Rehearsal for Wannabe Pianists

It's a wonderful day today. Everything goes very smoothly for me starting from a major block-buster presentation to my Board Directors about one interesting programme i am doing. Of course, cat didn't get to show off her presentation skills but my boss whom I am assisting.

************

Rehearsal was very fun! There wer 16 pianists, some very good, some very bad. In fact, not many of my teacher's students are playing. There was one guy who had a performing diploma, so he is exceptionally good! Many of them played with alot of frills which are not really to my taste. I prefer soothing songs, lounge type and if possible, contemporary pop ballads.

I played Over the Rainbow. Hiccups at first during practise but then during the rehearsal i think i played it quite beautifully. Jan commented that it was very refreshing to hear it after so many technical trills and frilly in others. Well, I think for mere mortals, playing classic would be the right choice. Otherwise, why these ever greens like "Moon Represent My Heart", "Moon River", "Can't Help Falling in Love" remain so popular after 30-40 years?

The test will come on the actual day on Saturday. Very unfortunate that T can't attend but I will still have fun!!

Revival of my Computer!

A cat has nine lives and my computer has two!

On Sunday, I was lamenting the loss of my CPU as I couldn't get it start up. After 2 days of toggling with the plug, I finally declare this computer dead.

This morning, I consulted a computer engineer to-be (Uni student attach to my division) about the cost of a power ac supply and whether i could DIY the replacement?

Conclusion. 4 years old computer, idiot computer owner (cannot tell what is what), replacement cost = new computer.

While I was walking home 10 mins ago, the expert engineer's words of wisdom kept echoing in my mind. "sometimes it will take 24 hours for the power supply to turn on. Dell is automatic". Honestly, I don't know what he meant but obviously I must try to start it again, 48 hours later.

The result.

I am now using the trustworthy, 4 years old computer to blog again! Yeah!!
No more lugging my notebook home from now on. hehe

One Bag Poorer

Guilty Guilty me. Today in the spur of the moment, I went to the DFS and bought myself a coach bag. Not that I need another bag, but i was thinking maybe i should buy a sling bag for my holiday in Chengdu. Those that you can sling across your body and no motorcyclist can snatch it away from you.

I won't say Coach is horrendously expensive but definitely it's a stretch to my current crappy pay. It must be Spookiemouse and her coach wristlet that stir up my lemming. You know, I have zilch control over bags, clothes, makeup etc... Bad bad me...

Argh come to think about it, go to Chengdu also need money! Must think of ways to make money fast!

ohh..... before i left Coach, i spied a nice camera sling bag hanging on the rack! hehehe... (on my wish list now)

*****************

And my home computer broke down on me last night. Something just so wrong with the power supply. The CPU just wouldn't start. Test it with another electric plug and it still wouldn't work. Sigh... must get another computer AND SPEND money again....

No more skype with T! *sob sob*

Having an not so understanding mother-in-law

I was vexed by my mother-inlaw lately (mil). She of all the people I know is the most "buay zi tong" person who likes to inconvenience others and ME who is too nice to say "NO".

This friday, for the first time I stood my ground and said "NO" to her.

My mother didn't bring me up to run errands. My parents didn't even dare to suggest i run errands for them. Only occasionally, they might request, then depending on my mood. I decide I want to do it or not.

Anyway back to my mil.

*************

I have planned for a trip to chengdu to meet my darling T in April with Win. My2 weeks leave (which is so hard to apply) was approved by my boss. Coincidently, my SIL was from Chengdu and wanted to go around that time, plus i discovered there is a Natas promotion for CA flight. Which is $200 lesser than my fare of $665. Being the good samaritan, i told my sil abt the news and she wanted to go bringing Lei (2 yrs) and baby Woon. My mil wanted to follow too, to help her carry one of the kids.

Inititally, the plan was to go together but the promotion is only from 27th April onwards so they don't coincide with my leave starting on the 22April. Thus no choice, I got to ring my mil abt the bad news

Cat : Mother! The cheap air ticket only can fly from 27th April onwards

MIL : Whatever, I follow SIL

CAT : But then, you can't follow us to Lijiang already cos' you are arriving one week later

MIL : Silence.... (not so happy here)

CAT : We are in Lijiang when you arrived so you might have to stay with SIL's parents

MIL : Nevermind, SIL and we can stay in T house when you are away!

CAT : *What the hell??* You mean the kiddos and you are going to stay with T? NOOOOOOO. Cannot!

MIL : Why not?

CAT : House is too small. There is only 1 spare bedroom and there's like so many. You, SIL,

WIN, 2 kids? How to squeeze.

MIL : Then nevermind lah, the ladies stay one room with the babies and win stay with T in his room.

CAT : (F*** and still remaining my cool) How to? I don't think this arrangement will work out.

In between MIL kept convincing me it would work while I kept refuting her. Then I was shocked when she said this.

MIL : If we stayed with SIL parents, the house is old & dirty, not so good for the kids. Then the unit is at 4th storey. Got to climb. Very tiring for us. T house is cleaner.

CAT : (on the verge of blowing my top but in a gentle tone) Mother, my sil stayed there for so many years, how can you tell her, her house is not suitable for her kids? And have she told u she wanted to stay with T? cos' I believe she would want to stay with her parents.

In the end, i just told her to talk to T cos' both parties refused to see each other view point and there's just no point plain arguing.

At this point, i was really fuming. As if I wanted to go visit T and then spend the time sleeping apart? Going to Lijiang with Win sharing a room is bad enough.

*******************

Saturday morning.

My mil strike again! This time called me to run errand, to send sometime to the granny on Sunday. She has two sons, one daughter. Yet she called me? I refused to do it initally (cos i hate errands) but she was persistent and I got no choice got to agree (albeit unwillingly).

Oh btw, the granny stayed in Queenstown and I stayed in Tampines. That's the main reason why i am so unwilling.

************
BTW, T said if i can handle his mother. I would be a champion. Argh... next time going to said my car send for servicing.

DVD time!

Yipee! My Pride and Prejudice just arrived today from Amazon. Finally get my hands on the BBC version which i missed when i was in UK.

At long last. No more blogging now. Mr Darcy, pleaseee wait for me!!

One Cool Cat

Not a good day for me today. Had a high level presentation at 2.30pm and the stupid projector failed on me at 2.00pm. Very jinx. The consultants couldn't get the powerpoint onto the IBM notebook becos' it wasn't using XP. Can't read the thumb drive and theres no CD Rom reader? I wonder why the hell the admin is still using the notebook for presentation purposes? should chuck it liao lah...

While I was busy rectifying the problems, my senior could only scold and blame me for the failure. What the F****? As if i purposely spoilt the projector? How can i be held responsible if the projector fail and the stupid admin notebook can't read thumbdrive and no CD Rom reader? Anyway, some one told me later that i looked super bo chap my boss and went ahead to solve the problems. It was solved in the end but the meeting was 15 mins delayed. Whats the big deal? My director was perfectly understanding about techno hiccups.

I hate this programme! Give me alot of grieve bet my life going to shorten by 5 years when this is over. Directors can't agree among themselves what they want and my senior can't convince them.

Not in the mood to blog now. A little bit of ranting (i feel so innocent!!) but then, what the heck? I might be going to chengdu soon.

Come to think of it, i was rather cool really. While my senior is hopping around scolding me and putting the blame, I could shut her out and do the rescue remedy without being affected. I am seriously one cool cat!

The News

The news was something not quite what i expected. Something I couldn't place whether it's good or bad. It was very long really, and i was somewhat lost in the middle of it, catching only the gist.

To T, it is definitely a cause to throw a party to celebrate (in advance). To me, maybe not.

And T, is my darling husband stationed in Chengdu for the 2nd year running. 2 years right after our marriage. Reason - better career advancement. Despite the crappy allowance, he is to to my horror , enjoying his life there. Surviving very well with no friends, no family, no chicken rice , no red wine, no sex , no car, and most importantly NO WIFE!!

I got to admit, I am surviving well without him too. Though sometimes, I will whine and complain but hey.. I have an exciting life here too in Singapore. I have my piano, my spookiemouse gang, my family, his family, my job, my chicken rice. my makeup and HIS CAR and our home.

Back to the news. His boss spoke of a grand plan for future developments in China. His company is going all out for the China market and is looking to groom the 2nd tier management. Needless to say, he is one of them. So in short, his boss dangled a very big carrot, a senior position which i doubt i can achieve in my life time. The downside is, he might have to be stationed him China for the next many many years. Though that was not explicitly said, but subtle hints were dropped saying it's more effective to oversee in china rather than in Singapore. Needless to say, T will jump on the opportunity. Who wouldn't?

And now because of T, I have to face the big question.

Do I want to relocate to China? (willingly)

What News?

Just received an SMS from T from chengdu, saying he had a meeting with his boss and have news to tell me.

What news? Can't be that offer me a job to chengdu again! yucks.i don want! Just when i am enjoying my time in Changi i don't want to go change and go china. (unless absolutely necessary)

Talking to T now. Waiting anxiously for his news.

Lights Out Cat

Argh…. I am flying in the sky now. Everything looks cloudys to me. Hardly have any brain cell left to think. Need to vet papers yet the words and alphabets are jumping around, smiling at me! Gosh. This is all the fault of TTC hazelnut frappe last night. Darn ! I hate it when I couldn’t sleep. As of now, there’s no way I could engage myself in an intelligent conversation nor could do shouting matches with my colleagues. Sure lose hands down.

I slept at 4am yesterday. I shall comfort myself that at least I will do a “Lights Out Cat” when I hit the bed tonight. *Big Yawn*

I suspect Spookiemouse will laugh at me when she read this!

Mr J - Part 2

Spookiemouse dropped a bomb this afternoon. Mr J has a galfriend now! It didn't come as a shock to me as after all, Mr J has a lifestyle! The suspicion was confirmed by R who spotted him and his new young gal looking "lovey dovey" in town last week.

I told Spookiemouse that she is too good for him. Reasons, in Part 1 of Mr J, I have already written that Mr J is none too intelligent especially on the biz thingy. Apparently, his "ignorant" in the world of biz was magnified by Mel (old timer) in one of their dealings. Poor Mel had alot of patience to guide this green horn, who wants to buy and trade fake branded clothing, but has has no idea (1) type of apparels he wants, (2)whether the clothes for male or female, or kids, (3) whether it's jeans, T-shirt, dress, (4)Season (whether winter, autumn) All he knows is, "I WANT TO BUY FAKE BRANDED CLOTHINGS". oh.. did he said he want which brand? I think not.

Above is a typical example. This list could go on. Christina told me i should write something on his ability to "cow peh" ("shout" in hokkien). Honestly, Spookiemouse has the highest tolerance and patience in her. Cos' this Mr J would track her whereabouts and then "cow peh" to her, when she is out with her friends, monitoring her movements. Afraid that she is out with other men. (Spookie, is very attractive oh) Is this a sign of low self confidence? We made a discovery today, in friendster.

His network of sweet young things! I thought he is very mature. (cos he boast knowing all the big shot this and that and his network are all the rich men son's) the least I expect is the sweetie young gals. Seems like this side of him deludes Spookiemouse, until now.

Apparently, Mr J's wrote in his friendster's account

1. He watch amazing race? According to Spookie. She is the one who watch, not him.
2. He dives? Not really. Cos' he has no money to dives and the last time was soooo long ago.
3. CSI? ? I doubt he has the brains for that.

*at this point* i really can't help but laugh. JAZZ???

Was commenting to Spookie that his lifestyle seems to be a mirror of her's rather than him. Very ironic cos' apparently, spookie was told her lifestyle could not fit in ?

Dear Spookie, it's time to throw and lock way all Mr J's memories and move on.. You deserve better. (definitely someone who can afford to pay yourhis air tickets and movie tickets)

*Retraction* Cat Flying has to retract her earlier statement saying that J is a computer idiot. cos' obviously his network of 107 friends in friendster shows that he does surf, after all! :p

Feeling Sleepy

The wave of fatigue suddenly hit me. I am now floating in the cloud or blurriness. I need to sleep. Haven’t been sleeping well for the past 2 nights. Even the 2.4km run yesterday didn’t help and on the contrary worsen my insomnia. Despite tired and weary physically, my mind just refuse to shut. Got a 2 hour talk by my biggest boss later. Darn… hope I won’t drift to sleep in the comfortable auditorium.

****************
After the talk

I am feeling disappointed. Confirmed my suspicions that i won't be getting the annual payout for some performance thingy. Only those people who worked in year 04-05 will get the pay out. Feeling super low morale now.

Chance or Choice

Choice or Chance

When we meet the right person to love,
when we're at the right place at the right time,
that's a chance.

When you meet someone you're attracted to,
that's not a choice.
That's a chance.

Being caught up in a moment
(and there are a lot of couples who get together because of this)
is not a choice.
That's also a chance.

The difference is what happens afterwards.
When will you take that infatuation, that crush,
that mind-blowing attraction to the next level?
That's when all sanity goes back,
you sit down and contemplate
whether you want to make this into a concrete relationship
or just a fling.

If you decide to love a person,
even with his/her faults,
that's not a chance.
That's a choice.

When you choose to be with a person,
no matter what,
that's a choice.

Even if you know there are many people out there
who are more attractive, smarter, and richer than your mate,
and yet, you decide to love your mate just the same,
that's a choice.

Infatuation, crushes, and attraction come to us by chance.
But true love that lasts is truly a choice.
A choice that we make.

Regarding soulmates,
there's a beautiful movie quote that is so true about this:
"Fate brings you together, but it's still up to you to make it happen."

I believe that soulmates do exist,
that there is truly someone made for you.
But it's still up to you to make the choice
if you're going to do something about it or not.

We may meet our soulmates by chance,
but loving and staying with our soulmate
is still a choice we have to make.

We came to the world not by finding someone perfect to love,
BUT to learn how to love an imperfect person perfectly.

"choice or chance"

* Above extracted from Spookiemouse Blog's. Words of Wisdom from I believe (extracted somewhere) by Litep.

***********************

What a coincidence! This evening I stumbled onto a old newspaper cutting on one's soul mate. Especially dedicated to the passing of Mr Rajaretnam. There it recounted the love life of politicians who were almost inseparable with their the other half, and that their passing left a huge void in their soul.

The story of Mr and Mrs Ong Teng Cheong was especially touching. It was reported that before Mr Ong died, he insisted and played on the piano, the favourite song of Mrs Ong. Sadly, Mrs Ong died of cancer at the age of 63 and he at 66, also of cancer but i believe his grieve of his wife escalated his demise.

Unfortunately, not many in their life has found their soul mates. Especially in today's world when one change partners like baby changing nappies. Many have searched, changing and changing but, never finding one.

I am glad (at least for now) I have found mine. Have you?

Life is a bed a thorny roses

Been too lethargic to blog last week. Had no energy left after long hours in office. Did nothing but draft, vet tender documents, write papers, write reports etc.. The last thing I would want to do after work is to WRITE again.

Life as a junior staff (with a lot of experience) is never easy. First I am getting crap pay compared to others (with lesser experience), and I am assign to jobs, no one wants.

Summary of last week’s events :

1.Did not participate in Netball tournament for PS Medal. Lucky I didn’t bccos the match start at 8pm and my day ended at 830pm.

2.Almost missed my archery class. Started at 7pm to 9pm.My day ended at 840pm. So only got to shoot say 2 rounds of arrows.

3.Watch Pride and Prejudice by Keira Knightley twice. Not that I am overly fond of this version. I found the pace too fast that's why the "twice". I still prefer the BBC version by Colin Firth. (It’s on the way from Amazon.com)

4.Friday Night was totally burnt. Was in office until 9pm sitting in front of my boss looking at her while she re-wrote my papers! I was so proud of it and now it something quite different. Darn.

5.Saturday was “In-law day”. Entertained them in Mahjong and lost a few bucks because I was too engrossed watching tv.

6.Sunday. Concert looming near. Who to come to my concert??

Celebrity Face

Was reading Cozycot forum and stumbled into an interesting link on "Match your face with a celebrity" and again saw it at Shaggyfish's blog. This cat took the challenge and to my greatest delight, I look most like -

Korean Weepy SuperStar Choi Ji Woo (71% likeness) of Winter Sonata Fame

I think I should just quit my job tomorrw and join TCS instead! Hahaha...

Food along the way

Part 2 of my trip up North. Yesterday blog was the day 1 which we ate Bak Ku Teh and cheese crab near subang airport. Day 2 was the trip back home from KL. Stopped at JB for a delicious and yummy dinner.

Litep was raving about the seafood here. When we reached there, this placed was packed with many locals and singaporeans. Not my first time. I have ate here several times, along my way to a precast yard from my previous job. My favourite got to be the R$13 fried keropok (Prawn Crackers).






We had curry meat, claypot tau foo, fried oyster with egg (one of their specialty), fried sambal potato leaves, fried bean sprouts, steam fish (hong kong style)


The Finale - Pepper Crab. C love it so much that she requested for extra rice and volunteered to finish all the crab. Hard to see it nowadays on gals.

The trip up north

Over the weekend, Litep, Spookiemouse, Catflying and 2 other friends make a short trip up to Kuala Lumpur. Very short indeed, as we made a mad rush, after work on friday, and reached our destination within 4 hours from Singapore 2nd Link. We shop, Eat, club and back on Sunday evening

Thumbs up for the Volvo S60 which safety ferried us to and fro. Very silent engine and there isn't much vibration even when speed hitting say 160Km/h? (Is that the highest?) The most challenging part of the trip got to be the navigating the big giant through the tiny, narrow carpark turns in Dorsett Regency Hotel. Luckily, our Litep possess incredible driving skills and can manoeuvre that big giant when he was drunk. (90 degrees bow)

The first stop. Qbar at Westin 1. The crowd was mainly middle age man and women and lots of ang moh expatriates . We even spotted 3 or 4 chic transvestite that we hardly could tell they were "it". Darn! I got to say they are damn flexible when dancing to the bollywood song.

This bar shot was taken from the 2nd level. While i was enthusiatically about to begin my photo journey, I realised that i forgot to take my SD Card! Argh... So with the whatever inbuilt memory my camera left, I snap whatever I could.

Saturday Lunch - Bak Ku Teh KL style. Has tau pok, sea cucumber, pig's stomach, fatty pork, dried shitake mushroom, golden straw mushroom . Very yummy. Cost 20Ringgit Per person. Not cheap.

To be Legolas

This evening was my 2nd lesson in archery. Had alot of fun. Learnt how to string a bow, strike up a cool stance, suck in my gut, pull the string, aim, shoot!

I realised in order to steady the bow, one need to have good arm strength. I was already shaking when i pulled the string, take aim. The whole training took 2 hours and now my right bicep is protesting!

Not bad. This aspiring Legolas got most of her arrows within target. A good encouraging start for me. I can't wait for the next session to come!!

Where is my thumb drive?

Today i need to download some documents from the internet and print it using my office local pc. Not that there are no connection to the printer but, i want to print in colours which only link to a local pc. Thus i need a thumb drive to extract and transfer the information. The problem is, where is my thumb drive?

Of course, i wouldn't think of using a floppy disk. Not that it couldn't serve my purpose but then it's so unfashionable unspeakable to be caught with a floppy disk? ME ME??? (need to maintain image)

To my horror, i couldn't find my thumbdrive in my drawers in my bag. The coolest and smallest thumbdrive in the world by Aigo!! Shit. This is my Chinese New Year present from T and is not cheap. Aigo is my 2nd thumbdrive and needless to say I lost my very first one (which is super duper sleek and thin)I don't think i am careless and that scatterbrain enough to drop it. This cat is always extremely careful in NOT losing things! *sob sob*

Now that T heard I have lost my thumbdrive he wagered with W that I will lose my 3rd one in no time. (not that i have a 3rd one) T then suggested getting those big, bulky looking thumb drive if best looks like a water bottle so that i won't lose it! #$$#%^#$^%$ He said something like the olden days motorola handphone which we can use to whack pple) Argh......

I must start hunting for my thumbdrive tomorrow. I just don't believe i would have misplaced it. It must be somewhere waiting for me!!

Dearie Aigo.. where are you????

***************
While T is online saying that he is utterly disappointed with me and yaba yaba... I found my thumbdrive! Haha.... This cat is not a scatterbrain after all.