HELLO GOODBYE

Last night was a sad night when we said bye to Elle.

Of course I organised the farewell party. Small posse though, just the way she likes it.

I was starting to feel abit bad because A) the cake i got was MY favourite cake ever, Chocolate Banana Espresso from Cedele, B) the farewell gifts I shopped for are all of one of MY favourite brands ie Agnes B and C) the party was held at MY favourite chillout place, Zsofi.

Conceited and self-obssessed much yes? LOL. But honestly though, it was just me sharing the joys of my life with some of my favourite peeps at work. They were well-received, all parts of it. It was grand.

I'm so proud of Elle that she's going back to school but at the same time she's my office homey. I'm going to crazy miss having the lady around.

It was very very late into the night already, we've ordered our last drinks and suddenly I was hit by hunger pangs. I was famished.

"I feel like pancakes, or waffles..." I whined.

"Here where have," Elle replied.

"Okay fine. Banana prata?" I asked hopeful. "Shit, that's bad. Prata at 3am in the morning. Way to go F, " I argued with myself.

And then C shot back,"Haiya, you can afford it la. Your body is like a cigarette."

"And C, you're a smoker. Aww what a cute compatible team you guys make.." teased A.

I blinked.

Pregnant pause.

I mean it. If the people at the table next to us could shut up for just one second, you could have heard a pin drop at that moment.

"Please..." I said finally, "I'm more like a cigar, I got meat on me okay?"

People laughed. Awkward situation deflected.

For now.

(5:15 PM)

CRUSHING ON CEDELE

I get super super upset when the things I love to eat suddenly get their lives cut short. So I'm the girl who hearts her food too much to diet even for a day. I'm not proud of it but what do you do right?

It took me months to get over when McDonalds stopped giving out garlic chilli. I thought it was a catastrophe and wanted to organize a petition so they would bring it back. And if that was not enough, I was willing to gather people to the Speaker's Corner and protest this stupid inconsiderate decision to eliminate the joy that is garlic chilli.

Then my mum placated my evidently theatrical reaction by grabbing a whole bottle of garlic chilli on her next grocery trip. I was mollified. So now, as much as possible, I would have my Maccers to go or delivered so I can have my fries the way I like it.

The other love of my gastronomic life is bread. All kinds. I love them. Can't live without them carbs. I love their smell, I love the comforting taste and I love the way they look all humble and earthy and yummy. Bread calms me. I have a picture of a bunch of breads in my drawers at work so I can wistfully gaze at them when things get out of hand.

My favourite bakery is Cedele and I would like to give them free advertorial because they deserve it so.



Today, I especially made my way to an outlet before work so I can purchase my most favouritest bread, the sun-dried tomato focaccia, only to discover they no longer bake them. At all. They ceased it completely. I was dejected and devastated. I think the lady at the cashier was tickled by my dramatics: "WHAT?! REALLY??? EVER? SERIOUSLY???? OMG I'M SO SADDDDDD..."

Exactly like that, despite the queue of people behind me. Sometimes distress supercedes dignity.

When I got to the office, I immediately composed me an email:

From: F [mailto:f@XXXXXXXX.com.sg]
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 4:00 PM
To: contactus@cedeledepot.com
Subject: Of breads

Hi,

My family and I are huge fans of Cedele’s range of breads, our favourite being the sun-dried tomato focaccia loaf. Cedele does it best.

I understand from the Raffles City outlet that you no longer bake them though and I am utterly disappointed.

Is there no chance of it ever coming back? Would you kindly consider maybe even baking them once a week?

Please do!

Thank you and warm regards,
F


______________________________


I drafted that with no rational thought behind it. I was just really crushed. Expected the Cedele peeps to LOL at my childish devotion to a piece of bread and move my email to Junk.

But alas, they did reply!

______________________________

From: contactus [mailto:contactus@cedeledepot.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 24 June, 2009 8:14 PM
To: F
Subject: RE: Of breads

Dear Ms F,

Thank you and your family for your support! Whilst we certainly love the sun dried tomato focaccia too, we had to delist it due to weak response. However, should you need to order, we will be pleased to take your order for this bread. Kindly give us 2 days notice and minimum order is 2 loaves. Our baking days for focaccia bread are on : Wed, Fri and Sat.
Thank you.

Best regards,
XXXXXXXX
Director of Kitchens
The Bakery Depot Pte Ltd

______________________________

Totally made my day! I was so delighted I had to hug someone. Haha. They would bake it just for moi. Like how awesome is that.

People at Cedele, you guys are fabulous on every level possible!!!

(1:56 AM)

I HEART DAD

So Fathers' Day.

Jie and I roped in her son, my nephew, in our little project - literally tore him away from his toys so we could use him as a paintbrush. Heh.

The boy was totally into having paint spread out all over his palms. No complaints there. Only issue was that he was so eager to squish it together.

I wish I had pictures of the entire process cos it was hilarious. We had newspapers all over our living room floor to mollify the mother, the mess-phobic lady that she is. And the nephew's perplexed expression, priceless.


I worked on my dad's card and Jie worked on my bro-in-law's card. She refused to have it photographed and risk having it compared side by side with mine. Oh wells, whatever, it's not like mine is gorgeous. Some people are just insecure. *shrugs* Hahaha!!!



(12:24 AM)

GAGA OVER LADY GAGA

Okay I officially LURVEEEEE this lady. Truly madly deeply. She is so fucking talented.

Oh remind me next time if ever I get to an event and my dear cousin Ridz also happen to be there, please don't even bother taking the pics myself. My pics, yunno how proud I am of them, but in comparison to his pics, I'm ashamed.

All the photos in this post are taken by my very talented Ridz and I adore him massively so if you even dare rip the photos off my blog without giving credit where credit is due, I will hunt you down to the end of the Earth and trust me, you will pay for it sucker!

Now that we've got that out of the way, the Gaga's gig! Woohoo!!!


The invite said it would start at 7pm but of course, it didn't. By 6.30pm, a tonne of people were snaking in a queue to the much raved about Dome from Dubai and I was getting nervous because I honestly didn't see how that many people could squeeze into the tent. But we got in through the media entry point and it was easy breezy.

(2:01 AM)

LE DISKO

iRules:
1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS. DON' CHEAT!!!

Please ignore this if you hate these things, but I thought this one was fun…interesting to see what kind of music everyone has on their iPod!

------

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
Us 2 Little Gods - Dido
(OMG. Hahahahhaha. Blasphemy much?)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Don't Cha - Pussycat Dolls
(Whatttt.. I can't even make sense of that.)

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Giggle Again For No Reason - Alanis Morissette
:)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Give Me Some Love - James Blunt
(So needy. Gosh.)

WHAT’S YOUR MOTTO?
Syrup & Honey – Duffy
(Hmm...)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Listen Up - The Gossip
(HA. Apt.)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Hush Hush – Pussycat Dolls
(Oh lord, they want me to shuddup already.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
The Sound Of White - Missy Higgins

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
Unusual You - Britney Spears

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
It Ain't Always What You Do (It's Who You See Do It) - The Soul Children

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Tainted Love – Gloria Jones
:S

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
I'll Be There - Matt White
(And then I'm never... Sigh. Always hoping, never truly reaching.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Let The Music - Quiero Club

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
You Can See Everything - Brooke Miller

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love) - Ella Fitzgerald
(Ooh that's not so bad. Kinda nice and hopeful.)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Smack My Bitch Up - The Prodigy
(Holy cow. I don't know how this even got into my iTunes. Really!!!)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Nineteen - Tegan & Sara
("I feel you in my heart and I don't even know you / Now we're saying bye bye bye..." Okay there's some truth to that.)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Toi et Moi - Jil Caplan
(Great, even I don't know my own secret. The whole thing is in French!)

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
Love Song to Remember – Jamie Scott
(*groans* How emo.....)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Fingerprints – Katy Perry
(Neat.)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Le Disko – Shiny Toy Guns

------


Tag! You're It!!!!

(12:38 AM)

THE LEZZIE CARD

This is why it is not recommended for two seemingly straight girls to club together.

I'm tired and sleepy and work is in a couple of hours time but this is too blog-worthy to put off till later.

Fiz and I, just two of us on the dancefloor, apparently screams "free meat".

And the funny thing is, unlike some other girls, we both got very VERY VERY uncomfortable when guys tried to get closer. It was getting abit weary. I was on the verge of tears everytime some dude tried to dance very close behind me and I can feel his you-no-what.

And that was when we played the lezzie card. Mayjah.

No really. We didn't have a choice. Some were plain rude and I literally saw him made a beeline in my direction just cos we were not in a huge group or had any guys in our company. Even after we plainly avoided him in his first attempt, he came back again. Twice. Fiz wanted to be all butch and punch him. And honestly he deserved it.

Some were nice kinda. First they tried to get close. Then they tried to make eye contact. Failing which, they waved their hands in your face. So I smiled. And when I left it at that, he leaned over and asked, "Are you girls alone?"

A truthful asnwer would read: "Well we were very peacefully alone till this very moment you chose to speak to us."

Lezzie card involves alot of touching and very close dancing. Lucky we were super close friends. If it was other girls involved they would freak out too.

Then it happened. The one who got away. The one who can actually keep me on the straight path.

He was dancing with another dude, just the two of them. There were looks exchanged, I was checking his moves which were pretty cool in a non-try-hard way. He also wasn't looking in a lecherous way nor was it making me feel grossed out. Maybe it was cos yunno two guys hitting the dancefloor together spells G-A-Y.

He was devastatingly cute. Well, not handsome. But very cute. Soft hair and he had a cut on his lips. Cute One's dance partner looked abit more douchey. Douche had a blazer on and made one dance move in which he somewhat half-stripped his blazer and revealed his biceps. It was bordering on poseurish.

They were dancing right next to us.

I gestured, trying to ask Cute One a question with the motion of my fingers, considering the music in the club was blasting.

"Whattt?" he asked, leaning closer.

I pulled cute dude towards me and candidly asked, "Are you guys together?"

"Oh no. I'm straight." he replied, shaking his head defensively (also reads: cutely).

"Well it's too bad. You guys would make a darn good-looking couple," I teased.

"See this is why we don't get chicks," he replied, smiling (and that was when we noticed the cut lips) and proceeded to move away from Douche, next to me and then behind me. So Fiz and I became sandwiched by the two boys.

We danced like that for awhile and from behind, he said, "See I'm not gay," to which I laughed at.

Fiz got obviously uncomfortable with Douche behind her (to be fair, I would be too) so then Douche moved over back to Cute One. They got into some kinda discussion and left the dancefloor. Left. Just like that.

....

He was the only guy I felt okay dancing with. He was adorable. Prior to that, I was questioning my orientation when every dude who came over irked me out massively and made me wanna scream "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" Then he came along.

I want to kick myself for not having my namecard on me. Seriously.

I'll never see Cute One again. I'm pretty sure of it. I didn't even get his name so cannot even cyber-stalk. Xian diao.

Sigh. He's really cute yunno. In Fiz's word: "Omg he's cuter than Zac Efron!!!"

Now, I know I'm going to be stupidly looking for his face in the crowd in sheer futility. 

(5:34 AM)

A DATE WITH THOMAS

As usual, the weekend is dedicated to the nephew. Jie and I brought him to watch Thomas and Friends. My jie is the typical kiasu mother. The moment we parked, she dashed through the mall, pushing the pram like a crazy char bor. All because we wanted to be in the first row. I had a hard time keeping up.



And clearly, we were successful. Well, we best be after the many feet we ran over with the pram along the way.



It was worth it though because look at how excited the boy is. Anything to see that grin on his face.



They played games with the children. Of course the nephew is too young to participate.



The star of the show appeared to much glee and screams from the children in the crowd. I couldn't believe I was in the middle of it all. They overdid the dried-ice effect methinks but the children weren't bothered one bit.



They sang some songs, which the kids seemed to know every word to. It was amazing. But really Thomas just popped out from the tunnel and stood there. That's it. He just made an entrance. Period. We were expecting the train to at least be mobile. Chey!



Then it was over and the confetti rained on us all. Apparently kids have a fascination with falling pieces of paper so that was quite a good idea.



Then it's picture-taking time. My nephew is a chicken. He was so psyched to go on stage, bouncing like a tennis ball when we were queuing. But when it was our turn, the kid wanted to cry, clung to me and pleaded to be carried. Look at his stunned expression. Hahaha!


So that was my Saturday. Well, at least the part of Saturday when the sun still shines la. Heh.

(12:56 PM)

PCD

So I must admit, Shan and I were mortified when we collected the tickets. It was for the standing pen. Jaw dropping can.

I ditched my heels and slipped on my flip-flops. Lucky thing the slippers in my bag were AnX and not some lok kok bathroom type of footwear.

Still I wasn't dressed to mosh. My top had the potential to slide down my shoulders thus the possibility of wardrobe malfunction loomed.

OMFG are the Pussycat Dolls hawt or what?!



I'm not sure if we were THAT near the stage but my pictures turned out great, considering they were taken from a mere point-and-shoot. I'm quite impressed by the results. No need to rely on the photog from my workplace already. In fact, they should hire me. Heh.



The men in the crowd were annoying. They were still, wooden, unmovable. They just stood there like brick walls. They didn't even bop their head, much less move their bods. It was dampening. It felt like I had a bodyguard on my side as I partied.



Shan said the men were just mesmerized by the hawtness of it all. I tell you, I don't blame them. The bods on these girls... To. Die. For. So toned!!!

(12:22 AM)

I didn't even have time to properly log on to my computer when I came to work today and the boss beckoned me to the conference room.

Straightaway I was skeptical.

Did she know I sometimes leave the newsroom earlier than I should? Am I busted for claiming those thirty bucks worth of cab fares when I clubbed late into the night? Die.

When we were both seated, she stretched her hands out for me and said, "Congratulations, you are promoted."

Normal people would be delighted. Normal people would express excitement, even some gratefulness. But as I shook her hand, I was resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

Wait, hold on to that thought.

Then as she explained my new (additional) duties, something about grooming me to be her deputy.

See, I don't care what it says on my namecard. I don't care the respect I instantly derive when I tell my people my position in the company.

We all know it's the company's way of mindfucking you so they can stretch you out further and squeeze the life out of you. I'm not buying it. I'm sorry. I'm definitely not going to get sucked in by this lame ploy.

Until they show me the money, I am not going to even remotely commit to these "learning experiences" that I am supposedly lucky to enjoy despite my youth.

Yes, I've become that person. The shit I have to deal with on a daily basis made me that person. Compensate my sweat and blood with more moolah to dine, shop, and travel with at the very least.

When she eventually dismissed me from the little talk, I took a look at her remarks on my performance based on the past year ie my appraisal.

The introductory paragraph reads:

F has taken on more than expected when the team is down with staff, taking on a senior role and training new staff when she is still at a junior level with less than two years on the job. She has demonstrated her ability to take up more responsibilty and handle duties given to her beyond her level.

With that, I decided that despite everything, I should tone down the bitching and just be thankful that I have a job amidst this crappy economy and that my boss recognizes and acknowledges my hard work.

Thank you God. You've been good to me and my family.

(12:11 AM)

I felt so dejected last Sunday because I was so busy, which was not new, but then cherry on the pie, my office desktop kept on cocking up. Whatthefuckery.

Slowed me down majorly and everytime the IT guy was working on my system, I had these lull moments I didn't know what to do with and could not appreciate because of the weight of the tasks at hand.

I even emailed my teammates something emo to explain my lack of efficiency and it ended with, "If someone tries to kill me now, I wouldn't even put up a fight."

Arms wrapped tightly around my body, folded across my chest, I trudged head down, to the pantry to get me some drink.

"Look at you, you look like a broken doll!!" quipped C who was heating up dinner.

Sigh.

Talking about doll, guess who got free tickets to watch the Pussycat Dolls Domination concert?!

Heh.

I'm bringing the PA as a farewell treat before she jets off to the US.

I'm VERY excited. I've been listening to their albums, and youtubing them. Yes la, pop trash is I la, but what are u gonna do? Lose all your respect for me?

And I can't wait for Bruno to come to Singapore. I bet it'll be heavily censored though. Sacha Baron Cohen is quite a genius isn't he? If not for the full frontal flashes of penises, I bet I would enjoy Borat more. But Bruno..

Bruno, I know for a fact I'm gonna lurveeeeeeeee...

Nah! Watch the trailer here. It's worth the click. I've been replaying the shit.

Okay gotta scoot. I have to tuck in early tonight cos I have to report for babysitting duties early tomorrow morning for my delectable nephew. 

Over and out.

(11:12 PM)