemical reactions, in the case of washing powder, such enzymes attach themselves to surfaces and run chemicals past them, hence cleaning dirt and stains. Enzymes are expensive and currently after each wash, they get drained away. The new big idea is to soak clothes in small quantity of enzyme infused detergents then wash the load in cheaper non enzyme infused detergent. Clothes actually become cleaner and the detergents used for soaking can be recycled up to 200 times!!! BANG!! Wah!! I can testify to that because my mum always practice this method claiming white clothes will be whiter! She never knew the science behind why but now I know!!! Gonna get off this freaking plane and tell my mum the breaking if not frivolous news of the month.

Back to loved ones - Ken had a theory. In life we have a choice. A choice to be happy, a choice to be sad. A choice to be slim, a choice to be fat. A choice to be fat and happy (I think that is what he is trying to say). A choice to go to the airport at midnight from home, a choice to go to airport from old airport road… SUPPER!!! This husband of mine, sure knows how to make me happy!! Sugar cane juice and satay here I come!

Anyway he makes logical sense. Life can be a mad rush that one forget about simple important things like being fat and happy at the same time. Walked past the mirror one day and saw a gigantic slab of cellulite, if not for the fact that I was so intrigued by how extensive it can spread, I would have fainted on the spot. Its ok, Megan can easily revived me with her loud “mummy mummy” while jumping up and down on my body.

For a moment, I thought of Chris introducing Carb Blockers to me. You see, Chris is tall and hatefully slim. Even female masseurs try to seduce him. “ you have such good body…. Are you a model? Your shoulders are so straight and broad… oh you better take off your clothes, your muscles are ripping them apart…” Imagine me trying to suppress my laughter by swallowing it and pretending to sleep and not hear a thing in the neighboring bed. Almost died. Back to the future, now that I see that cellulite in the mirror, I think back on why my masseur remain silent throughout my massage, while Chris’s masseur praised and seduced. Pushing slabs of fat from left to right is hmmm nothing to rave about. DAMN. I do need Carb Blockers after all.

Happier news – Ken and me are going to leave for Barcelona for much needed personal time this weekend. We chose Spain because my air miles are expiring in a big way and because Euro is weak. Just yesterday, heard news of Spanish banks going down and dragging the economy and currency further downhill. Yeah but no Yeah… Got to be sensitive to others...

Alex tried hard to get us a friends and family rate for MO Barcelona but it was all booked out!!!! Peter Kelly called and told me all the exciting stories and swear to email me maps and contacts before vaporizing into thin air… Thank you so much Peter! V helpful indeed. Ken was suppose to take care of the Pyrenees then gave up and say why dun he just take care of the tapas, paella part... Oh well. Desperate in packing because can't fit into any pair of jeans -oh curse the jeans. So many things to do and nothing done. 

Anyway tentatively, bye bye Singapore and everyone!!!!! Do not contact us!!! If I am bored enough to actually blog in Spain, I will (try)…. Cheers... Oh? why this blog no photos? Of coz lah, who got time to upload photos before a big trip!!!!

Family Update

Naughty Pie just reached one and a half years old... What a milestone! What huge changes!

The most noticeable change in her is speech.
"Daddy, Mummy, Ah Ma, Gong, Po Po, Jie Jie, Gor Gor, Ah Bek, Sim, Kak Kak..." Ok she knows all the important names.

She is a talker, a screamer, and a persistent negotiator: Two most important words in her life which she fully exploits to her utmost advantage are "More more more MORE!!!!" and the infamous "No No NO NO NO NO!!!"

 

Book, Water, Nose, Milk, Apple, Eye, Hair, Mouth, Ear, Cheek, Shoe, Socks (which she loves to pronounce as Sucks), Press, Hello,谢谢, eat, soup, sleep, brush teeth, bath, hot hot, Bye Bye, Pain Pain, Night, Kiss, Bear Bear, Ball Ball, Scared Scared, Wet Wet, ,  etc.... Oh then she sings a funny version of twinkle twinkle little stars. It goes like this ".... star...are....high...sky...star...are". 

She is starting to be very selective in her choice of playmates. Not everyone is welcomed and her favorite strategy in every game got to be divide and conquer. On that note, she usually wins. Between Kenneth and me, Ken is certainly the one who disciplines and puts his foot down. One glare from Daddy and Megan usually backs off. With me trying to remove something from her? It will generally end up in a tug of war and "no no no NO NO NO!!!!"

She thinks Daddy is more intelligent than me. She listens to daddy's stories calmly n falls into sweet slumber but when I tell the exact same tale, Megan laughs uncontrollably. Damn, am I an animated clown or what?

She eats. Ken feeds her everything to my disapproval. He is trying to make Megan a potato chip addict. I was told that potato chip is the Andy Warhol of the food world - it is about the surface, the texture, the instant overwhelming gratification. Yah Yah I understand that but Megan is still too young for that!!! Yes she eats cheese cake, chocolate, ice-cream, french fries and almost has no regards for the legal owner of whatever we place on the dining table during meal times but hey... NO potato chips...

She climbs. Discovery of chairs, movable ones that is light enough for her to drag or push around must feel like Columbus discovering America for the very first time (fine, he did not discover America, he found it)... In truth, the world is a badly designed place for the little ones, everything is of a wrong height. Chairs to Megan is certainly not for sitting but for standing on. Everything that was denied to her suddenly become available... and boy does she milk that chance. We suspect chairs give her stature - her "no no No NO NO" always sounds louder when she is 45cm taller...

Vain, Megan is pretty vain. Loves to do "make up" like her Ken's sister. Any string can be a necklace, any rubberband can be a bracelet. And she loves bags. Not to carry anything but to lug around the house. Easy peasy, Mimi custom made a pink haversack with adjustable straps and a blue sling bag with a ladybird button. NICE!!!!! I also want....

All in all, family time is fine and often hilarious.

The sad miserable life as a business traveller

I was v awake during one of my overnight flights back to Singapore. Awake because my flight was delayed due to technical error and I was stuck in the tiny seat of cattle class in sweaty furnace for hours on tarmac. Hey sounds familiar?

Apparently SQ has decided to take a leaf from our MRT n trap their customers inside their craft without air conditioning or announcement updates. Stewardess totally forgot these are humans sitting in the airless chambers n children developing fevers due to the heat. They finally got it into their thick skulls to start serving water only for those who vigorously complained n demanded after a solid 1.5 hours. Fantastic service, best of its kind, Singapore style.  

For my past month of flying, 45% of flights were delayed from 2-8 hours. Few airport have wifi and that means out of 5 working days a week, non communication hours can add up to 2 full days (including flight time). And when companies question frequent fliers like myself why we cannot keep track of day to day office movements and cannot communicate w office staff more while on the road, I and I recommend my numerous friends who fly to give such companies the middle finger.

I fly for business. I do not fly for joy. Relatives and friends joke that I take planes more than I take taxis. Companies must understand FAST the needs of staff travelling for business. We fly for your business to survive and when you try to save hundreds of dollars here n there by putting us on lousy carriers, god forsaken hours, weekends, I give you my middle finger.

Air travel is not a privilege, it is a pain in the ass. Many of us go through this torture every week and it will be nice to show us you care by at least giving us seats that does not break out backs and cause long term physical deformities. Many of us are not despising cattle class, but hearing companies insisting to give staffs back ache because of great company policies while all the time expect staff to perform and be as loyal to them as North Koreans are to their great leader Ah Kim. I give them my middle finger.

I recall friends who tell me that their companies actually make them feel getting an SQ flight is already a great personal favor. Er, because SQ claims to have the best economy seats? Wow, that sounds a lot like saying this prison serves the best food so we should all be so appreciative... Allow me to show your companies my middle finger.

Oh! Oh? The best airline in the world is finally making an announcement!! Beijing ground staff are unable to rectify the problem and needed another 45 mins. Sure, I trust u, considering that your last announcement of 5 mins delay has just clocked 2.5 hours. Oh! Pilot speaking!! An apology plus reassuring that stewardess will ensure we will be looked after... What stewardess? Where? All at business class I assume...

I better walk to the pantry myself to get sum water. Dang!!! 20 plus pple crowding around the pantry!!! Dang! I heard someone say no more water!!! Can someone smash the plane's window to let in some air, please? Pregnant woman and old man almost fainting here! Do any staff care? Of course NOT, we are cattle.

To all of you out there bearing the burden of constant terrible flights and living the miserable lives of a frequent business traveller, be nicer to yourself even when you are unable to convince your company to even pretend to care. On that note, I think I may consider working from home and finally see a bit of my family coming Monday to compensate for my 10+ hours flight from Beijing on my Sunday. Yes, for my insistence to look after myself when you don't, go ahead and sack me!

Amazing People

Around me are filled with amazing people... so lucky to be surrounded by such wow personalities who constantly inspire me to be a better person.

Ont

Got to know her more during a Myanmar trip together recently and she is a different breed of Thais - straight to the point, understands our industry well and has a fast logical brain... I like. Already felt that working with her will be a breeze.

On top of that, she is pretty, has a personality and tons of talent in many things things that is non work related! Check out her oil paintings .... how cool is that!

Ivan Micheal Pung

Met him on my way back from massage (lousy flights giving me severe back pains and migraine). He was bringing Kira to the library then swimming lessons. His over sized bag weighted down by his laptop and work to be completed during Kira's one hour swim. As usual, he complained he is going crazy with the overwhelming workload, what with a solid day job and a booming personal dive business. Plus two young girls who demand all his attention when his wife, Karen is zipping around the globe, full time.

When when you slow down and think about it, Ivan can choose not to load himself with his two daughter's activities. He can be the typical father figure who talk about importance of enrichment classes and holistic learning but really don't participate in much. But Ivan being Ivan, he will tell you he is dying and have zero time, THEN he will simply sleep less and still try to do more.

Ivan, you have my 100% respect.

My Mother In Law

To sustain something long term is harder than to perform something spectacularly short term. And my MIL is those type of people who work tirelessly, not asking for credits. The photo above is, by the way, not my MIL... It is the naughty Megan Loh whom my MIL is looking after everyday.

Ok, take off the shades and here we are .. cheeky face.

She climbs up and down, shakes right and left... She is unstoppable. And for those who have seen my MIL before, you know she is very small and thin. No easy feat to chase down the little rascal...

She is the reason why I am able to sustain my work. She is the reason why Megan is OH SO HAPPY and has so much energy to be OH SO ACTIVE....

China on Business Trips

Travelling... Been travelling...

Shenyang is -20 degrees.

Guangzhou is 20 degrees.

Beijing is -4 degrees.

Sanya is 25 degrees.

Shanghai is 7 degrees.

Travelling across temperature is tough on my shoes.

I was walking across a hotel lobby when suddenly a cleaner called out to be from behind. I turned back and saw a sad looking black rubber sole in the middle of the lobby 20m away from me. It was my right sole.

No way am I going to admit that is mine. I hurried away in denial. pretending nothing happened.

The cleaner gave chase! SHIT!

He ran. I ran. Shit! He is holding my broken sole in his right hand!

"Your Sole! Your Sole! Can glue back one!!", shoving the sole to me. "Yah Yah uncle ok ok.. I take back..."

Damn.... Malu...

Domestic Helper

Got ourselves a domestic helper.

I am not a fan of having a stranger stay in the house and my tolerance for mess is pretty high, so I was not very enthusiastic about the plan. But I do know that my in laws will appreciate that extra help esp when Megan is now under their care. My CFO told me I will get used to having a helper very quickly... so one sunny afternoon, 2 months ago, we fetched our helper home. I was totally awkward and have no idea what  to tell her to do.

Now B's words kept ringing in my head - " a good domestic helper is worth her weight in gold".
How true. Clearing of household clutter is her obvious visible contribution. Her not so obvious contribution is what matters most to me - her clearing of my invisible mental strain.

Housework chores drains my energy but mentally planning for what to eat, how to cook, what ingredients to buy, where to buy them, which slot in my day do I have time to buy weights me down tremendously. And that is just one singular meal. Then comes the long list of my neglected tasks that make me feel weary and guilty whenever I thought of them. I need to clear the detritus in my mind. But how many hours does one have in a day? Just contemplating the magnitude of accumulative tasks for a week stresses me.

I expect my helper to take over the physical household chores... but I did not expect myself to become unparalysed by my mental clutter just like that. All of a sudden, as we got used to one another, she took over planning the day's events in the house. She tracks Megan's feeding time, worries over weekly schedule and workflow, reminds me what I need to buy for her to do her work etc... Basically, she took over my mental household to-do list so that I do not need to do the thinking.

Suddenly, I could focus better and am more effective in what is left for me to do. Suddenly my happiness index went up!! Ken must testify that I become calmer with an improved sense of inner peace. I also become more patient with sweetie pie and have more energy to play.

What an amazing transformation!! Gareth, you are right!! I do get use to having a helper very quickly...

In other news... against our better judgement, we bought sunflowers during the CNY season. The part time Bengali nursery worker told us "sunflower good buy! cannot die!" WAHHHH.... BUY. BUY 3!

After 2 weeks, all the crowning jewels died. We discovered that when they die, they let off a very sour smell... yucks... we have no choice but to nip the dead lumps off. To our surprise, after trimming the dead flower, buds started to grow at every leave junction on the stalk. Impressive and they all started to bloom! Not as big as the crowing jewel of cause but healthy flowers all the same.

After 2 weeks all the flowers died and the accumulative sour stench of forty over flowers made us decide to abandon the planter project and throw everything away. Our helper of course is the one who took the pots out.

Cheers!

Life as Life goes

We all have our moments of insecurities.

We become uncertain of our directions and decisions. Lose confidences in our strengths and become overly sensitive about our weaknesses. I am having that moment now. Not a huge one but sizable.

Started my new job and I have to say... I love it!!! The outward facing part is fun and filled with adrenaline... They call it business development - totally new to me, but which I have heard I am a natural. Quite surprising considering I do not feel comfortable approaching people with intention... I feel like an insurance agent! The redeeming factor may be that I am really passionate about what I talk about... hence I talk well.

Passion... a term I have not embraced for quite a while and high time I grab chunks and chunks of it... This new job allows me to merge my two passions - Design and setting up hotels.

Inward facing - I have to manage 20 odd people in a studio. How hard can that be?! Right?

To a certain extend, I can be quite wrong....

I have heard before that an office does not run by itself... and YES.. it does not!!! Damn! You need to motivate the staff, keep them busy, chart their learning and career path, balance the work load, manage office gossip, ensure quality work... its a whole pot of small little things but all interconnected and need to be managed... And more importantly, an office needs a leader.. and hey!!! Last heard, I am the leader...

Uncertainty as to what to do can drive up an easy solution -  hide in one singular role and let someone else make the decision. Inaction. Inaction. Inaction. I admit, I do that... at times...

Grow up Gal! Stop hiding and do something! I know what I can do, should do but I am just not doing it!!! One step may not make a world of difference but at least it is a step and it is better than not doing anything. Action Action Action Woman!! Control what you can control and for those that you can't, don't take it to heart! Hmmm.... sounds like what my bestest fren used to tell me all the time....

And hey, I should do just that!

Since the new year, I have met up with many individuals new and old. Not all encounters have been pleasant and good. Some people make me beam, they are so full of vitality and hope even with setbacks in their life. And that is because they find life too precious to be wasted on things they do not believe in and are willing to take a chance and make a change. These friends make me proud.

Other people prefer a slow and steady decay, blaming everyone else for their misfortunes instead of taking things in their own hand. The fact that people I seriously care about prefer the latter life used to bother me greatly.  Now I have come to understand and accept that while some people are happy being happy, others are very contented being miserable. At the end of the day, I acknowledge that my idea of the way forward is not the same as everyone else. Live and let live. Everyone has the right to live their life the way they wanted it, their reasons may not be apparently to me.

Megan has been extremely trying. All the signs of Terrible Two, except that she is 15 months at best... 2.5hrs of hoaxing and still not sleeping is exploding my patience beyond my threshold. I have no idea how my in laws do it...they can accept such unreasonable behavior from Megan as part of life and live life as normal!!! I am so fortunate to have them around to help out with the naughty one... Megan would have drove me bananas...

Sensing my little stresses here and there, Ken has been most thoughtful. He told me I should stop frowning and gonna smile today because four years ago on this very day, I made a decision that changed my life!!!!.... Huh?!!! "I propose to you on this day four years ago leh..."

Hahahha... sure or not... dunno weather you are telling the truth or not! Hahahhahha but oh geee...YES you are right... I took a chance four years ago and four years later, I am still smiling.... Love you, my bui bui dear dear BBDD.

From your baby turtle (BBTT)

A-Z food book

My 1-10 book has been a huge success with Megan. My A-Z animal chart... er... not so much. I think the chart is more suitable for slightly older kids ( and my MIL says that some of the animals are too chim!!!)

So I sewed another more Megan friendly A-Z book to get her started. Make it simple, my MIL says... yah but I can't stand A for Apple, B for boy - what is the relation between Apple and Boy??? My A-Z book has to be thematic. And the theme shall be FOOD... Designed and sewn by me, combined and constructed by my Mimi...

The Standard - A for Apple

 B for Banana

 C for Carrot,

Megan loves carrots

 D for Durian.

Megan loves Durian too... dun tell the elders I fed her this...

 E for Eggplant.

I wanted E for Eggs but I dunno how to depict eggs

F for Fish

Gee... what an ugly ugly fish!!!

 G for Grapes

Sigh, not enough purple felt. A bit weak

 H for Hamburger

 I for Ice-cream

 J for Jelly

 K for Kiwi.

Black seeds made of black beads.. textile!

 L for Lemon

 M for Mangosteen

 N for Noodles

 O for Orange

 P for Pear

 Q for Quaker

My mum says PLEASE LAH... But honestly, what alternatives??

 R for Rice

 S for Strawberry

 T for Tomato

 U for Unagi

Haahahah... U tell me, U for what?

 V for Vegetable

Yah, everyone thinks my V is real lousy and I think so too

 W for Watermelon

 X for... make a guess

 Y for Yam

I am so so proud of my yam.. looks so natural!!!

Z for Zucchini

Megan, mummy didn't know such veg exist until your godma, Meiling, made a very nice Zucchini sandwich for me. Remember to ask Godma to make one for you too when you grow up!!