Simple Thoughts of Mine

I am nothing special; just a common woman with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived: I've loved another with all my heart and soul; and to me, this has always been enough.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

I supposed I just got lucky.

Bought a shirt last Tue and sent it for alterations as the sleeves were abit too long for my arms. In fact, after I made my purchase, I felt a tinge of regret. I thought the shirt was way over-priced @ S$300+ and I never heard of the foreign label before. I was thinking, I should have spent the money on a Tiffany chain or something. Too much free time and I couldn't think properly then. Anyways, went to collect the altered shirt yesterday. I tried it on to see if the sleeves fit nicely. I spotted something on one of the sleeves, it looked somewhat like a dark patch. When I looked closely, it was simply some defective workmanship which I didn't notice when I first bought it. I was 'thrilled' at the defects. I knew my chance came to reject the item.

Me:"Can the defects be mended?"
Female Store Manager (FSM):"No. It is clearly a defect."
Me: "I want a refund then."
FSM: "No, we don't do refund at all. We only give credit note."
Me:"Do you have a new piece to replace the defective item?"
FSM:"We do not have a new piece and refund is not allowed, only credit note will be issued which will be valid for 2 mths from date of issue."
Me:" Ok, show me the clause in the receipt that says ' No refund is allowed.' "
FSM looked through the receipt and couldn't find any clause which supported her stand.
Me:"If you're not going to give a refund for this defective shirt, I will write to CASE (Consumers Association of Singapore).
FSM:"I can reassure you that you will definitely find something which you like if you come again. You can easily get a nice top for under S$200. Give us ten days, we will call the boutique in Paris if they still have the same apparel. If they do, we'll send it over with shipping charges absorbed."

I was getting tired trying to get my point across- I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!! I was 'screaming' inside me.

Me: "Sorry, I don't think I have the time to make another trip just to collect the same shirt. Besides, this is the my first time here and I am not sure if I can find something I like. The credit note may not be helpful. And since this is clearly a case of defective goods, I have every right to get a refund as a consumer. This is my right. Unless you can give me a replacement shirt right now, if not, I want a REFUND."

I have never used the word 'Refund' so many times in one day, or say in 30 minutes. FSM is still trying her luck. Trying to convince me that they sell very nicely designed imported apparels. She guaranteed that I would be able to pick up something from their boutique if I drop by again a few weeks later with their new arrivals.

Me: " I don't take risk. I'm sorry. I guess my job nature made me having a low risk tolerance."

All the sales assistants including the FSM laughed. I laughed too. Not bad eh, I can create a joke in the midst of this refund saga. Finally, FSM gave in.

FSM:"We normally don't do refund but we would do it for you and for you only. You're the first person we are giving credit back."

Woo hoo!! I made it. Going to get the full credit back in my credit card. No more feelings of regrets. Yay!!!! Seriously, I was trembling inside. I put up a brave front, pretending to be agressive. I'm glad my nature of work trained me well to handle situations like this. Also, I learnt it from someone I know who had similar incident like mine in the past. Thank you. What a day! And thanks to my God (Sky God) and my guardian angel. I suppose I just got lucky.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

In the mood for Golf

Took up golf last May 2007. Practised and stopped for more than half a year. I went for a golf practice last evening. Oh my gosh, my golf skills still sucks. I hit approximately 120 balls including the missed hits. Swinging angle is wrong, tend to bend my left arm which I shouldn't. Need a few pointers from J who goes for regular golf practices. Suddenly, I have this burning desire for golf yet again. I do lack the natural talent for golf, hence got to practice alot harder. When I am getting better, am going to get a golf set, the cheapest one available. Meanwhile, I will just have to keep on swinging the balls.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Sheperd's Pie

Made sheperd's pie last sat with one of my good friend, J. Instead of using minced lamb, we used chopped chicken thighs instead. Supposedly, 1hr 20 mins preparation (as stated in the cookbook), took us 4 hrs instead for the whole process. Made sheperd's pie last sat with one of my good friend, J. Instead of using minced lamb, we used chopped chicken thighs instead. Supposedly, 1hr 20 mins preparation (as stated in the cookbook), took us 4 hrs instead for the whole process.


Mistake 1: When the book says used minced meat, please use minced meat. J seldom cooks at all. She doesn't know how sheperd's pie looks like, so when I asked her if she preferred chicken or lamb, she chose chicken. So, I ended up spending almost 2 hours slicing the 7 pieces of chicken thigh while J slicing the last 8th piece. I sounded like I am trying to push the blame to her for choosing chicken. Well, alittle but it is not her fault since she doesn't cook at all. Haha!

Mistake 2: We should have cut the potatoes into chunks so that it would facilitate us in mashing the potatoes. We spent an hour trying to mash the potatoes as some parts were uncooked, so we went to heat the potatoes again for another 15 mins or so. It is my first time making mash potatoes, so no one's to blame for this part.

Finally, all the ingredients are ready. I did the frying and made sure that the chicken are seasoned to taste. I added chopped carrots, peas and chicken stock. It will be good to add some salt and sugar to taste. Added some plain flour, say about 2 tablespoons to the chicken and cook until the chicken are fully cooked. Once done, I scooped up the fillings and put inside the baking dish. After that, we added the mash potatoes and use a fork to form the swirl around the mash.

Looks good for a first timer. It tasted really yummy! Except that it needed some improvement in the seasoning, not salty enough. J's hubby said it was not bad and my family agreed too. I am gonna to make sure the whole preparation will take less than 2 hours and we are gonna use minced lamb next time round. :P

7 up

A couple of weeks ago, I went clubbing with a group of friends. Usually, we would play number-guessing game using hands, for e.g 5, 10, 15, all or nothing, where the loser will drink a sip of the drink if the winner guess the number correctly. That faithful evening, my friend, HD suggested '7 up'. My first thought was, ' 7-up? The drink?' Nah, not at all. What everyone will do is to start count from 1,2,3,4...6...and when the next number is 7, instead of saying 7, the person has to say 'Up' and going back in reverse direction and call for 8,9,10,11,12,13,UP, 15,16,'Up',18,19... One has to say 'Up' when his/her number has a 7 or is in multiple of 7. It gets really fun and exciting because you've to be good in maths. The loser will start to count again and he/she can choose to start from any number. But be extra caution when you start with 68,69... the lucky person who is going to 'Up' from 70, has to keep 'Upping' non stop with the other challenger till you hit 80. Only then you will be safe. Remember, after every 'Up', you have to reverse in direction and continue calling out the numbers. Have fun! =)

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Comfort food

I bought a new cookbook. It's called 'Comfort Food'. The recipes published are rather simple to follow. What I like about this book is that they have a number of my favourite comfort food which I have been wanting to learn on how to prepare them. Example: Macaroni cheese, sheperd's pie, potato gratin etc... And cauliflower cheese looks yummy too! :)~~~~ I understand I can get recipes online and some with step-by-step online free video too. This is a cool link sent to me by my friend : http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-chicken-piri-piri . I surfed a few recipes via this link and I find that their preparation steps are quite reliable. I enjoy watching videos so that I can visualise better, yet at the same time, I like to own cookbooks with pictures of the dish where I can refer and make notes. Sometimes I wonder if I am better off as a cook or baker. Well, I am going to experience a few new comfort food. My target food taster? My family, of course. And a few priviledge friends.

Blood test came out normal

Received a call from my company doc that my blood test came out normal. Nothing wrong with the blood count,i.e., there is a good balance of red/white blood cells present in my blood. Thank goodness. And for the puny lump felt near my collar bone, most probably it is a case of fat deposit formed up. Got to see the doc to see if it is necessary to have it removed. Well, it also means I need to exercise more often. I have been hitting the gym since last Thurs. I ran on the treadmill, attended the spinning class, did sit-ups and soak myself inside the steambath room. My body must have felt that it has been abused by her master. Had a good body massage too. How I wish I can do all these everyday. All these luxuries of good living will come to a halt once I report back to work. Gonna treasure every single min of break as long as I can. Gonna treasure my time spent with my family too.

Workshop


I attended a mini party at Chanel beauty counter last Wednesday. I had the make-up artiste put on eye make-up for me. He created smoky eyes effect on my eyes. And wow, he made my eyes look like a million dollars. Literally. Prior to that, I tried on my own eyes by imitating as much as I could from the fashion magazine. But I always end up looking like a panda or a 'bruised' eye. I was really thrilled at the magic the artiste done for me. And I memorised every single step he did for the whole process. Sounds really bimbotic, I know. hehe... Little did I know that to get the colors really right and almost perfect, we need eyeshadow blender brush and eye shadow highlight brush. Just for the eye makeup, it costs me a hell lot of money. At least, I know no more bruised or panda eyes no more!!



Bowling Game

My 'winning' team
I had a game of bowling last Tuesday. It is some sort of bowling tournament organised by my firm. And guess what, my team came in 1st out of 16 teams. Hmm... actually 1st from the bottom up. hahaha... I sucks at bowling, really. Sorry gals, I really want to win this for you all but lady luck was just not on my side that evening.


Another winning team which came in 3rd from bottom up. They fared much better than my team, definitely! JL who showed sign of victory even after her team lost.


These are the lovely colleagues of mine which made my stay in my firm fun and enjoyable despite the incredibly long hours I experienced during the peak period.

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Very awake...Horrible tots kept bursting in my head.

Can't sleep. Must be the cold coffee I'd at Prego. Didn't add any sugar, so it tasted quite potent. My body is tired but my mind is not. A break for me yet seem so stressful. My heart felt heavy and I feel nausea and a tint of sadness too. Who can I talk to at this time of the night? Not S. I've been bothering her rather often lately. Not J. It will just sadden me more. Not him too. I will not text him again or even try to call (in fact, I will never call him again). It has been more than a year, yet the comment made by his dad on me kept ringing in my ears. "My dad is so right about you, you will only give me more stress instead of helping me." It is heartbreaking to hear such a comment from my former bf's dad when I always show my respect for him. Deep down in his parents' hearts, I know I am never good enough for their son, no matter how hard I try. My parents will never make such a statement of my siblings' other half. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful and self-sacrificing parents. I am terribly sorry that I am such a lousy fit for him. It was a mistake right from the start. Yes, a big fat one. Maybe I thought I am in an exclusive relationship but maybe not. I should be a lawyer or banker. Banker is better because they earn much more than a lawyer. Where do I fit in then? In a league of my own.

Bowling

Going for a bowling game on tue evening. Gonna be in a team and competing with many other teams which comprise of my colleagues from various departments. I am never a competitive person and in the first place I didn't want to sign up for it. SO happened one of my colleagues couldn't attend the game, I was asked to replace her. I agreed. And I regretted now. I can't bowl for nuts. I will be a laughing stock at the game. I do strike but once (if I am lucky) throughout the whole game. Awww... I wish to run away from the game. I am gonna wear ear plugs, so I can't hear no one laughing at me for throwing the bowling ball into the drain.

Be Positive is the way to go.

Met D for dinner @ Prego today. D told me she had rested for 6 months at home and just started back at work 2 weeks ago. I was curious why the long break. She told me that she has colorectal cancer and began undergoing radiotherapy and chemo for the past 6 months. I kept quiet upon hearing this. My heart skipped a beat. She didn't look like she was sick, looked perfectly healthy to me. D told me she has since halted all treatments as she has recovered from this disease. Just need to watch her diet and pop medication for a while more.

My friend is way too young. Colorectual cancer normally hits those above 50 and she belongs to one of those rare cases to contract this disease. Things happen. Do cancer cells perform a age audit before they start to build a permanent residence in your body? By not going for a regular body checkup, prevention control fail.

D told me she was at stage 3 then, considered advance stage. However, she remained positive and went for treatments. Her church mates prayed for her too. Amazingly, her tumor shrunk and became benign. Her doctor was surprised too. No matter what happens, be positive is the way to go. I will pray for her, for him.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

5 weeks

I will be going on a 5-week leave starting from 7th July 2008. Not going anywhere for holiday. Going to be in Singapore during this period. Need time to sort out some personal matters.

Volunteer

I signed up to be a volunteer for my company's event. My co has organised activities for a charity called 'Club Rainbow'. Club Rainbow (Singapore) is a registered charity committed to helping children suffering from a range of chronic and life-threatening illnesses. I do not know what is my duty on that faithful day,i.e., 12th July 2008. I enjoy doing volunteering work especially when it involves children. I adore kids. And kids talk alot, just like me. Their pure innocence simply melt my heart sometimes. I wish I can be of some help to these underpriviledged children. It is an heartache to see them having to bear the burden of life-threatening disease at such tender age. As you know, I get really emotional at times. I can't to see my loved ones suffer even strangers. I'll do my best to make all the kids present happy and forget whatever pain they have on that day.

Prosure

Was told that Prosure is good for people with cancer. Cancer patients tend to lose weight, so this milk powder is said to improve quality of life and many other benefits. One can go to http://prosure.com/ for more information about this product. It will be good to get a regular health checkup, just to get a peace of mind. Cancer can hit anyone. Never think that ' it will never happen to me'. In Singapore, one can get Prosure from Guardian in the Paragon branch or the one in Takashimaya. However, if the stock is not available, you can place an order for them.

Friday, July 04, 2008

They can even do it with their eyes closed. Luckily, she didn't.

Went to see Dr Y during lunch, told him about the lump near my collar bone. He felt it and agreed that it is a lump but told me it may not be cancerous. Advised me to monitor. I refused and asked if I can perform a blood test. Dr Y advised a blood count test where the test results can detect the presence of certain diseases. It was not easy detecting my blood veins on my arm. The visible ones are on the top of my hand but Dr Y wouldn't dare to draw any blood from it. He went on to tell me to go to another clinic to get the more experienced lab staff to do it for me. He said, ' The lab staff can draw my blood even with their eyes closed.' I trusted Dr Y and went to another clinic near my office.

Cut the story short, the lab staff X found the 'best' vein to draw my blood. I looked away and stop breathing for a a few seconds. Ouch!! It hurts. I had my blood drawn from the vein before but it doesn't hurt at all. Why does it hurt so bad? X asked me if it hurt, of course it hurt. When I turned to look at my arm, I saw lab staff X pushing and turning the syringe trying to locate the vein. I almost fainted. After 10-15 seconds, lab staff X finally located the vein. Coz the pain stopped and the blood started to ooze out into the test tube. Thanks goodness. Draw my blood even with their eyes closed. Luckily, she didn't. Gonna see the doctor next week to get the result on my blood test.

This song that describe my birthday last August 2007





I am always not very updated with the latest pop songs. I simply listen to whatever songs uploaded into my ipod. My songs can be as old as more than 2 yrs ago. I will literally 'beg' my friends to send me the latest songs, so that I can practise on them and sing at my next kara session. The begging part is just a joke. I will get a tongue lashing from my good friend, J for singing the same old songs. 9 out of 10 singing sessions, I will sing ' Right here waiting, Yesterday once more, Dancing Queen, Superwoman and some old old chinese numbers'. I tried once to sing a number from The Phantom of the Opera, 'All I ask of you', a duet with another friend. When he finished his part, suddenly I lost my voice. I was simply too embarrassed to sing. We didn't finish the song, of course. And I was asked politely to practise this song for the next session.

Found the English translation for the above music video. Best translation that I can find so far. Translation as follows:



祝我生日快樂 Wish me a Happy Birthday


I know that sadness cannot change anything.
Let me be honest a little.
Honesty, but without control over the divulgence.
As long as the door is closed, don't care about anyone else.
One person sitting in an empty stall of a theatre.
Mobile phone, let it rest for a night.
Difficult, tried to cut away the images of the memories.
Tears cannot flow past twelve o'clock.
Happy Birthday, I say this to myself, the candle is lit, the loneliness becomes colder.
Happy Birthday, tears have melted, I want to thank everything you have given and taken away.
Still love you with a little hatred, still need time to balance.
Passionate love's wounds, the rebirth of images, wishing me a Happy Birthday.

I don't know y, things just happened.

Sickness is horrid. I wish all mankind is protected from it. Sickness hits anyone regardless he/she is kind, mean, evil, innocent. Everyday, I surf the internet reading news of hope. I will give it a shot so long 'hope' sounds credible and reasonable. I am not a doctor nor will I imagine to be one. I do not discuss with my friends, but just my family and my good friend, S. They're the ones I trust most, more than anyone else. Just the mere mention of the forbidden word, tears welled up in my eyes. Soon, I began to choke on my tears. Maybe I weep too much, my vision starting to get blurry even when I stopped. Blurry vision has been a common experience lately.

I do not wish to create any more heartbreak to anyone. This evening, I felt a lump near my collar bone. I will go for a checkup. I am prepared for the worst. Maybe I am not.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

I'm crushed. I do not want to appear weak because that will make the situtation worse. I only dare to bury myself in tears in my bedroom without the notice of my family. I am praying that everything will be fine.

05 Dang Shin Eun.....