Hello...Ganma :)

Phone rings.....

Me: Hello?
Baobei: Hi Ganma (loud and clear)
Me: Boy! What are you doing?
Baobei: I.....(cannot decipher)...playing toys. Ganma you see...
Baobei's mummy: Ganma cannot see :)
Baobei: Ganma, you see the colours.
Me: Ganma cannot see you :(
Baobei's mummy: What do you want to ask Ganma?
Baobei: Ganma.....(cannot decipher again :() want to come?
Me: You want me to go to your house?
Baobei: Yes
Baobei's mummy: He asked how come you didn't come over just now?
Baobei: How come you didn't come?
Me: Ganma was at Ganma's muumy's house.
Baobei's mummy: Ok bye!
Baobei: Bye Ganma, BYE (loud and clear and so chirpy :))
Me: Bye, Boy :)
Me in thoughts......my baobei just called me :)

Our Restaurant...Revisited

There is nothing fanciful about it. There is nothing atas about it. The food is not something you will die for. But it is a restaurant that has nostalgic moments. A cozy place where you enjoy a quiet dinner. Where waiters are a good mix of old and young. You wonder who are their customers. Are they sailors? Or just your next door neighbours?

Car park is tugged away beneath the building, where the gantry suggests only seasonal parking. You need a friendly buzz to the restaurant at the gantry for chirpy waiter to provide you with the entry. This is the Marina's Corner....

Lethal Combination

If Apple + Coke + Whisky = Irritable Bowels,

Does
=> Apple + Whisky = Irritable Bowels?
=> Apple + Coke = Irritable Bowels?
=> Coke + Whisky = Irritable Bowels?

New Perspective!

Does this sounds familiar? You work harder than your boss, you seem to know more than your boss, you are more stress than your boss, you have lesser time for other personal things as compared to your boss..... Doesn't sound logical right? I used to think that something was wrong with my boss. Note, the word is used to. Recently, I am beginning to see this whole situation of an "ineffective" boss from a new light. Maybe I appear to work harder because I have placed work as top priority. I know more than my boss because I choose not to let go. I have lesser time for other personal things because I choose to place work first. So, the whole feeling of imbalance and "why am I paid less but have to work more" syndrome is self-inflicted. If I rearrange my priorities and still do my best in office, maybe I can achieve more self satisfaction. Rather than deriving satisfaction from work, shouldn't I derive it from things that are important to me? Late enlightenment :)

Sunday Outing

Adrian and I decided to take a Sunday outing to Hort Park. This is one of those rare occasion where he forsakes his routine tennis game with Beng and gang. By the time we had breakfast and arrived at the park, it was already about 10am. We met many families who had picked Hort Park as their Sunday destination too. It was a nice walk round the Park and up Kent Ridge Park. I certainly miss the cool and dry weather back in Moscow. Just 10 minutes into our excursion, we were already hot and sticky. We followed the path up to Kent Ridge Park where there is a short little tree top walk.

When we happily concluded our Sunday escapade, we took a detour to IKEA to return an utensil holder which I had bought earlier and to take advantage of the free drinks in there (for IKEA members). All went well until we were about 5 minutes away from our house. A black Mitsubishi abruptly cut into our lane. Then a loud bang and yes, our new car was hit by a motorcycle following too close behind. She broke my right brake light :(. What a way to end a wonderful Sunday morning.

Which is better?

Jenny and I have this idea of submitting our baobeis' photos to the Straits Times (the column that shows all the cute bbs). What do you think of these shots of Sophie? Which do you prefer? I can't decide...she is just sooooooo cute :)

Shiiii! Slacking In Office

It's just the Friday mood. It's just the need to slack after a major event. It's just an excuse :P
Suppose to bury myself in work at this time since there is another major event coming up in 2 weeks. But what did I do? I BLOGGED! At 3pm on a Friday afternoon! I was trying to prevent myself from reminiscing about the carefree life in Moscow (yes, how contradictory!). I realised I have not been sleeping well for the past 1 month and when weekend arrives, I just sleep and sleep. The subconscious mind has been reminding me of the various deadline I have missed and the many more that are coming up.

I begin to wonder if I should try a different kind of work. How about working part time? How about having my own business? How about just being a landlord? How about doing adjunct teaching? I guess options are unlimited if we put our hearts into doing it (another paradox haha...need some change but too "inertialised" to change :P).

Me. Me? Me!

I shall start my week with a relatively morbid question. However, please do not panic, I am just being curious. Question is, "What would you remember about me or what would you add in my eulogy if I were to depart from this world?" What's your take?

I Survived!

Finally ended this horrific week. Thank you.... those who stood by me, those who suffered under my terrible moods, those who told me I did well, those who offered their shoulders.

State of Insanity

This week is total madness for me. Boss and colleague are on study trip and my partner in crime (haha) had resigned. So sad. Have to cover for almost all of them. I have been switching from folders to folders trying to multi-task...trust me, it's not easy and not good for my tiny brain. You can see my near to insanity state from my work station....2 more days before the nightmare ends!

The Use of TIR

Term was developed by one of us (not sure who) for use in situation:

a) when we are pissed beyond words but have no means of retailiation;

b) when we need some words of consolation;

c) when we are resigned to an undesirable outcome;

d) when we cannot find any other logical explanation;

e) when we try to immerse in their daily way of life;

f) when we want to verbally express our dissatisfaction to the inner circle;

g) when we need to communicate via riddles.

Last few days in Moscow...

My last few days in Moscow haven't been very smooth sailing. The tv cable was faulty since 2 days ago and it can only be repaired on Sat (TIR). Fortunately or unfortunately, I got to watch the UEFA Champions League on the internet last night. One of my wisdom teeth decides to cramp itself into my already packed lower jaw and it has been giving me excruciating pain and migraine. The weather is lousy. It has been raining and will continue until I board the plane on Monday (trust their weather forecast, it's accurate!). I wonder what awaits me in the next 3 days.

Glossary: TIR = This is Russia

New Look!

Noticing that my original blog skin is getting common, I know it's time to change. I have always envied Nicole for being able to create such sleek looking designs so I decided to have a go at designing my own. End product, though not as professional as Nicole's, is still to my liking. But to friends who are not aesthetically focus, content is still the attraction. Hope you like my little creation :) This change marks the next phase of my life, where an abandoned friend is not being abandoned in Moscow anymore. But will her return be more permanent or just another temporal phase, she has yet to uncover.

Central Europe Escapade

To celebrate my getting a year older this year, Adrian planned a central Europe escapade, taking advantage of the few public holidays here in Moscow. The plan was to land in Vienna, spend a day there, hitch a ride from our friends who will be driving into Vienna to lecture, to Budapest. Spend about 3 days there and hop onto a train that would take us to Prague. Nua another 3 days there and jump into another train that would take us back to Vienna.

Stop 1 - Vienna (Wien)

By being in the capital of music, of course we needed to make plans to attend a concert. We were spoilt for choice. There were people selling all kinds of concerts, operas etc on the streets. So many that you couldn't decide what to watch. Here's a tip. Many of these concerts are private, small scale ones and not performed in nice concert halls. So, go for those which are held in the opera house or bigger concert halls like the one in the famous new year concert.

Stop 2 - Budapest

The "Hungarian Dance" tune came to my mind. It was a scenic little city. Especially so during the night. Budapest is a city divided by river Danube. The side where the castle is situated is called Buda, the other side is called Pest. Pest is not pronounced as "Pest" but "Pesh". The stop at Budapest was quite fun except...the hotel or should I say the guest house. For some reasons, unknown to me and Adrian, he decided to book a guest house and did not see the very fine print of the reception being closed after 6pm. So when we reached the guest house at 12 midnight, we saw a note that was left behind for us. "We have waited for you until 11pm but you did not show up. We have left. Please call this number when you arrived." Great! Temperature was about 6-10 degrees then and I was only in my raincoat! So we called and waited 40 minutes for the guy to turn up. Next came the payment...cash only! What the .....! So all our US$ gone. Then came the room...typical soviet style with a 5cm thick pillow!!! Black face at this stage while Adrian was guilt-stricken (poor thing).

Other than the guest house...which subsequently also created other hiccups (like no hot water, no soap), the experience was quite fun.

Stop 3: Prague

It was a beautiful place. Lots of interesting architecture. At some angles, while walking up Charles bridge, the buildings looked medieval. Nice place but expensive cos it was too touristy. Hotel was comfortable compared to the you know what earlier on. And how often do you meet friends when travelling? We did! Met a friend we knew from Moscow. What a coincidence! All went well until the last day. After dinner, we wanted to take a walk to the Wenceslas (??) square. While crossing the cobber-stones filled road, I gave a loud yell and tears started coming out from my eyes. I had badly twisted my left ankle. So painful that I could hardly get off the track of an incoming tram. That's it, end of the evening walk and the beginning of a limping 2 days in Vienna. Luckily, the swell went off when I got back to Moscow and I was counting my blessing that it was just a twist. Greatest taboo is to go hospital for anything in Moscow...

1.3...time passes so fast!

Today marks 1.3. Time passes so fast. But memories seem to stay....

What have I been doing?

I often wonder, in my free time, if friends in Moscow are wondering about me? Well, sorry for not updating the blog for almost 2 months. Juggling with house renovation and work, there was little time left to do much blogging. Had been feeling very tired recently and all I wanted to do after work was bathe and jump right into bed. Maybe I had been too slacked for the past 2 years. The turmoil of full day work needs a little getting used to. Friends in Singapore were thinking I must be nuts.

Besides the tiredness, I also started to doubt my capabilities. It seems to have gone for a holiday too. I don't seem to be able to perform like I used to in work. I'm scare. Did I really lose it? Or is it just a matter of getting myself back in pace? Or have I overrated myself in the past? I don't know. Perhaps I need some assurance to allay this lack of confidence.

1.2 today....

This is meant for me again. It's ok if you don't understand what it means.

English...Engrish...

For the many that cringe due to poor English, when reading my posts, I apologise. I aspire to write flawlessly but whenever Adrian reads them, he will spot all kinds of grammatical mistakes. I can even visualise my ex-boss circling the mistakes with red ink pen :P. I must admit that I do not have a strong foundation in the language and some of the mistakes are just not apparent to me. Sometimes, I cannot even differentiate Singlish form of writing to English. But I enjoy writing. I enjoy jotting down my thoughts, my perspectives and my feelings about things around me. I guess it would be worse if I do not write at all. Then there will be no room for improvement. While I try to improve, please do not give up reading my posts.

Drivers' Blues

We were once very blessed with a fantastic driver. He took good care of the car, ensured that every inch of it was clean (something very hard to maintain in Moscow) and was very proud to drive in it. All the horror stories we heard from friends about their drivers were distant to us. However, things changed when Adrian changed job.

We have 2 drivers now (on a 2-day rotation schedule) and we find ourselves counting on only one. The other one belongs to the pool of "undesirable drivers". What constitutes being an "undesirable driver"? Here's my experience....

Driver M arrived at my apartment. It was our first meeting. I opened the car door and discovered grass on the back seat. Driver M indicated to me that the back seat was dirty and suggested that I take the front seat instead. Fair enough, I thought. I was meeting some friends for lunch and it so happened that they decided to hitch a ride to a nearby supermarket after the meal. When they got on board, he was immediately mesmerized by one of my friends. When she failed to get into the car again after the supermarket visit, he asked about her whereabouts. *Scratch head*

I told Adrian about the grassy back seat and we suspected that he had used the car to either transport something or had taxied someone.

The next day, he was tasked to fetch me again. This time, he assumed that I should take the front seat but I declined. (Some drivers, when driving a female, prefer to have them seated at the front; to show off!???) Maybe I was being sensitive but I did not think he took the refusal very well. *But who cares?*

Many days later, I heard that he was skirt chasing one of Adrian's colleagues, trying ways and means to date her. *What was he thinking?!!!*

After that episode, on one cold winter day, we found a bottle of half-drunk coke in the drinks compartment of the car. It didn't belong to the other driver, neither did it belong to us nor Driver M. So, possible scenario is that Driver M, being the driver the day before, picked up a passenger (let's call him Passenger C) who had a half-drunk bottle of coke. As Passenger C got off, he forgot about it and our dear Driver M did not even realise that Passenger C had left behind that bottle of coke! Well, we could not conclude anything as it was all just a guess and he was not caught red handed. But certainly, our tolerance was running out.

All was calm until a few days ago. It was his turn to drive Adrian but the other driver was unable to contact him the day before to notify him about the time. He was nowhere to be found in the morning and when he finally appeared in office, he refused to explain to anybody about his disappearance. *PMS?*

The last straw came today. He was supposed to fetch me at 1130. He decided to leave the office at 0930! On a good day, the drive from the office to my apartment takes only 15 minutes. On a bad one, it would take at most an hour. Never, never requiring a 2-hr lead time. When he was stepping out of the office door at 0930, Adrian's colleague stopped him. "Damn! There goes my plan!", I guess this was what he was thinking then. Well, that's not the end of the saga. When we reached office, he told Adrian that the front car plate had dropped off! How? Don't know. When? Don't know. Where? Don't know. Explaining that he could easily be stopped by the police without the car plate, he said he needed to get back to the leasing company to get the plate replaced. This would take at least 2 1/2 hours (actually, they just needed an hour at the most). So the plan was, he would drive me home first before proceeding to get the plate replaced. I waited and waited in the office. "Where the hell was he?" Turns out that he decided to put the back car plate at the front and take a drive to find the other plate. *I call that stupidity!*

We had had enough! Though it didn't feel good, he would be replaced with effect from Friday. I think it is important to have a driver you can trust. What I don't like about him is his dishonesty. He is also not a careful driver, especially when his mood is down and I certainly wouldn't want to let someone like that accidentally "murder" me. Let's hope the replacement is better.

Gloomy Day...

Maybe it is the lack of sunshine...because I have a very bleak outlook of my future. One morning I woke up and realised that I would be 32 in May. Frantically checking my memory, I was taken aback that I had not achieved much and 2 years just slipped by me. 2 years of doing nothing! I panicked! I was desperate! I needed to kick start my life again. How? I was confused!

The news on TV didn't make it easier. Looks like US is heading towards a recession and Japan too. The job market may not be as vibrant as I want it to be. After 2 years, what am I still capable of? Can I still find a job I love so very much?

Many people have told me that I should find something to do to keep myself going. It's not an excuse but is it really so easy? It is very convenient to say, "Oh, you have all the time to do things you like now." Is it true? I am tired of explaining to people that we have taken conveniences in Singapore for granted and assume that we can apply such conveniences everywhere we go. "Do something you like" ....easier said than done. Half the time, I find myself doing something for the sake of doing. When you don't get to choose, anything available is probably God bless.

Maybe it's mid-life crisis, maybe it's a lack of self-esteem, maybe it's a lack of sunshine, maybe I've had enough, maybe it's a mix of everything.......it's time for me to get my life back.