Thursday, December 21, 2006
Delicious Steak
Delicious Steak
Yesterday, Piggy brought me to this place called "Aston" at East Coast Rd for dinner. It was fabulous! I really liked the steak, the baked potato and the potato salad! The food was simply delicious and I would definitely visit it again. One negative point was the long queue, but I guess that explains the quality of the food. We had to wait for quite a while before we were finally ushered in. Being a small eatery, I guess maybe this is inevitable.
After dinner, we walked past the coffee shop next door and saw a police officer interviewing the shop owner. Apparently, there had been a fight there earlier, indicated by the traces of blood that were still on the ground. Luckily, we were not disturbed by the fight when we were eating.
After dinner, we walked past the coffee shop next door and saw a police officer interviewing the shop owner. Apparently, there had been a fight there earlier, indicated by the traces of blood that were still on the ground. Luckily, we were not disturbed by the fight when we were eating.
Kimmie scribbles
2:16 pm |
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Relaxed Wednesday
My boss is on leave again today. Feels great! The whole office is quiet and peaceful and the weather seems cool, not too hot nor too cold. After the bout of continuous rain for the past 2 nights 1 day, the sky has finally cleared up. It's simply refreshing. I m also looking forward to my coming long weekend and to Piggy's birthday! But oops, I haven't bought a present yet, cuz I haven't exactly been shopping. Haven't really felt well enough to shop for long periods of time. In fact, on Sunday, when I was at Carrefour, I was there for only a while before I started feeling uncomfortable and hence, we went back after a short while.
Saw doctor wee yesterday and everything's ok. But Piggy is very "concerned" about my weight gain. Honestly, my appetite is not that fantastic, but not sure why I m still putting on weight. I think it's probably cuz I still eat despite the fact that the food doesn't whet my appetite.
Nest month, I need to do a blood test, am really scared cuz I have never taken a blood test in my entire life!!! And someone told me she cried when she took her blood test. Wonder if it will happen to me, cuz I m ultra scared of needles. But at least I have time to prepare myself mentally. Piggy told me it's not really painful, but then i think his tolerance of pain is higher than mine!
Saw doctor wee yesterday and everything's ok. But Piggy is very "concerned" about my weight gain. Honestly, my appetite is not that fantastic, but not sure why I m still putting on weight. I think it's probably cuz I still eat despite the fact that the food doesn't whet my appetite.
Nest month, I need to do a blood test, am really scared cuz I have never taken a blood test in my entire life!!! And someone told me she cried when she took her blood test. Wonder if it will happen to me, cuz I m ultra scared of needles. But at least I have time to prepare myself mentally. Piggy told me it's not really painful, but then i think his tolerance of pain is higher than mine!
Kimmie scribbles
11:14 am |
Monday, December 18, 2006
Ice Cream Madness
Have been having this crazy craving for the "Moo Moo" icecream, the cow icecream advertised on TV --the one with the brown spots, much like the cow's hide. It's absolutely crazy, everyday, I feel like eating one and I just had one for lunch just now. I think I really should heed Poodie's advice and buy one box home. Then, I will have enough of it.
Now, I m really hoping to have a piping hot baked potato, complete with whipped cream and bacon bits. I think food really excites me. Recently, I had a sudden craving for Vietnamese "pho" when one of my colleagues mentioned about her favourite Vietnamese "pho" back in Perth. How I miss the "Pho24" back in HCMC, where you can get a big bowl of "pho" for only S$2.40 and a big cup of avocado for only S$2!!
Talking about food really makes me feel hungry. I have 3 more hrs to go before I can drive home to my dinner!!
Now, I m really hoping to have a piping hot baked potato, complete with whipped cream and bacon bits. I think food really excites me. Recently, I had a sudden craving for Vietnamese "pho" when one of my colleagues mentioned about her favourite Vietnamese "pho" back in Perth. How I miss the "Pho24" back in HCMC, where you can get a big bowl of "pho" for only S$2.40 and a big cup of avocado for only S$2!!
Talking about food really makes me feel hungry. I have 3 more hrs to go before I can drive home to my dinner!!
Kimmie scribbles
3:21 pm |
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Looks like I may never ever step into Europe cuz of my fear of birds
My PILs and SIL just came back from Europe. Honestly, it has always been a dream to be able to travel all over Europe since my uni days. But to date, I have not gotten down to even planning for it, cuz my hubby isn't very interested in Europe. Although he has never been there, Europe is not a place which fascinates him, like me. I like Europe though I have never been there, cuz I think there are lots of beautiful architecture there, and some famous ones as well. And I have always wanted to go to Switzerland to look at those snow-capped mountains.
But now, I think my wish may never be fulfilled. Cuz my SIL was telling us yesterday that the number of pigeons in Europe is really scary!!! And they are all over the place and all over Europe, Switzerland included!!! I had thought that perhaps, there weren't as many birds in Switzerland. But oh my, I m so wrong!!! And it's not only the volume, but also the size!!! I heard that the pigeons there are really big and fat, cuz of the weather and they are not afraid of humans at all. They can just loiter around your feet and fly off milimetres away from you. Or they can sweep past your face, so close that you probably can almost touch them! Yucks!!!
OMG, I can't imagine facing a neverending parade of pigeons. Imagine that everywhere you go, there are pigeons. No matter which direction you turn to, they just keep appearing in a non-stop manner. Oh man, it's really a nightmare!
So obviously when Piggy heard about it, he was exhilarated. He gleefully looked at me and said "I don't think Europe is a suitable place for you afterall!"
Hmp, but I still wanna visit it one day. I will probably go during winter when I have saved up enough money and cover myself all up so that at the very least, I can avoid touching them with my bare skin!
But now, I think my wish may never be fulfilled. Cuz my SIL was telling us yesterday that the number of pigeons in Europe is really scary!!! And they are all over the place and all over Europe, Switzerland included!!! I had thought that perhaps, there weren't as many birds in Switzerland. But oh my, I m so wrong!!! And it's not only the volume, but also the size!!! I heard that the pigeons there are really big and fat, cuz of the weather and they are not afraid of humans at all. They can just loiter around your feet and fly off milimetres away from you. Or they can sweep past your face, so close that you probably can almost touch them! Yucks!!!
OMG, I can't imagine facing a neverending parade of pigeons. Imagine that everywhere you go, there are pigeons. No matter which direction you turn to, they just keep appearing in a non-stop manner. Oh man, it's really a nightmare!
So obviously when Piggy heard about it, he was exhilarated. He gleefully looked at me and said "I don't think Europe is a suitable place for you afterall!"
Hmp, but I still wanna visit it one day. I will probably go during winter when I have saved up enough money and cover myself all up so that at the very least, I can avoid touching them with my bare skin!
Kimmie scribbles
3:12 pm |
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
There is a difference between being helpful and getting in the way
Sometimes, I really dun understand why my boss likes us to be the middlemen when it doesn't help the situation and adds to our workload and frustration. I m really quite pissed off with thie fund transfer thing related to the projects approved by the IP. Firstly, I m not from Finance and I know nothing about their system, rules and regulations and their everchanging arrangements internally. I really feel it would be more effective for the finance side of the teams who need the money to liase with the Finance dept directly instead of us being the middlemen. Cuz it seems that both finance sides want to push their responsibility to each other and to me, a 3rd party who knows nothing about their stupid rules and regulations and yet have to act as a silly middlemen just because my irrational boss deems it good service!
And honestly, I thought they would have solved this longstanding issue during the period when I was away on no pay leave but apparently, everything is status quo. I thought that my boss said that they were gng to arrange a meeting with both finance sides just before I went on my no pay leave but it seems that nothing has been done.
Really wonder what's my boss's responsibility sometimes? It's really easy to just say to your staff "Just be the middlemen, we should provide good service." But look at the stupid problems, confusion and irritation it causes. Sometimes, I feel that we need to be more practical than service oriented. And anyway, it's not as if we would appear to be less service oriented if we cease to be the middlemen. I dun even think it makes a difference to the team so long as they get their money. And instead, with us as the middlemen, the 2 finance sides find it so convenient to just push the responsibility to me, when in the first place, it has nothing to do with me! I just feel so irritated. And my boss is so damn irrational. Even after telling him how I feel about the stupidity of the current arrangement, he sticks to his rigid way of thinking and doing things.
And sometimes, I also wonder why I got involved in all this shit in the first place. Cuz I dun even feel it falls under my area of work. As my boss pointed out to my partner before, this is an area that should be under her purview but I m doing it for her. And the thing that pisses me off now as I think about it, is that even when she handed it over to me, it wasn't done very properly or thoroughly cuz she herself was quite blur about it. So I could sense her relief as she handed it over to me. How then am I expected to continue from there, since in an organisation like this, I dun make the rules but have to abide by them?
This just reminds me of a recent incident..we had just gotten $300 from a project, which was completed some time back. And actually, I was not even involved in the project, but because I took over the product that came out of the project from the person handling it previously, I became responsible for spending this $300 among 7 members. Of course, this is nothing difficult or so I deemed, but this thing had dragged on from before I went on no pay leave till now. And I actually handed over the money to my boss before I left for no pay leave, since the conclusion as to what to do with the money was not drawn then, even after numerous discussions with him and the people involved. He then stupidly handed over the money to my partner to ask her to think about what to do with it. And well, she sat on it for 6 mths and passed it back to me when I came back from my no pay leave. These people!!! I really wonder why they can't just get it over and done with. Is it so difficult to know what to do with $300?
Actually, I think the biggest problem lied with my boss. Cuz I remembered the reason why the money was not spent was cuz he didnt agree with my proposals, which were actually pretty simple, to divide up the money or to buy vouchers and share among the 7 members. To me, that was the simplest and most hassle-free option. But obviously, my boss saw otherwise. He felt that the money should promote teamwork and hence, he suggested a meal together coupled with a gift. But apparently, no one was interested. And now that I m back after 6 mths, he still stuck to his stupid way of thinking and insisted that we spent the money on a meal. So to "appease" him, I sent yet another email to everyone, asking them out for lunch and I even chose a place and set a date. But I only got 1 reply from one of the members, who felt that a better option was to just split up the money. And sure, I did feedback to my boss, but as I said, he was fixeted to his stupid way of thinking and simply refused to change his mind. He insisted on the meal, so dun blame me if no one turns up?
I just think it's so stupid to argue over something so trivial like this. But my boss is simply being very rigid and irrational, once again. I asked him why then, during the recent teambuilding activity we had, the prize was vouchers to be divided among staff? And he was heading that particular committee somemore. So what's so different from the case of the $300? Why can't we just buy vouchers and split them up? It's really the most convenient and effective way I could think of to spend the $300. But he again insisted it was different and babbled some rubbish, which I couldn't fully comprehend. But well, the conclusion is, we still have not found a good way to spend the $300, thanks to his rigidity and fixeted school of thoughts.
And honestly, I thought they would have solved this longstanding issue during the period when I was away on no pay leave but apparently, everything is status quo. I thought that my boss said that they were gng to arrange a meeting with both finance sides just before I went on my no pay leave but it seems that nothing has been done.
Really wonder what's my boss's responsibility sometimes? It's really easy to just say to your staff "Just be the middlemen, we should provide good service." But look at the stupid problems, confusion and irritation it causes. Sometimes, I feel that we need to be more practical than service oriented. And anyway, it's not as if we would appear to be less service oriented if we cease to be the middlemen. I dun even think it makes a difference to the team so long as they get their money. And instead, with us as the middlemen, the 2 finance sides find it so convenient to just push the responsibility to me, when in the first place, it has nothing to do with me! I just feel so irritated. And my boss is so damn irrational. Even after telling him how I feel about the stupidity of the current arrangement, he sticks to his rigid way of thinking and doing things.
And sometimes, I also wonder why I got involved in all this shit in the first place. Cuz I dun even feel it falls under my area of work. As my boss pointed out to my partner before, this is an area that should be under her purview but I m doing it for her. And the thing that pisses me off now as I think about it, is that even when she handed it over to me, it wasn't done very properly or thoroughly cuz she herself was quite blur about it. So I could sense her relief as she handed it over to me. How then am I expected to continue from there, since in an organisation like this, I dun make the rules but have to abide by them?
This just reminds me of a recent incident..we had just gotten $300 from a project, which was completed some time back. And actually, I was not even involved in the project, but because I took over the product that came out of the project from the person handling it previously, I became responsible for spending this $300 among 7 members. Of course, this is nothing difficult or so I deemed, but this thing had dragged on from before I went on no pay leave till now. And I actually handed over the money to my boss before I left for no pay leave, since the conclusion as to what to do with the money was not drawn then, even after numerous discussions with him and the people involved. He then stupidly handed over the money to my partner to ask her to think about what to do with it. And well, she sat on it for 6 mths and passed it back to me when I came back from my no pay leave. These people!!! I really wonder why they can't just get it over and done with. Is it so difficult to know what to do with $300?
Actually, I think the biggest problem lied with my boss. Cuz I remembered the reason why the money was not spent was cuz he didnt agree with my proposals, which were actually pretty simple, to divide up the money or to buy vouchers and share among the 7 members. To me, that was the simplest and most hassle-free option. But obviously, my boss saw otherwise. He felt that the money should promote teamwork and hence, he suggested a meal together coupled with a gift. But apparently, no one was interested. And now that I m back after 6 mths, he still stuck to his stupid way of thinking and insisted that we spent the money on a meal. So to "appease" him, I sent yet another email to everyone, asking them out for lunch and I even chose a place and set a date. But I only got 1 reply from one of the members, who felt that a better option was to just split up the money. And sure, I did feedback to my boss, but as I said, he was fixeted to his stupid way of thinking and simply refused to change his mind. He insisted on the meal, so dun blame me if no one turns up?
I just think it's so stupid to argue over something so trivial like this. But my boss is simply being very rigid and irrational, once again. I asked him why then, during the recent teambuilding activity we had, the prize was vouchers to be divided among staff? And he was heading that particular committee somemore. So what's so different from the case of the $300? Why can't we just buy vouchers and split them up? It's really the most convenient and effective way I could think of to spend the $300. But he again insisted it was different and babbled some rubbish, which I couldn't fully comprehend. But well, the conclusion is, we still have not found a good way to spend the $300, thanks to his rigidity and fixeted school of thoughts.
Kimmie scribbles
5:38 pm |
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Struggle to drink water
I m finding it such a struggle to drink plain water nowadays. At first, I thought it was the metallic taste of the water from the metal tank in the office that caused me to feel this way. But even after I started bringing my own bottles of water from home, I still feel the same about the bland taste of water. I never had a problem with drinking water, in fact, I always drank water like a cow. I m beginning to get a little worried.
Kimmie scribbles
11:16 am |
Friday, December 08, 2006
What a bad day to feel sick!
I hate to feel sick on a Friday, cuz it's the last day of the week and the weekend's just round the corner and I want to enjoy myself. But I m plagued by this horrible headache since last night and couldn't get a restful night's sleep. It's really so irritating to be woken by not by noise but by the pain from your head.
I seriously contemplated just taking MC and not coming in to work this morning, but considering the fact that my doctor always gives me 2 days MC, it's abit of waste to take it on a Friday. So I just gritted my teeth and went to work. One of the best things is of course, the fact that I won't see my boss for the next 10 days cuz he is on leave!
Then I saw my partner this morning, she came back to finish up some work. I really wished she could have just let me have her one day leave, then I can stay at home and rest while she can come to the office and work!
Despite all the pains, the breakffast this morning really chirped me up. Vegetarian bee hoon..I have never really liked it much, but this morning, it just tasted oh so wonderful, cuz I m really quite sick of all the other food we have been eating. My tastebuds sure feels wierd nowadays.
I seriously contemplated just taking MC and not coming in to work this morning, but considering the fact that my doctor always gives me 2 days MC, it's abit of waste to take it on a Friday. So I just gritted my teeth and went to work. One of the best things is of course, the fact that I won't see my boss for the next 10 days cuz he is on leave!
Then I saw my partner this morning, she came back to finish up some work. I really wished she could have just let me have her one day leave, then I can stay at home and rest while she can come to the office and work!
Despite all the pains, the breakffast this morning really chirped me up. Vegetarian bee hoon..I have never really liked it much, but this morning, it just tasted oh so wonderful, cuz I m really quite sick of all the other food we have been eating. My tastebuds sure feels wierd nowadays.
Kimmie scribbles
11:23 am |
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Donation of Leave?
I really think that "Donation of Leave" should be legalised in my company. Cuz there are many people, who appear to have too much leave on hand and still wanna come back to the office and work, when they are officially on leave! My good old partner is a one such classic example.
Although she is supposedly on leave this whole week, she came back to work at around 6 pm the past two evenings and today, she came back during noon. I really wonder why there is so much for her to do, that she cannot even take a breather during her leave.
Then, there is my boss, who recently took one hour time off from work one evening and then another hour time off after lunch to attend to some personal matters. And after that, as if "feeling bad" for taking time off, he emailed my big boss and informed that he would take 1/2 day leave to compensate for the 2 hrs time off he took! I can't believe such people! Do they have too much leave or what???!!!
Fancy exchanging a 1/2 day leave for 2 hrs time off? He must be out of his mind. Again, I dunno what point he is trying to prove. This brings me back to an incident a few weeks back, when I asked my boss for time off to see a doctor. As my appointment was at 4, I asked to leave at 330 pm. I could not push my appointment later cuz the clinic closes at 5 pm. Well, this is no big deal actually cuz taking time off to see a doctor is widely practised in my company and probably in many other organisations as well. But to my utmost disgust, my boss suggested that i could perhaps take 1/2 a day off to see the doctor. To this, I replied "But I dun need 1/2 a day to see a doctor, I only need a few hours and I thought this is allowed." Then he said, "Ok, go" and continued by adding "So will you be coming back to the office after your appointment?" This was really getting out of hand. Obviously, I wasn't intending to come back to the office after that. And I told him so.
Seriously, I dunno what point he is trying to prove. That since he has set an example, we should all follow suit? I m certainly not buying that, cuz I feel that it's my right and I know it's not wrong to take time off to see a doctor. I did not manipulate the system by leaving 2 hrs earlier than my designated appointment time. Nor did I take the whole afternoon, unlike one of my staff, who can take the whole morning up till after lunch time is over, for her dental appointment!!
Although she is supposedly on leave this whole week, she came back to work at around 6 pm the past two evenings and today, she came back during noon. I really wonder why there is so much for her to do, that she cannot even take a breather during her leave.
Then, there is my boss, who recently took one hour time off from work one evening and then another hour time off after lunch to attend to some personal matters. And after that, as if "feeling bad" for taking time off, he emailed my big boss and informed that he would take 1/2 day leave to compensate for the 2 hrs time off he took! I can't believe such people! Do they have too much leave or what???!!!
Fancy exchanging a 1/2 day leave for 2 hrs time off? He must be out of his mind. Again, I dunno what point he is trying to prove. This brings me back to an incident a few weeks back, when I asked my boss for time off to see a doctor. As my appointment was at 4, I asked to leave at 330 pm. I could not push my appointment later cuz the clinic closes at 5 pm. Well, this is no big deal actually cuz taking time off to see a doctor is widely practised in my company and probably in many other organisations as well. But to my utmost disgust, my boss suggested that i could perhaps take 1/2 a day off to see the doctor. To this, I replied "But I dun need 1/2 a day to see a doctor, I only need a few hours and I thought this is allowed." Then he said, "Ok, go" and continued by adding "So will you be coming back to the office after your appointment?" This was really getting out of hand. Obviously, I wasn't intending to come back to the office after that. And I told him so.
Seriously, I dunno what point he is trying to prove. That since he has set an example, we should all follow suit? I m certainly not buying that, cuz I feel that it's my right and I know it's not wrong to take time off to see a doctor. I did not manipulate the system by leaving 2 hrs earlier than my designated appointment time. Nor did I take the whole afternoon, unlike one of my staff, who can take the whole morning up till after lunch time is over, for her dental appointment!!
Kimmie scribbles
4:51 pm |