Jamming Lady

Last night, my house was full of the smoke from praying. Even outside of the windows blew smoky incense wind from where people were burning incense papers. Midnight is the time when 9th day of Lunar New Year reaches. It is also the time when we pray to the Heavenly Jade Emperor for his birthday. A form of welcome for his majesty to visit the family.

In difficult times, I think god sometimes plays an important part in our life. I will pray for the good things to come, hope for blessings from the good deeds we have done and may there be forgiveness for any wrongdoings. I think dreams keep us going; dreams are always possibilities in life. Motivation is key. Adidas: Impossible is Nothing. Yes!

I think due to medicine I took for my blocked nose, I am awake right now and probably talking strange things. Pardon me. Geez.. please get me to sleep and prepare for a good tomorrow!

When things start to get difficult, the only way to get around it by being optimistic and win the situation.

The theory is simple and it is like the Chinese Kongfu technique, Taiji. It doesn't just mean pushing things to others. The technique teaches us how to handle the stumbling block by getting around it and eventually win it.

Face it, there isn't a 100% in this world. If we can win 80% and lose 20%, treat it that we won. If we can increase the winnings with another 10-20%, treat it as a blessing. Nobody wants to lose. Of course, sometimes the result can be subjective. Which way do you prefer to see it?

It's the beginning of the new year. Before looking at what is to be done for 2009, what have I achieved in 2008?

Let's recap my 2008 resolutions:

1. Get my driving license.

I've almost completed my driving lessons (BUT I have not gotten the license!)

2. Get my PMP.

I've completed my PMP course (BUT I have not taken the exam!)

3. Win lottery.

OKAY... I NEED TO DO MORE PRAYERS

4. Buy a house/apartment nearer workplace.

Consider DONE. Oh well, it's not nearer but maybe more accessible??

5. At least 3 vegetarian days each week excluding travelling days.

I didn't know that I have such a funny exclusion clause on travelling days. DID not achieve but I did it once a month occasionally. :P

6. Do more charity.

Yes!!! I am proud to say that I did. I donated items to Salvation Army 3 times this year. I shall make it a culture. And at my employer's charity events, I had to donate some money under peer pressure. :S

7. Fill up 1/4 of piggybank in the office.

It wasn't 1/4, but 1/12. :P

8. Own a new UMPC.

I have discarded this "want" of my life and I am happy with my Thinkpad.

9. Learn to cook more new healthy dishes.

Yes!!! I did manage to learn more new dishes. Healthiness sometimes is subjective. :P

10. Have a fulfilling year 2008.

Yes!!! It was fulfilling with a number of memorable events. :)
 
Not so bad eh? I score 4 out of 10. hahaha.

Yesterday, I had a simple dinner at Mos Burger. I had Clam Chowder soup with the potato croquette. Soft food for me eat. The Clam Chowder soup is a disappointment. However, it was not about food that I wanted to talk about.

I met this old Chinese couple at Mos Burger having dinner. The wife had ordered food and they were waiting for the food. I am surprised that they actually had food at Mos Burger. I thought it's a youngster stuff. It seems that they went shopping and decided to rest there. They seemed to enjoy the food.

They look loving. I wonder if all love could last like this. I have seen and heard a few too many examples of disappointing men. It is challenging my confidence in man's love. Once again, this scenario warms my heart back. Greatest Love of All...

Last week, we had a recession lunch at Brewerkz. We were facing the heat of the recession and so we decided to delight ourselves with great food but not too extravagant. Brewerkz happy hour price was $10 per jug of Golden Ale. Great deal.

Cold cold beer

Beef Burger

I went for a dental surgery yesterday for a tooth extraction. Although I've had my tooth plucked before, you can't eliminate the fear. It's better that you don't know about it at all.

So with recommendation, I visited this dental clinic where I've never been. The place is small and cosy although it is not located in a super upmarket building. I heard that they are good and professional. Of course, they come with a price. Private service with a private price, just like private hospitals.

Since it is my first time, I had to fill in an admission card. They also performed an X-ray scanning for me. Their machine is kind of new age. It scans like an MRI, just that you are standing and of course the scan is only on your jaws. The machine will rotate around your jaw area to get the images.

The clinic lounge area where you sit and wait

The espresso machine and the entrance to the surgery rooms

The nurses take care of you and explains everything in detail. They also help to check on you every now and then to attend to your needs. You are never left to think about what's going on although it's not perfect. If you would like explanation, they'll take the time to explain what is going to happen next.

I get pillows to hug during the surgery and Burberry pattern blankets to cover my body to prevent myself from feeling cold. I get sunglasses to wear to prevent my eyes from facing the light, thereafter they would cover my eyes with a mask during the surgery. I am not sure if they just don't want me to see the dentist with big eyes. Haha.

They had coffee machines and instant noodles available if you did not eat. However, I think there are enough butterflies in my tummy. Actually I had a Coffee Bean Brek 'O' Day's breakfast before I went. Hehehe.

They gave me a number of antibiotics and a first dose of painkillers. Lots of anaestatic is also injected. During the surgery, I felt nothing at all. Hearing all those sounds is enough and feeling the strings during the stitching. After the surgery, I had the pain 2 hours later while biting on the gauze. It was a 1.5 hours of pain before I dare to take some painkillers by opening my mouth.

And tada.. no more, life as usual. One big tooth extracted. The wisdom of my life...

I don't know why, recently I've found that the food from Delifrance is getting better and better. It seems like they have made an effort to improve the quality. Food served are melting hot.

My Beef Lagsane

Meatball Pasta

As for Coffee Bean, they always great with their salads. As for their breakfast, it's not bad for the prices between $7 and $10. Oh well, at least better than Macdonalds.

Eggs Benedict

Not exactly good, tasted like a premix. However, it's still okay.

Friday Off!

I had an off day last Friday. I went to Sentosa for a break. The island is better on a weekday, much less crowded. The beach was hosting Youth beach volleyball tournaments. Anyway, we couldn't really be bothered, so we focus on beer and eating at Coastes Bar instead. A group happened to be holding their private function.

My Carlsberg Draft Beer at Coastes Bar

My Fresh Green Salad at Coastes Bar

Saturday Off!

I organised a Hen's Night for one of my best buddies! She is getting married one month later. I had it planned out.. but somehow everything somewhere went wrong a little. Due to the number of attendees, it was not as exciting as what I thought. Oh well, luckily she enjoyed the catching up with us though. We had great pictures together. The late night ended with minced pork noodle at a coffee shop. Haha.

Sunday Ending!
That's today! The long weekend is ending. I had a great lunch at Dempsey road with my favourite flat white. A day at the Science Centre was fun too.

I haven't had a hair trim for a few months. The hair was growing quite long. I decided to go for a quick haircut. Recently, they've setup a QB House inside the Jurong East Bus Interchange where I would always be there to board my feeder bus. I decided to give it a try. $10 for a 10min haircut they say. I heard that their haircut is not bad for this price.

What's QB? It means "Quick Beauty". The concept came from Japan. The hairstylists are trained by the Japanese instructors. It is about having a quick haircut at a low rate and with a reasonable quality.

I bought the QB House ticket. They have a ticket machine where I put in a $10 note and out comes a ticket like this:

The salon comes in a box which is like a small cabin. Fully equipped. Somehow they have a technique to keep hair away from your shirt/blouse. All equipments are sterilised in a machine. The comb used for your hair is always either given to you or thrown away. After the haircut, there is a tool to vaccuum away any stray hair left on your hair or face.

My feeling immediately is it's so clean!!! That is their professionalism. I'm truly impressed.

QB House Website

It's Halloween Day today. By chance I had my project kick-off meeting today. It's the start of a new project. In my last project kick-off, I had it during the Chinese "Halloween Day" too. Phew.. hope both of them will go well!

Anyway, luckily my driving lesson didn't go too bad today. I was quite satisfied with the revision of my stage 2 classes. Changing of lanes, making U-turns smoothly and changing down of gears. I'm getting smoother each time.

Today marks the end of stage 2. So, the instructor told me that after this, I need to take a simulator lesson where I will be practising stuff that I don't get to learn in reality until emergency happens. He told me that it's like an arcade game. All right then.

I was also told that I'm tip-toeing on my left foot on the clutch. The instructor told me to get a pillow to support my back so that my left foot can touch the clutch completely. Oh well, I'm too short. The pillows are kept in the instructor room, feels abit embarassing to go and get it before lesson and put it back after lesson. We'll see how it goes.

What comes next? Hallelujah!