HAPPY NEW YEAR (2009)!!!

Just before this year closes, I'm dedicating this write up solely to a weighty problem. I think it's apt considering I have been eating non-stop, makan party after makan party since before Christmas. We haven't even started on the New Year celebrations yet!

In the past month, I have been told, no less than 6 times, that I look eh.... 'very prosperous'!!! Mike has not been immune to such comments either. Even my own father-in-law commented that he had failed to recognise me when I called out to him at a lift landing. My sister-in-law (yes, that's YOU, Ah Kor Joan) said she hadn't recognised me either when I had gone to pick her up at the airport recently (it's not as though she had just come back after living abroad for some time, for goodness' sake... she had only been on holiday for a week!). Unfortunately, they speak the truth. I HAVE put on so much weight in the past year, I frighten even myself. Sigh. Now if only my bank statement were as prosperous, I'd be set for life.

(below pic) Here I am, looking very prosperous at Mike's bro's place on Christmas Eve this year, just before we went for Midnight Mass. Didn't help that my sis-in-law, Lynette had cooked a delicious meal!

(below pic) Don't you think my bro-in-law, David and his wife Lynette put up a beautiful tree?

Anyhow, I have to say this. This is not post-pregnancy weight. I did manage to get back to pre-pregnancy weight after my younger kid was born because the breast-feeding helped heaps! I've put on weight because I've neglected myself.

I do not have a habit of snacking. I am however, a 'BERNG-TARNG'. (local Chinese dialect for Rice Bin). I cannot do without a full plate of rice especially for dinner and I can't eat much during breakfast (yes, I know, that is so upside-down. Heavy breakfast, light dinner right?). Put a dish of belachan and some rice and I'm done for. Just when I think I'll skip dinner, my Filipina helper, Judy will plonk a bowl of delicious Fish Head Curry on the table. Tired? Angry? Upset? Stressed? No problem, just eat more rice. So you see, that's my downfall.

The irony is in 2007, my weighing scale needle moved downwards the most it had ever in many years. It probably had to do with the fact that I was taking Belly Dancing classes 3 times a week from 3 different teachers. The weight loss was slow over a period of a year but at least it was healthily done. Then due to other commitments, I had to stop ALL my classes and thus, sans-exercise, the weight which I had lost earlier, came back with double vengeance (they most certainly do not tell you this in Belly Dancing classes!).

I don't know whether to laugh or cry when Mike asks me what the issue is with being the size that I am. He says he loves me the way I am and doesn't find 'anything wrong' with me. Yeah, I know. He is being sweet and kind (wait a minute! What dya' mean by the size that I am, Bucko???!!!).

Anyhow, I don't like it that my clothes are getting tighter and tighter! The last time I was this heavy, I was pregnant. Back then I had an excuse. But now???

(below pic) Us, looking like a BIG bundle.

So with the impending new year, comes new resolutions.

While I would like to say that my New Year resolutions should be the following in exactly this order:
1) To be a better person
2) To be a better person
3) To be a better person
4) To be a better person
5) To be a better person (or wait, should it be world peace???)

What I would REALLY like to say is:
1) To lose weight!!!
2) To lose weight!!!
3) To lose weight!!!
4) To lose weight!!!
5) To lose weight!!!

Aiyah, I know, I know, while people are starving elsewhere, that's so superficial of me right? But I'm only human hor.....OK Lah, politically correct, it should read as:

1) To be a better servant of God
2) To be a better wife
3) To be a better mother
4) To help my son with his Chinese
5) To improve my own Chinese
6) To come up with more shoe designs (Yes, I know you are waiting for that!)
Then maybe resolution # 1001 can finally be

.........To lose weight!!!

(below pic) Anyhow, in a bid to be a better self and that includes looking less 'aunty', me VAIN self treated myself to a new hairdo:

My kids think I look even more 'aunty' with permed hair but I don't care cos their Dad thinks it rocks! Eat your hearts out kiddos! It's the first perm I've had which I actually do not hate. Customers who saw me last year might recall me with very short hair because I'd chopped it all off (much to the dismay of one of my belly dance teachers) to a crop. I'd damaged it with a perm, rebonding, perm again, rebonding again....so I finally got sick of it and decided to 'start anew'. It's taken me a whole year just to get it back to shoulder length.

I digress but if you recall, I grumbled once about never being able to find the 'perfect' hairdresser. Well, I've finally found her..... : ) My daughter's been to her twice already and likes her too.

(below pic) Here we are with our new hairdos. Me with my permed and coloured hair and Tessa with her newly cut bangs which she now sometimes regrets getting (BTW, we're in her lime green, typically IKEA bedroom) :

So, anyhow, I seriously worry about what all the fat cells are doing to my heart so because of that, I aim to lead a healthier lifestyle. I'll try, I'll really try but if I don't, I don't. It's not a be all and end all for me. It's just a new year resolution and you and I know what happened to this year's new year resolutions.

Seeing things in perspective, what's most important to me is my health, my husband and kids!

So, here's to THAT new year resolution and Cheers to yours as well.

(above pic) Here we are! Mike and I looking like some 'prosperous' tourists in KL's Petaling Street (Chinatown) yesterday morning (29 Dec 2008).

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!! See you in 2009!!!

A Very Merry Christmas

Tis' the season to be jolly ~ Fa la la la la, la la la la!

(above pic ~ my feeble attempt at decorating my very cluttered office desk)

Mike and I cannot believe that this year, we had completed our Christmas shopping 2 days before Christmas. For as long as we can remember, we are usually still wrapping Christmas presents on the day itself! Although our immediate families are small, the number of relatives in our extended family (aunties, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews etc) is sizeable.

It's nice for a change. With our shopping done, what it means is we can actually take our time, sit back and really soak in what Christmas really means for us.

One year, us 'smarty pants' relatives tried to do the right thing and exalt the true spirit of Christmas which meant the adults coming to a consensus or rather, coming to our senses (of course unanimous agreement only amongst the weary gift-buying adults) that there would be no exchanging of gifts. We agreed that if we felt like it, we could buy but only for the kids. That didn't sit very well with the kids and they revolted (ok, that's putting it mildly). Some kids received pressies, some did not. Some gave and some did not receive. That resolution got chucked out the window the very next year and so it was back to the gifting process!

Mike is one person who loves Christmas. I mean, REALLY, REALLY loving it. In June, he'll be telling me that it's only 6 months to Christmas. By September, you can hear his heart beating to the rhythm of Jingle Bells and at the end of October, his tree and Christmas decor will be up! (In our lifetime, we've only met one other neighbour who was as passionate about Christmas as him! She lived across the street from our house and you could hear both Mike and her blasting their stereos with Christmas carols way ahead of the Orchard Road light up!)

This year though, we didn't put up a fake tree nor did we buy a real tree. What we did was dig out a real living pine tree from our Grandma's garden and plonk it into a pot (Granny was moving out). It's a very tall tree but relatively 'slim'. We had already given away our fake tree and most of the ornaments to our Filipina helper when we moved house in June but I was adamant we should not waste money on a real tree this year. Anyway, Mike lugged it home and it really looked quite pathetic in our living room. We were disappointed with how lame it looked and had actually changed our minds and gotten ready to go buy a real tree. We'd already gotten changed and had stepped out the main door when Mike decided to give it one last shot by re-entering our home! (Ok, that ended up with me, waiting for him and falling asleep on the couch as he waved his magic wand over the tree). Once the tree had been decorated, lit up and we had pressies strewn below it, it didn't look so bad after all (and then I had been unable to sleep the whole night because I had fallen asleep on the couch!).

It's Christmas Eve and we don't have to rush for any last minute presents. That's a really cool position to be in this year! We're looking forward to going to Christmas Mass and tucking into all the 'Chrismassy' food. But best of all, we're looking forward to being with our family and friends.

So from all of us at Cartoon Lagoon, we wish you

A VERY BLESSED CHRISTMAS!

Didgeridoo

My first reaction on reading that actress Nicole Kidman might now never have another child because she had blown into a Didgeridoo, was to nudge Mike off the sofa...


Wife: (Hard Nudge)

Hubby: What?!

Wife: All your fault!

Hubby: What you talking about?!

Wife: I blew into a Didgeridoo, lah! First time was on that one you bought in Gold Coast?

Hubby: Oh, Yah! (Laughing) You read the article too, ah?

Wife: No wonder, lah! Don't have 3rd kid! When we went to Gold Coast, John was less than a year old, remember? We left him at home and only brought Tessa. Waste money on all those pregnancy kits! People should put warning labels on them!

Hubby: (Laughing) One boy, one girl, just nice, okay?

Wife: Alamak! Tessa also blew into it!

Apparently, Nicole Kidman had ignorantly blown into a Didgeridoo during a TV interview and this according to the Australian Aborigines, is a taboo because a female blowing into one will render her barren.

The Didgeridoo is a long, wooden flute-like instrument with its origins from the Aborigines in Northern Australia.
See write up on the Didgeridoo --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didgeridoo)
or
http://aboriginalart.com.au/didgeridoo/what_is.html

It takes skill and practice to control your breathing to blow into one continuously.

We have several at home (of which 2 are Australian made). The artwork on the Didgeridoos is what drew us to them. There was a time when we were Didgeridoo crazy; buying the Didgeridoos, listening to CDs and trying to blow into them, albeit meekly and without much success. The music takes some getting used to and can draw one into a trance like state.

(above pic added 5th Jan 2009 ~ me and our Didgeridoos)

As recently as 2 months ago, we had just acquired one, although not an authentic one. Given that we read somewhere that Australian Didgeridoos are now sort of controlled items and you cannot anyhow sukah-sukah export one out, the ones we buy are no longer from Australia. The authentic ones are made from tree branches or trunks and the hollowed areas have actually been eaten out by termites. Those for sale were about 1.5m long and had mouth pieces sealed with wax. I'm not a Didgeridoo expert so excuse me if I've got my facts wrong.

Since I've long thrown out my maternity clothes and nursing bras, I think it's safe for me to continue blowing the cobwebs out of their hollow tunnels. Hey, had I learnt of this taboo earlier, I would have saved myself a whole tonne of worrying about any surprise pregnancy!

Rushing Christmas Orders

We really apologise for the delay in deliveries caused by our surprise extended stay in Bangkok!
Back home, like Santa's little elves (ok, overweight elves, lah), we've been working late into the night! So the good news is that we are on track again and customers who placed orders with us before we left for Bangkok, should be able to get their shoes within the next two days!

Customers who placed orders last week or this week, should be able to get their orders by early next week.

Many of our customers have been asking when we are going to participate in a flea market again. Given the cranky weather December is known for, we have no intention to participate in any open air flea markets this month.

There's still time to order Cartoon Lagoon's Hand Painted shoes as Christmas pressies!

View our designs at our website:
http://www.cartoonlagoon.com.sg
and place your orders (via email or telephone) by 19 Dec 2008 to get them delivered to you by *24 Dec 2008! (*only for local deliveries)

Cheers!
Fiona and Mike

Kids

Wonder if any mums out there with teenagers are able to identify with what I've gone through or am still going through.....

You get preggy and throw up nearly 5 months out of 9 months. Go through a horrendous C-Section recovery to give birth to that cute lil' baby that only knows how to suckle, cry and poop, poop, cry and suckle.
You give up your sleep, spend nearly all your waking hours either at work (so you can afford to buy more expensive diapers which don't stick to your kid's butt, milk powder that's supposed to make your baby MORE intelligent AND cute lil' baby outfits which they will outgrow in a month) or at home carrying your colicky baby.
You lose sleep over your feverish baby who's fretting non-stop because he or she's teething.
You lose contact with most of your gal pals because you're in so deep with this thing called Motherhood, you don't know left from right.
You hold your breath on their first day at school.
You wonder if they are doing okay in school.
Your heart palpitates when they come home with their exam results.

Then one day, your kid's suddenly OLD enough tell you,
"Mum, can you please NOT tag me in your Facebook photos? I have a reputation to uphold, you know?!"

Well, well, well.
Guess it's time for me to dust out the cobwebs from my stilettos, throw out the baby wash towel and become a Yummy Mummy!

Mummy continuing with the grumbling......
Where's my LBD? (Little Black Dress) Can I still freakin' fit into it? Is Black now the new black? Or is white the new black?

Bangkok Food Pics

(above pic - John & Tessa digging in at the weekend market, Chatuchak)

Street food in Bangkok is very colourful. It is no wonder that many of the city girls are ram rod slim - they seem to survive on the mango / prawn salad sold every which way you turn. Mike saw them tossing baby prawns which were still alive into the rojak concoction of sauces and vegetables. Somehow, it seemed a bit gross to see the live prawns jumping about (somewhat cruel like the way drunken prawns are cooked) but still when you taste the vinegar based salad, it is really delicious.

We also tried (the word is tried) to buy some fried insects but after hemming and hawing, we found we really didn't want to eat any of it, so we ended up not buying any. The street vendor and her husband just nodded in amusement.

(below pic) I walked past this man with a sort of ice cream trolley and took a double take when the colourful array of food drew my attention. I went back and stared into his steaming basket and realised it looked very much like our 'siew mai'. Decided to pick one tiny basket and went to look for my kids who were picking out some jeans at a nearby shop. We took one gulp each and I knew I had to run back to get more. The most delicious Siew Mai I've ever tasted! (no, we didn't get any stomach upset at all). He was located in an alleyway near the Indra Regent Hotel and the pasar malam shops surrounding it.

(below pic) Someone recommended that I eat Pigs' Trotters when in Thailand. Up till then, I had no idea it was all that popular. I mean, Pad Thai or Tom Yam soup yes but Pigs' Trotters? I did see it on our first day there and and it was simply delicious! Ate it about 3 or 4 times in all. It's sold as commonly as Chicken Rice or Char Siew Rice is sold in Singapore. Definitely has vinegar in it.

Also to die for are the dried wanton noodles (if you stare hard enough in the above pic, you should be able to locate the bowls of wanton noodles!). They are very generous with their portions of dumplings. They do not give you a spoon though and probably because if you order the dry ones, they do not supply a bowl of soup to go with it. When Mike ordered one to be packed back to the hotel, the lady actually (without our prompting), packed a styrofoam bowl, chopsticks, spoon, two packets of chilli; one green and one red saucy thingy to go with it and all for 25 baht (less than S$1.50). Oh, BTW, you can order a small bottle of coke for 10 baht (about S$0.50) to go with your noodles.

(above pic) We also visited the famous Floating Market Damnoen Saduak and I had delicious beefball noodles there! I think I ended up paying a bit more than a whole bunch of kids in school uniform but it was still reasonable. My kids refused to eat anything soupy there because they saw the boat hawkers washing their bowls in the river. They were convinced the water for the soup came from the river too. That's Singapore children for you. Actually, the soup tasted a bit grainy (sandy) and the colour looked a bit like the river's too but what the heck, I don't really want to know the truth! All I know is it was so tasty!

(below pic) Here's a delicious box of BBQ prawns which Mike had 'Tar Pao' back to the hotel room for me.

Now your see it..... (addendum: Ho ho...so my kids read my blog! They pointed out several grammatical / typo errors like 'your see it', which obviously should be 'you see it'. I'm usually a stickler for good written English but somehow, I don't spend a lot of time proof reading my blog entries - sorry about that!)

(below pic)

Now you don't!

The damage? 100 Baht (About S$4.50)

Throughout our trip, we were eating and munching as we walked along the streets or wherever we went. We didn't even get any tummy upset until.....we moved into a FOC hotel provided by the TAT and ate the buffet spread. How ironic!

Day 14 - Arrival back in Singapore

A group of us broke out in applause when our plane landed at Changi International Airport past midnight on 3 December 2008. For many, including our family, it marked the end of many question marks.

Coming in second to the question of 'Are you a Singaporean?' would be 'Is our flight confirmed?'. But with our time in Bangkok, then later U-Tapao, you realise that it doesn't matter if the airline has confirmed the flight. There is no such thing as a confirmation until your plane has landed at your destination!

We had left our hotel on 1 Dec at midnight and arrived at U-tapao International Airport at about 2 am or so. It is definitely a military facility cum commercial airport. Although the terminal itself is small, there were numerous commercial liners at the parking bays.

(Above pic shows the check in counter at U-Tapao at about 3 am. This is not considered crowded as it is the wee hours of the morning)

There was a First Aid clinic in between the departure and arrival halls of the small terminal.

Our makeshift airline check-in counter wasn't open and there was a single A4 sheet of paper pasted above the table, that said our morning flight had been cancelled, then an arrow pointing to the evening flight. What did that mean? Had that paper been for the previous day's flight? Did they mean today's flight? Someone told Mike to buy the Airport Tax in preparation for the flight. We had already pre-paid our airport tax with our tickets but apparently we had to pay for THIS airport's tax!

Here's my son making the most of the situation. I must say, both our kids have been Super Troupers throughout this experience. I wouldn't exactly call it an ordeal because we tried our best to be positive through the 2 weeks (well, until the last day when we were all kinda weary already after our flight got cancelled again!).

We wait.......we walk around asking questions. There is confusion. Where do we go? What do we do? Where are the airline check-in staff? We wait again. We nod off. We try to eat and drink food we'd brought along. We pull our jackets closer as it is a bit chilly. When it's finally past 6.30 am, we realise that the counter isn't going to open at all. When it's past our flight time of 9.15 am, we realise the plane isn't going to show at all! Mike walks to the airport tax counter and angrily slams the airport tax coupons on the counter demanding a refund. The ladies do it without any question.

The flight schedules are manually updated at this board.

Mike has been chatting with some other Singaporeans. In a group of 15, we make a decision to leave U-Tapao airport and follow a guy back to a resort provided free of charge by the TAT. We decide to go there for lunch, catch some shut-eye and then be back at the airport for the night flight.

Although we were not in a celebratory mood of any kind, we were pleasantly surprised by the size of the resort (600 acres)! Below shows a pic of fake giant ants crawling up the wall - no idea what the significance is.

We checked-in, had lunch (it was a sumptous buffet spread) and then walked around to explore the resort.

Told my kids this was totally surreal. One minute, we were sleeping at U-Tapao Airport and the next, we were paddling in this lake with cows and rats floating on lotus flowers! Didn't know if we should laugh or cry!

We buy large packet of fish food and have a good time watching the fish swim around our swan paddle boats!

After lunch, I set my phone's alarm clock to ring in an hour's time, hit the cold shower and knock out as soon as my head hits the pillow. I wake up an hour later to find Mike and kids in deep sleep. Worried that we'd miss the bus, miss the plane, miss anything, I drag myself up and spend the next half hour yelling at the 3 of them to wake up (we were in two separate rooms) while packing up our bags.

We meet up with the rest on time and head for U-Tapao airport again. This time, it's a complete mess over there. Just imagine a gigantic pasar malam that is free for all. Like some bazaar with food, 'lady-boys' singing and dancing and check-in counters strewn all over. People are everywhere and I am talking about just outside the terminal.

We turned up at the airport and the check-in counter still had no staff attending to it. Apparently, it had been like that since morning (when we had left the airport). Finally, they turn up and we are told (with no real surprise) "SORRY, YOU ARE NOT ON TONIGHT'S FLIGHT MANIFEST." There are 40 people on the wait list. We wait. Things do not look good.

Mike is running around trying to see if we can buy tickets for other airlines departing that night. It is not easy. No one is picking up. The online options say they are all sold out.

My kids and I hold hands and pray to put our trust in God and if or not we would get on board that flight that night, we would leave it in HIS good hands.

Now, I wouldn't be sitting here typing this blog now if not for the help of CHAN our group leader. A very composed and positive thinking Singaporean, he kept us going by liaising with the MFA and embassy people! It was our guardian angels, CHAN and JOEY from MFA who finally and I mean FINALLY got us on board the night's flight. To these two guys, we owe everything! Although the 15 of us just met for the first time that day, the camaraderie was apparent. Singaporeans were bonding just by the fact that we were Singaporeans.

We had to let the airline check in all the passengers who had been confirmed on the night flight first. The irony is some of these people who were confirmed on that flight, had made their bookings much later than we had. I mean, we had been stranded since 26 November and no one at the airline seemed to give a hoot that we'd been shifted from flight to flight.

Then we stood huddled for the lottery draw. When our names were called, we jumped for joy! I actually shouted! I love Thailand and the Thai people but shuffling to and fro between airport and hotel and the uncertainty was taking a toll on me. We got our boarding passes and paid our airport tax (with NO COUPON issued to us???). I asked the counter staff for the airport tax coupon but they said they didn't have any. We just paid and did what they said.

I am sure I speak for the whole group of us when I say we held our breaths until we finally landed at Changi. We knew that even getting the boarding pass could mean we would get off- loaded at the last minute. They had even issued me a duplicate seat no. I was so sure I'd be the lucky one to get off-loaded! Finally, we took off and I believe many took their first comfortable sleep in days.

When the wheels of the airplane touched Singapore ground, we broke out in applause. That spoke a thousand words.

To Chan and Joey ~ Many thanks!

To the Thais, we haven't forgotten you ~ We will be back!

(If anyone who has appeared in my photos wishes for it to be removed, please let me know).

Day 13 - Bangkok Airport closure

In two hours' time, we'll be leaving for Utapao Airport in Pattaya. We're actually leaving nearly 10 hours ahead of our flight given that a jam is expected ahead near Utapao. We've been told there was some chaos in the reservations last night during check in. We hope and pray for a smooth journey ahead.

I cannot explain what I'm feeling. My kids are excited to be home. Relieved to be headed home? Sad to leave Thailand. My husband and I; we are sad to leave the many Thais we have made friends with. Being here 13 days and seeing them every single day, we've managed to exchange alot of information despite the language barrier. As some Thais we met are able to speak some English and Mandarin, it made it a lot easier to communicate with them. So many Thais (man in the street) have apologised to us for the inconvenience caused. They are upset too that their livelihoods have been affected.

Mike, the kids and I will have 14 days (including tomorrow) to be with each other, 24 / 7. That is more than I can say about the time we've spent together as a family in Singapore for so many years! Looking back, I would say that our assurance that God has a plan for us in everything that happens to us, we see it as a Blessing that we've had the opportunity to be together as a family.

To our Thai friends, Good-Bye and take care! Our hearts ache for those who depend on the tourist industry, who have told us that they have had no income the past few days due to the Bangkok Airport shut down. We could do no more than try to patronise their businesses as much as we could. We wish we could do more for you but we can only pray for your well-being! Despite everything, we wish to say to our Thai friends, "Thank you for your hospitality"! This is not our first time in Thailand and it will not be our last!

Day 12 - Stranded in Bangkok

So this is early morning of Day 12 in Bangkok. In about 24 hours' time, we're supposed to leave our hotel in Bangkok for a long ride to U-tapao, Pattaya. U-what you say? Yeah, we've never even heard of it up until now. Some refer to it as a Military Air Base, some call it a naval base, some say it's an International Airport. I don't care. All I know is the airline had better be able to SEE OUR RESERVATION in their system when we arrive at the airport tomorrow and their plane had better be able to get off that single runway. Our departure booking had been confirmed by the airline over the phone but when I tried to check it just now online, I could not access it.

From the bits and pieces of news we've been able to gather, things were chaotic for the first few flights from there. A group of Singaporeans we met at our previous hotel (hey, Jonathan, Bobby and Graydon, hope you and your families are well!), left the hotel this afternoon for U-Tapao. We pray for their safety and smooth arrival back to Singapore. I can just imagine them kissing the ground once they arrive back home.

Bumped into a young Singaporean couple (whom we had made friends with yesterday) just now at the hotel lobby and they tried but could not get on the same flight as us (2 Dec, early morning). They will be leaving on the same day but at night. We got talking and realised, (they were not the only ones) that relatives are very anxious for them/us to get back. We're so grateful for the all calls, smses, emails and facebook notifications we have been receiving! Please do not worry too much. So far, it's been life as usual in the city. Trouble? You can't tell from here. We walked about and it was apparent that the streets were more void of foreigners than usual. Most of the people were locals.

I did get pretty annoyed by a taxi driver today who was blaring a very passionately spoken (or should I say, shouted) speech throughout our ride. I whispered to Mike that it sounded like a speech (it was in Thai) made by a PAD supported. When Mike asked if the speech was a "Yellow" or "Red" shirter, the driver said yellow. He then said vehemently that he hated the ousted PM Thaksin and the current PM Somchai. I was fuming as I listened quietly. I wanted to whack him on the head with my knapsack not because I care two hoots about Thai politics but because the darn Yellow colour (anti govt) has caused MUCH MUCH inconvenience by shutting down the Suvarnabhumi (pronounced Soo-wana-poom) Airport, to the very people who are spending MANY MANY Baht in their country! Many foreigners are not returning to Bangkok ever and this will have a severe impact on the daily livelihood of the man in the street.
The local grapevine says many wearing the Yellow shirts are paid daily and fed daily to sit and do their poo at the protest sites. Some locals say if you are jobless, that would be a good option to get $$$ and free food. They say it pays better than their jobs. Middle and Upper class? Bah! I don't buy that crap! I've seen the sea of faces. The majority are working class or not working at all. You think the middle and upper class who are busy running their businesses have the time to sit it out patiently in their yellow T-shirts waving plastic hands? Let me say again that I wish not to play any part in Thai politics but I'm stuck here in their country while they pussyfoot with the airport closure. Do something, somebody, pleeeeze!
The Thai PM has left Bangkok and has moved up North. Eh, does he know we're still here?

I did eventually call the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok. I told them my husband was running out of his medication and my kids were sick. They told me sorry but there was nothing they could do. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. Some Singaporeans say you have to 'BANG TABLE' then they will do something.
I read in the Bangkok Post that royalty, dignatories and important company executives have already been safely flown out of the country. What are we, then? The scum of the earth?

Some Thais have asked if I will ever return to Bangkok. Of course. Nothing is going to stop me. I love it here. I love the vibrancy, the simplicity, the food, the culture, more importantly, the humility of the people - I guess the political chaos is part of the bargain. The PAD do not do justice to their country's well-being. There was an election and the majority have spoken. What do you call taking over a country's airport? Whatever they want to call it, it sounds like terrorism to me.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has provided stranded tourists with free hotel accomodation and meal coupons. It is a good peace offering and no one can complain about the lack of luxury at this hotel we are in. The problem is if you've not heard of this offer, you would likely still be living at your own expense or in the streets. The lack of information provided sucks big time! It's frustrating that my airline hasn't even contacted me about rescheduling a new flight. I had to hear from others that we had to call them to get our new flights or they would just forget about us!

Going back to the hotel, every service personnel seems to have been advised to treat us like any other paying customer. That's fantastic. We've even received apologies by the Thai people for our situation. That is really sweet.

Oh shucks....watching Thai news concurrently and Haatyai seems to be flooded right now. There goes our road option if our U-Tapao adventure flops. Sigh, I just hope I still have a job to go back to when I can finally get back home! (Boss, are you reading this???) BTW, I'm disappointed that with the no. of foreign tourists stranded in Bangkok, the Thai news broadcasting stations have not made any effort to provide English subtitles. What is worse? To not hear any news or to hear news but in a language you do not understand? Sigh.

I'm rattling on and on..... many thoughts in my head but not very coherent in the flow. I checked my previous post and it was full of spelling mistakes. Guess I'm tired and not in a good frame of mind. Both our kids have taken turns to fall sick. One has just recovered from a fever and now the other is having it. Hopefully, their Mummy and Daddy will have the health and mental strength to keep it going!

Let me end today's post on a lighter note. We made such good friends with a couple of masseurs near our previous hotel that when we went back to visit them today, one of them gifted us with Thai souvenirs which she had bought & kept in her locker, in the hope that we would drop in on her again. Considering her commission (she gets NO salary) and the value of the gifts, her action moved me to tears. They will be the most valuable souvenirs I am bringing back with me to Singapore.

Day 9 in Bangkok - Are you a Singaporean?

"Are you a Singaporean?"
That's like the new way to start a conversation amongst stranded fellow Singaporeans here in Bangkok.
I've done it several times the last two days and likewise, we've been approached by Singaporeans with the same question.
It starts with you staring at someone or a group of people who look typically Singaporean. Don't ask me what that is. It's just a thing. You caste them glances every now and then. Then you gingerly inch yourself nearer to them and when they open their mouths and speak Singlish, you've hit jackpot.

You ask, "Are you a Singaporean?"
and when they nod or say yes, typically, the next question is, "So what do you intend to do?"

Yes, good question. What do we intend to do?
See, the most frustrating thing about being unable to fly out of Bangkok as scheduled is you know nothing except through the Singaporean grapevine and that depends largely on how many "Are you Singaporean?" questions you have asked? My kids call it the 'bonding experience'!
The little we know or hear, is from them or from people in Singapore keen to help us. Anything from the Singapore Embassy here in Bangkok? I'm still waiting for their C-130. From accounts of people who have turned up at the Singapore Embassy, they are getting ready to whip out their computers to type complaint letters. Specifically about a gum chewing officer who seems to have insinuated to them that being stranded is not really their concern.
Well, I myself have not gone to see them so I cannot say if things are really so bochap there.
I'm Singaporean am I not? I come from a very efficient country, do I not? I rest perfectly assured that if they have eventually have plans to evacuate us, they will call us (because I have faithfully registered online with MFA and the Singapore Embassy in Thailand with all our details). Am I wrong?
Hello? Am I wrong? Hello? Hello? Anybody there?

Still in Bangkok

So, this is our 9th day in Bangkok. 2 and a half days past our departure date. I'm not a hardcore shopaholic but this IS Bangkok. It's really hard to resist buying anything, even if we've overstayed our holiday! 9 days here and our luggages are bursting at the seams. You walk from the hotel to your favourite wanton mee stall and you buy a men's 100% Thai silk shirt for 100 Baht ($4.50). You walk back to the hotel and you buy a pair of jeans for 150 Baht! (OK, maybe that makes me a shopaholic) but I AM supposed to be in a sad mood aren't I? After all, I am stranded in Bangkok. But again, this is Bangkok, the Land of Smiles and I'm not sad (yet)! Rattled yes but not sad. Locals in the city are too busy trying to make a living to worry about the airport situation. Some say, they don't even have the time to watch the news or read the papers. They've been too busy working. Some who survive on the tourist industry do gripe that the lack of tourists coming in have already affected business. Couldn't have chosen a nicer country to be stranded in.

So far, we have met so many friendly Thais. That is the reason we keep coming back here. The roadside food and their glorious chilli condiments are simply to die for. The locals have been very nice to us and offering us their sympathy and whispering their displeasure with their fellow 'yellow shirters'. Even the Tuk-Tuk drivers (touts outside the hotel) have become 'friends' although they haven't earned a single cent from us (because they keep wanting to bring us 'shopping' and to 'eat seafood'). They've offered advice on where to go to check out alternative land options to leave Bangkok. People working at the same organisation / company / shop are warm with each other. You often see them laughing and joking with each other while working (despite their meagre salaries and long long working hours). We've talked to some of them every day for the last few days and we've learnt some sad stories of how they have to work to eke out a living. Could I see myself living in Thailand? Without a doubt, yes.
Perhaps my son put it aptly when he said, 'Mum! Thailand should be the one who is 'Truly Asia'!'

(Am changing hotels now. Our pockets cannot stand the 5 star charges indefinitely! Will try to update but unsure if the new hotel has free broadband access)

Stranded in Bangkok

We've been stranded in Bangkok since yesterday morning. Fortunately, the airline contacted us to inform us of the flight cancellation before we were due to leave for the airport at the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
Some other travellers were not so lucky and had gone to the airport only to spend hours stuck in traffic and then only to have to turn back to their hotels. Some fellow Singaporeans had not even been informed by the airline and only decided also to not go to the airport when they realised they were on the same flight as us.

Although we're not on any tour, the Singapore tour agency we had booked our hotel room and airport transfer from have been very helpful to us. I can't say the same for any other authorities though. No one is telling us anything and the news is in Thai. All we can do is watch the pictures and see if the waves of yellow shirts are still hanging around. We have always loved the culture of Thailand and this experience isn't going to stop us from coming back. But for now, we need to find a way back home first.

Out of town

We'll be out of town the most part of this week and next.
Expect to be back in business at the end of next week! (End Nov 2008).

Will try our best to check emails while away but if not, will attend to them when we get back. Thanks for your understanding!

Keep your Christmas orders coming!!!

Cheers,
Fiona and Mike

Wishing YOUR'S a successful.....

I ordered a hamper over the phone today. For the card, I told the lady who had taken my order, that I wanted a simple message with a "To...... From....." with no particular message.

I pretty much got a shock when I received the faxed invoice showing the message to be:

To: ........
Wishing your's a successful.......
With Best Wishes From:.......

I telephoned the lady and told her she couldn't say 'Wishing your's'. Could she please correct it to 'Wishing you'. (I didn't even want to get her all confused so I didn't bring up the point that I hadn't even asked her to write a message for me).

She had the audacity to question loudly, 'Why cannot?!'.
I told her it was bad English.

She insisted it was correct.
She then haughtily asked me if the hamper was going to my company or to another company.
I told her 'another company'.
She said triumphantly, 'Then correct what? Your's!'

Patricia, if you're reading this, I'm wishing YOUR'S all the best, because you're going to need all the luck you can get! (LOL)

It is better to give than to receive

We all know and love the saying, "It is better to give than to receive".

Sometimes, with no ill-intentions, we tell ourselves, "We should give to receive".
But it isn't really the same as saying it's better to give than to receive.

Perhaps, it's time we count our daily blessings and say, "Because I receive, I give".

Puppy love

(Aiyoh, I'm editing my title and some 'letters' below. As soon as Google Ads pick up any word they think resembles info from an undesirable website, my ads disappear on me!)

I'd taken a leave of absence from blogging because it was exam month! The kids' exams to be exact. Not that I actually help them with their studies. I just sit around and nag them a bit here and there. So for me, today's the last day of the younger kid's exam. Phew!

I get a headache just looking at my kid's secondary school math book. Threw that out of the window a long time ago. It's totally greek to me now. Read a Chinese text book? Well it goes something like this. Given that 'O' is the word I can read and '__' is the word I can't, the reading goes something like this: OOOO __ __ OOOOO __ __ __ OO __ __ OOOOO.. You get the drift. That's how I (and some other classmates I know) read during school oral exams and how I wrote during Chinese compositions. (Hey! They allow dictionaries now for composition writing. How cool is that?) I really have no idea how I passed my 'AO' Level Chinese all those moons ago. I do remember my classmate giving me sentences to memorise for oral (you know, just in case this topic comes out, or that topic comes out).

Anyway, with exams shoved aside, it's time for the year end holidays and won't the kids just love that??? I'm hoping that a particular kid whom I don't know at all, will at least be enjoying it a little. See, two nights ago, we heard a commotion at our apartment's void deck. A girl was yelling at someone, that what they had couldn't possibly be love! She was yelling, he was yelling, their friends were yelling. A lovers' quarrel.
Thing is, they weren't just quarrelling. The boy was shoving and pulling the girl. Judging by the size and looks of the kids (I was being a 'kaypoh' (busybody) from the window), they looked to be no older than 15. They had moved out from the void deck to the road side, in full view of the heavy traffic. Then, he slapped her! The girl ran off and the boy went after her. She acted as though she wanted the boy to hold her back. She came back. They yelled some more. The friends yelled at her too. All this while, I was wondering if I should call the cops. I was also thinking that the kids would have left by the time the cops arrived. Some people walked past them but avoided them. They didn't try to stop the commotion. So the 'lovers' continued their spat. I didn't see him hitting her again but she didn't seem to be wanting to get away from him anyway. It ended (well, I mean, I couldn't see anymore from where I was standing) when a guy came to break them up. My kids told me they overheard that guy claiming to be an off-duty cop. The girl ran across the road and the boy gave chase.

I just pray this girl comes to her senses and walks away from the boy for good.

Blueberry

Simple joys of parenting.....
Last night......

Son: (trying hard to concentrate on his homework) "Mum, can you please upgrade my handphone or not?"

Mum: (painting her toe nails) "Hmmm? Upgrade? Whatever for?

Son: "Can or not? Like some PDA phone or what."

Mum: "Why can't you use my old LG phone? It's a PDA what."

Son: "I dunno.... how about like...... Apple iphone?"

Mum: "Huh! For YOU?!"

Son: (head down, still writing) "Or maybe a Blueberry."

Mum: (head down, still painting) "Blueberry, whatever do you want a Blueberry for? You need to check many emails issit?"

Son: (Silent)

Mum: (Silent)

Suddenly, they look at each other and realise what they've just said.
Both burst out laughing at the same time: "OK! Can!"

(Note: Son relates conversation to Dad later and Dad says even Blueberries are expensive. He promises him a 'strawberry' instead)

Google Home Page

My Google Home Page is back and all is well again! I simply love Google! I'm actually feeling elated about this. Now, isn't that a scary thought?

Funny thing, prior to Friday's 'access denial', I'd recently read in the papers that more and more companies were letting Google host their company emails because Google nearly never ever has email hosting problems!
Wah, so jiak lak! Very parn tarng (teochew for .....jinx?) is it? Mention it and then disaster strikes!

Some time back, I came across an article of someone who had been locked out of his Google email account by Google. He'd received a nice, polite email from Google saying he could no longer access his Gmail account. That meant, he also couldn't access his blog and all the photos posted in Picasa. Why? Because he had used the same Gmail account to sign up for and access all these other accounts. Tongue-in-cheek, he asked himself if Google had taken over his life and what if 'they' decided to take it all away one day!

Hmmmm, don't say you haven't been warned.

Google and their 'We're sorry' page

Many of us get so hung up living with technology in our daily lives that we get withdrawal symptoms when we're suddenly deprived of our little fairy assistants, a.k.a. mobile phones, pdas, blackberries, computers, email access.....!!!

I don't know about you but today at the office, I've been faced with Google's 'We're sorry but'.....basically, Google is defining my computer or office network as as pest, sending automated queries to them, so they are blocking us out until we fix the glitch.

After wasting much time and brain cells today running my spyware / malware removal programmes through my gazillion PC files, wondering what went wrong and still not being able to access Google, I called my daughter back home and what do you know, she's getting the cold apology from Google too!

So there. I feel alot better now. Should have called her alot earlier but then, she's probably just back from school anyway.

Maybe the issue is with the local IP servers connecting to Google. Whatever it is, I had to use Yahoo and after using Google, it's really not my favourite search engine.

I can't access my personal emails over at Gmail! I feel weird. But that's about it. Weird. My life didn't really collapse. So what if I can't access my email for a day.

Does technology really maketh a person today? How much less a person is the PC illiterate uncle and aunty next door? How much better are you as a human, knowing soooooo much about computers etc.

I'm not usually a fan of Mandarin serials but I have to say, I'm addicted to Mediacorp's current run of "Love is All Around" (Hey, these Malaysian actors are good!). Sigh. OK, TV is still technology. I just can't escape it, can I? After dinner and the TV show, I might maybe rush down to GV to catch a movie with my family. Technology again? Wow....

Hello again!

Hello everyone!

Mike and I have been so quiet over at this blog as we've been battling the flu bug! A heavy battle, I might add!

We can dream of doing many things and we have all these fancy plans but when illness strikes, it makes us realise that we are so very human and fallible after all.

I've tried very hard not to fall sick in the past year and I've been irritating my kids (and probably hubby) by stuffing them with their daily dose of vitamins. My persistence did work in a sense. It managed to ward off the flu for me for about a year and that's really good by my standard if you actully look at my history of succumbing to the flu bug! I could pass off as a walking antibiotic!

Of late though, I've been trying very hard to find healthier and more natural alternatives to the antibiotic monster. I don't necessarily buy what every man in the street is buying. I prefer trial and error. What works for me, may not work for you. Likewise, what works for you, may not work for me. I learnt that from an early stage when combating my pimples as a teenager (I'm one of the few lucky adults who still get pimples, sigh). Expensive 'branded' skin care? Fancy cleaning regimes? Hmmmph! Been there done that. Turns out, a very economical face wash which I can buy off the shelf suits me best! If you're battling pimples yourself and want to know what worked for me, let me know. May not suit you but since it's not expensive, worth a try anyway.

Since the onset of my flu bout (and my subsequent completion of the doctor issued antibiotics), I've stocked up on some bottles of supplements. If they work, I'll let you know! Already, I see an improvement to my complexion and ahem, bowel movements! Aiyah, not a funny thing leh, it's no joke you know. While some people take their daily 'purging' for granted, I don't! It's been an uphill battle for me! Poot!

Driving up to Malaysia (Genting Highlands)

(Genting Highlands ~ snapshot taken from the lift landing of the 23rd floor of the First World Hotel)

We took a short road trip up North (Malaysia lah, where else) during the National Day weekend! It felt weird going away on our nation's 43rd birthday. Had like a lurking, guilty feeling; a betrayal of sorts. But we've been in town for many of her other birthdays. That must count for something, right? Besides, I believe there's no point in lavishing your beloved with super attention and gifts on Valentine's Day but ignoring her/him the rest of the year. Constant love and care is harder to get 365 days a year.

We just needed a break and leaving her meant nothing more, nothing less. Just a long weekend for me.

If it counts for anything, at 7.00 am in the morning, while stuck at the Woodlands Checkpoint, the opportunity came up and Mike and I talked to our kids about how Minister Mentor LKY and his gang built up our nation from scratch; how it must have been such a great burden for him in the beginning and how grateful we must be for all we have today. All this, we talked about in the car. Family bonding / nation building (grin), no? We didn't force the subject, it just came naturally.

We've been driving to Malaysia since our kids were toddlers and almost always, our trips are a last minute thing (as in the decision to go is made the day before or on the very same day). We're no experts but we've become pretty ok at packing our usual luggage in double quick time and we more or less know how to get to Malacca / KL / Genting and back by road.

With kids in tow, it doesn't matter if you're going away for just a day or a week ~ there's a whole lot of barang barang to bring along. Nearly anything you need or have forgotten to bring, can probably be bought in Malaysia. That to me, is the beauty of driving there. No, correction ~ the beauty is in the exchange rate and bargains galore!

Seriously, for the uninitiated, driving into Malaysia may seem 'scary', what with all the horror stories you hear all the time. We're willing to take the risk because seriously, there is much to enjoy and appreciate in terms of the scenery and culture. We do face our fair share of frustrations on these road trips but for the most part, they can be very enjoyable if you're careful and don't bring your typical Singapore complain-mode along. Leave any political agendas or inhibitions at home if you're driving up North. When in Rome, you're expected to do as the Romans do, no? When in Malaysia, then try (TRY lah) to think 'Malaysia Bagus'. Think of it as a hinterland you can escape to for the weekend.

We do understand that some Singaporeans may be very adventurous elsewhere around the globe but are hesitant to travel across the causeway. Remember, we're no experts but we've nothing to lose, sharing some survival tips for the uninitiated.

Packing

Buy large 'zip-loc' bags. They're not expensive. The textbook sized ones cost about over $3 for 25 pieces. I can never find a toiletry bag big enough for the contact lens bottle, the face wash cleanser, the tiny shampoo and conditioner bottles, the combs etc. So I just dump those likely to leak into a single bag and the dry stuff into another bag. I also have one for the medications.

You reach the hotel, just pull out all the different bags and dump them beside the bathroom sink. When you're leaving for home, just dump everything back into the bags, zip them up and Voila! (I even have a zip-loc for my passports just in case I fall into water!)

Ladies, suggest you use a handbag you can strap diagonally across your shoulders and keep your gold at home. White gold is ok apparently as the snatch thieves do not find value in them. Might also want to bring an extra wallet to separate the ringgit from the SGDs.

Car

Ensuring our car is in OK condition for the long drive is a no brainer. Consolation is there are mechanics aplenty in Malaysia lah. Car breaking down while there? Express ship car spare part from KL to Malacca? Flat tyre on a Sunday? Eh...been there, done that.

Here are things you might need in the car:

~ Bottled water (For the humans and for the car! However, water is easily available at Malaysian petrol stations too).

~ Munchies (also available everywhere and sometimes cheaper there too), healthy or otherwise. Chuck the celery sticks, man. This is a holiday! I want my 'Double-decker' prawn crackers and bubble gum!

~ CDs with LOUD UPBEAT music to keep the driver awake. Keep your classical or jazzy, soothing stuff at home! Even with a good night's sleep, it's easy to feel sleepy when the bright sun shines in your eyes.

~ Cushions, thin wraps (for when the car aircon gets too cold). Actually, as long as the kids wear socks, they'll be fine even with thin T-shirts.

~ Story books, MP3/ MP4 players, portable DVD player (to keep the kids occupied).

~ Plastic bags to contain the food wrappers in (to keep Mummy or Daddy occupied).

~ Baby wipes / tissue paper (bring lots because nearly all the restrooms along the way do not have toilet paper)

~ Sometimes, we bring along a small icebox with a homemade block of ice wrapped in plastic. We put our packet or canned drinks inside and they keep cool till we reach our destination.

~Baby seats for the babies of course.

~ Can't stress enough. Always, always, put on your seat belts (BTW, did you buy your travel insurance? We always do, even if it's just a road trip).

OK, now that your car looks like a play centre, you're ready to go.

(Road leading to Woodlands Checkpoint ~ 9.8.08 @ 6.30 am)

We set off from our house at 6.00 am on 8.8.08. Stopped to fill up the petrol tank and realised, many others at our neighbourhood petrol kiosk were all dressed for a eh.....their road trip too!
So very quickly and 'kiasully' (trying to beat them!), we headed for the SLE and reached Woodlands about 6.30am. Very bad traffic jam for another 1 and 1/2 hours just to get pass the Woodlands Checkpoint. Saw 2 cars jostling for a space and ending up knocking each other. One (not Singaporean) driver got out and started scolding the other party. His actions were very arrogant and fierce. The Singapore driver sat still in his seat and listened quietly.
This to us, is normal fare. Part of the fun, guys!

Sailed through JB Checkpoint (Asked the immigration officer in Singapore if White cards were required in JB, he said YES. Asked the immigration office in Malaysia if White cards were required, he said NO. Huh???)

Toll

With our 'Touch n Go' cards (cashcards used in Malaysia), we managed to bypass any queues at the different tolls. These cards can be purchased at the JB Checkpoint. Much like our cashcards, they require a deposit. Buy only if you intend to drive up more than once.

To top-up the cards, you'll have to look out for the designated 'Tambah' counters. My tip to you is to put in lots of Ringgit in your card or face being stuck at a toll with not enough money and no 'Tambah' counter in sight! Although they do have a list of petrol stations which allow the 'Tambah', I've yet to see any petrol station LIST their petrol station name! How the heck would I know which is Lim Ah Kow Petrol Station?

As an estimate, for a trip to Genting Highlands and back to Singapore, you should put at least RM250 into the card. Do note that even with a card, it may sometimes be more prudent to use the pay lanes when the 'Touch n Go' lanes are crowded.

Stopping enroute:

(Not meant to insult anyone but we think taking some precautions are called for.)

~ This is important. Stop only at crowded rest points. There are a few big makan (food) centres between JB and KL which are usually very crowded (with Singapore cars too). There are a few rest points (no Makan stalls) which we avoid because they look quiet and deserted. Our Malaysian relatives have indeed witnessed, a parang wielding car robbery at one of such stops.

~ Do NOT forget to bring along that steering wheel lock AND your keys to that steering wheel lock!!! Although it might be of little use, we still think it's a deterrent for any car thief who's trying to open it the traditional way (as opposed to the high tech code scanner thieves). I always insist that we have to put on the steering wheel lock EVEN if it's for a pee break.

~ Most of the petrol kioks expect you to pay before pumping. Pay at the cashier's inside the air-conditioned office. While the driver goes to the counter to pay for the petrol, the rest of you sitting in the car, keep your car doors locked!

~ If no one is watching your car while you take a leak or eat, park head first into a lot. It makes towing a little less easy (or so they say) for the car thief. Needless to say, park at a very busy area.

We were headed to Genting Highlands but decided to stop at KL to do some quickie shopping. There was some congestion along the way so we decided to skip our favourite place in KL ~ Chinatown. With only an hour to spare, we headed for BB Plaza instead; a relatively rundown place but filled with little shops selling shoes and clothes. It's also surrounded by hip pubs and coffee haunts. I know how to get to BB Plaza but I can't describe it to you. Suffice to say it's somewhere near Berjaya Times Square and not too far from Chinatown either.

(I liked the quaint architecture of these buildings in KL)

Worried that we might get stuck in a jam, we left for Genting soon after the kids got their fill of goodies.

(Enroute to Genting Highlands. Heading towards Batu Caves)

(Above - Just passed Batu Caves)

(The drive up from the base of Genting is a breeze. No vomit bags required.)

(And we're there!)

(Indoor Amusement Centre cum Shopping Centre ~ yes, more shopping)

We have still alot to learn about driving across the causeway. Along the way, especially if you take the old routes as opposed to the highway, you will get to see the slow and idyllic kampong way of life. We've stopped for fresh durians before. It was quite an experience.

Really, if you're going to be squeamish about how dirty or how everything is 'not like Singapore', then there's no point leaving our country at all.

Hey, I'm not simply promoting Malaysia. But since it's near us, it makes for a great simple family getaway! September holidays, here we come!

(view from our hotel room)

Enjoy your road trip! (Oh by the way, did we mention the 4 hour jam at the Tuas Checkpoint on the return trip?)

New Designs ~ Cartoon Lagoon Hand Painted Shoes

We've added a few new designs to our hand painted shoe collection.
Check out our website:

http://www.cartoonlagoon.com.sg

Look for 'Products' and click the link. It'll bring you to our album.

We've re-organised the pictures into sub-albums so that people may find it easier to zoom in on the type of designs they prefer.

Happy viewing!

Shoes - Happy Birthday Singapore!

Here's our little way of saying 'Happy Birthday, Singapore!'




We'll be taking a short road trip up North this National Day weekend. Will try to access emails while on the road but otherwise, we'll reply all emails when we return next Tuesday 12th Aug.

It's the first time we're leaving the Little Red Dot on her birthday and we feel kinda weird. But we love our island and that's what counts!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!!!

Throwing some hoops

Sorry for the grainy pics. (As mentioned in my previous post, I finally did it. I dumped my fairly new LG KS20 mobile for a new Nokia E66. Nokia, bless you for simplicity and functionality. Just please don't 'hang' on me!)



We were fooling around with the kids at the basketball court and trying to shoot some hoops. It got me thinking and I shot these pics with my KS20. As you can see, not fantastic autofocusing in action. My last few shots before the camera KOed on me at the Singapore Garden Festival!



Sometimes in life,
you aim for a goal.
You think and feel,
that your ball
is travelling in the right direction.

Sometimes, you make it.















and sometimes,








you don't.






But along the way, you must have learnt something, right?

Singapore Garden Festival 2008

Mike and I went to the Singapore Garden Festival 2008 at Suntec Convention Centre. It ends today (1 Aug 2008). We managed to get a dollar off because we had our SAFRA cards with us. I snapped many pics, only to find out that my pics had not been saved where I had directed them to be saved.

Because we had forgotten to bring our stand alone digital camera, I had to depend on my 3.2 megapixel camera in my LG KS20 phone. Having used Nokia for ages, I found the LG KS20 terribly slim and classy but terribly user unfriendly for me (But that's another story)! Losing nearly all my pics from the garden festival was the pits for me. I'm getting a replacement phone this weekend. My family and friends have given up on me because the phone's causing me to not be so efficient in picking up calls. I can't believe that I snapped so many pics and only came back with these few pics.

Still, I guess it's better than nothing! Hmmppph!!!

I'm glad I at least managed to get a shot of this display, which I thought was a beautiful play of colour and light. I was snapping pics and dilligently taking down notes to post on this blog but the photo 'accident' has made my plans haywire. Ah well, such is life!

And of course, how could I have resisted this ladybug? It does look a wee bit like a mite though.

One more thing; if you're still going down tonight, apart from your SAFRA cards, bring your Passion cards along. Apparently, they were giving out free pots of plants to Passion card holders. I could have kicked myself for not bringing it along (wallet too fat from all the discount cards and not money). I say, all those plant-grabbing aunties were really smart!

Coming soon - new designs

Mike and I have been working on some new designs for Cartoon Lagoon's range of Dare-to-wear Hand Painted Shoes!
We'll post them up in a couple of days. Will keep you informed!

Find me a decent hair salon please

Hair Salons in Singapore will lose money having me as their patron. I have not had my hair cut professionally since just before Christmas of last year!

I did neaten my own edges somewhere in March but that’s about it. It’s not that I’m cheapskate but I’ve just NOT yet found a satisfactory hairdresser that can make me not feel bad when I leave the salon(for a reasonable price). I found one across the causeway but he's very expensive and I haven’t yet given up hope on finding one on our own shores.

As I’m trying to outgrow a disastrous cactus short hairstyle from last year, I’ve let it sort of grown out into a bob with the ends just barely touching my collar. It’s been low maintenance for me; purely wash and go, which actually suits my busy lifestyle. My hair has just been able to look acceptable for the past half year. The BEST part is, for the past 6 months, I’ve not had to contend with the sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach after a disastrous visit to a hair salon. In short, I’ve not had to feel unhappy about my hair. Besides, I’ve discovered that Pantene really does work wonders for your hair (and I’m not sponsored by them to say this!)

Back to my point. Since moving to our new place, our family discovered that a much talked about hair salon touting CHEAP haircuts (I mean below 4 bucks!) was a short walk away.

Mike was the first to try it. He thought the resulting hair cut was so-so but acceptable since it was cheap. Being the guy that he is and having had me as his hairdresser SINCE we met (right up till cheap $10 hair cuts sprouted up and I became too lazy to sweep up the cut hair), he thought it was value for money. I’ve never been trained but I’ve been cutting people’s hair since secondary school days. My secondary school classmates might recall our principal informing during weekly assembly that cut hair had been found in the classrooms and the school was offering to pay for anyone who couldn’t afford hair cuts! (Yes! That was me! That was me!) I continued getting requests from my Junior College friends because they had seen my self-cut hair and it wasn’t all that bad (even if I do say so myself)!

Sceptic that I am, I looked at Mike’s spiky haircut and could spot the bochap, random cutting with a tooth-edged scissors. To me, that’s a lazy hair cutting method. After all, it’s my personal opinion that real cutting skills is from wielding of a pair of NORMAL scissors and NOT using that tooth-edged thingy; even when you want to ‘thin’ or layer the hair.

Anyway, after Mike, my domestic helper tried it; she was happy with her haircut. So I thought, what the heck. I’ve been thinking about getting a light perm for my ends so they can outgrow the short length in a sort of camouflage fashion (you know, kinder to the eyes cos you can’t sport the unevenness etc).

I stepped into the salon last evening. There was a queue of about 6 people ahead of me. I had expected it. When they discovered I wanted a perm, I got bumped ahead to the front of the queue. (Wow, I didn’t see that coming). I sat down and that was when I was informed that I was considered ‘LONG HAIR’ (but it’s barely touching my collar!) so I’d have to pay the ‘long hair’ price. What!? What do you call a person whose hair is touching her waist then? Then they tell me, for their list price for a perm, it meant using ‘lousy’ perm lotion so I was advised to get better perm lotion by doing what else….paying more. What!?

In the end, I felt compelled to pay about $40 more than the list price. I picked a lotion brand I could recognize from a list of unrecogniseables. Then another surprise, the lotion I had picked was out-of-stock. Would I like to take the lotion that was $140 more than the listed price? That, of course was in stock.

I remained calm and hesitated too long. So the lady encouraged me to colour my hair instead. I looked at the list price (it was cheaper than a perm) and thought it was reasonable so why not. Ha ha. It was not to be. Surprise, surprise. The list price was for ‘lousy’ colour lotion. It would make my hair dry. Why not pay a bit more and use a better known brand’s colour tints. Sigh. Suffice to say, I didn’t go home with what I had come to get.

Oh and before I left, the hairdresser said, “Did you know, I didn’t use the colour you had chosen.”
(what!?)
“Isn’t this nicer?”
I asked her how I would know what colour to ask for in the future for a touch-up.
Her reply, ‘Eh, I don’t know’.

Well, you get what you pay for. If you just want a cheap cut; any style also can, then go for it. Their service sucks an their standard isn’t that great either. I discovered a whole chunk of unwashed hair dye in my ears when I went home!

All I ask for in a hair salon, is to make me feel good when I leave.
By the way, my bob is clearly lop-sided. It’s longer on the left than on the right.
I doubt if I'll be visiting another hair salon for another 6 months.