Celebrating Success

Parent Teacher meetings galore this week.

I saw a wall of fame up on my alma mater today and the bold header read :
"Celebrate Success".
Below it were A4 pictures of former students who had become 'famous' in Singapore because of their jobs. The pics were accompanied by a short write-up / quote.
It wasn't just a tardy cut and paste job. These pics had nice, hard custom-made plastic screwed over them and that header was made of metal with a nice matt finish!

One was of my very own former classmate and some others I knew as just a year or two younger than myself.
I applaud the intention to encourage the students but "Celebrate Success" would not have been my choice as a header.

The common trait of those whose portraits were put up was a good job designation which made them easily recogniseable in Singapore.
Was there no old girl famous for charitable works?
What does that make the rest of us who are not famous celebrities, be it in the private sector or government sector? How less successful are we? I'm not saying this just because I'm some sour-grape famous news reader (not) or MP (not). I'm saying it because I expected more from my alma mater!!!

I prefer the way of Mike's alma mater, framing up pics of their own 'blast from the past' without specifically calling them successful (although, they are pitifully turning yellow with age).

Here's poetic justice for the unsung heroes or rather heroines of my alma mater.

"To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate the beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cartoon Lagoon - office closed from 7 June to 17 June 2009

Our Cartoon Lagoon office will be closed from
7 June to 17 June 2009.

We will be taking orders right up to 30 May 2009
so that delivery of your hand painted shoes will be completed before 7 June.

Business as usual after 17 June 2009.
Thanks!

Regards,
Fiona and Mike
The Cartoon Lagoon Team

Peace and you

A family bereavement and recent events have helped to put life more into perspective for me and my family.
This is an online diary of sorts and of course you will read about my trivial and inane thoughts all the time. For most of the time, I'm a zany joker but as Mike would know, there is a serious side to me too which surfaces from time to time. I think that I think too much too sometimes.

Money, fame, wealth, popularity.
Love, kindness, generosity, faith.

Let's not wait until it's too late to know what really counts.
I leave you with a poem by Rupert Brooke.


Peace ~ Rupert Brooke

Now, God be thanked Who has matched us with His hour,

And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping,

With hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpened power,

To turn, as swimmers into cleanness leaping,

Glad from a world grown old and cold and weary,

Leave the sick hearts that honour could not move,

And half-men, and their dirty songs and dreary,

And all the little emptiness of love!

Oh! we, who have known shame, we have found release there,

Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep has mending,

Naught broken save this body, lost but breath;

Nothing to shake the laughing heart's long peace there

But only agony, and that has ending;

And the worst friend and enemy is but Death.

Hair - Straight or curly?

Last year........November 2008

Wife: I haven't cut my hair one year already! Now long already, hor?
Hubs: (Pulls wife's hair) Yah, long already. Go and do something, lor.
Wife: Was super short last year remember? Scared to do anything so just let it grow.
Hubs: Yah. You want to go hairdresser? I send you.
Wife: Ok, let me call. See she got slot or not.
Hubs: What you gonna do?
Wife: Dunno. Feel like rebonding.
Hubs: (Silent)
Wife: Why? You want me to perm, right?
Hubs: Up to you, lah. But you look better when perm.
Wife: Hmmm.....
Hubs: You decide, lor. But you look better when hair wild wild.
Wife: Why? You don't like it when I rebond last time issit?
Hubs: (Shakes head) Not nice.
Wife: Haven't decide yet.
Hubs: But like I say, up to you. You like, okay.


At the hair salon

Hairstylist: (Pulls hair upwards) Actually, longer then rebond better. I scared will 'qiao qi lai' (curl up). (Points to shoulder area)
Wife: So cannot rebond?
Hairstylist: Can. Can. But still the ends might not look so nice.
Wife: (Sigh) Actually, my 'ah lau' (fond term for hubby) wants me to perm.
Hairstylist: (Eyes perk up, very enthusiastic now) Then perm lah! I think you perm look nicer, leh! (continues to fondle hair) I give you big, big curls. Very nice one!
Wife: You think so? I very scary one, leh. Every time perm already, next day will straighten.
Hairstylist: Yah. Very nice one. Your hubby sure like one.


Back home

Kids: Yucks! Mum, you look funny with permed hair!
Hubs: Wah! Very nice! Very nice! I like it.


Two days later

Hubs: Wah! Your curls still very nice. Last time you will wash straight already.
Wife: Yah. Quite easy. Just add that blue bottle of serum I bought to the ends. Not allowed to comb anyway.
Hubs: I like the smell.


Two months later

Hubs: Wah! Nice! Nice! Still got curls. Not ugly like last time you perm. This is the longest you tahan (tolerate) the perm.


Four months later

Wife: My hair like not so curly already.
Hubs: Still got curl what.
Wife: Hmmm.... Yah lah. Ok, save money. Don't do anything. Just let it grow longer.


Six months later

Wife: Ay, really feel like doing something to my hair.
Hubs: What you want to do?
Wife: Feel like rebonding.
Kids: Eww, mum! You gonna rebond? Used to your hair already. Now you straighten will look weird!
Hubs: Ok, if you want......or maybe.....how about you perm again?
Wife: You really don't like rebonded hair, right?
Hubs: No. But go ahead if that's what you want.

I'm not sure what this thing is with ladies who like their hair ramrod straight and neat. Methinks it's a reflection of how they would like their lives organised.
What's this thing then about men and raving wild hair?

I'm torn between both. Straight or curly. I see it as decent or wild. I'm both. Can't decide.
And thus, my hair once again, remains uncut for the last 6 months. Such trivial decisions that plague my life.

Twilight - the movie

Here I go again.
If you recall, in one of my April 09 entries, I talked a bit about the Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series of books (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn)

http://cartoonlagoon.blogspot.com/2009/04/twilight-series-tongue-in-cheek-review.html

Well, I finally watched the movie (thanks to my daughter's classmate's DVD loaner). I know. I know. The movie was released eons ago (Nov 08) but I'm a very busy working mum cum wife ok? That means I don't get to 'escape' so easily to catch a movie. Besides, I wanted to read the books before watching the movie. So that's exactly what I did. I finished reading the 4 books and as you will already know from my above mentioned post, I was mesmerised from the word go.

I will say this, the storyline is lame. But it is afterall, fiction. Can't get enough of reality, then watch the news. I think for me and a million other Twilight Mums, it was exactly that; an escape from reality.

Now that IS weird. Twilight Mums. Google it. There are so many Twilight Mums out there. There are websites, fansites built by Twilight Mums for Twilight Mums. What the heck is that? I think by Twilight Mums, they mean a mum reading their kid's Twilight books and getting hooked. If that be the case, then I definitely qualify.

So I watched the movie. Hubby watched it with me. I think after all that chauffering me here and there to buy the books and all the hype about this worldwide phenomenon, he decided it wouldn't hurt to check it out. He thought Edward Cullen's hairstyle was cool. He nudged me when he thought I was getting really excited by the couple's verbal and emotional exchanges. He even said, 'Wah, see my Finny getting all excited already!' I was squirming on the sofa and he had nothing to do with it.

It's definitely a love story. I wondered if I would be bored watching the movie after having read the book. On the contrary, great scriptwriting, great casting, great music.
The location, the cast; exactly as I had imagined dreary, wet Forks, Washington to be. The casting was spot on. They were as I had envisioned them to be whilst I had been entranced by the written word. Any serious reader will understand what I mean. It takes a pretty good writer to describe in enough detail and style to make you be transported entirely into that written moment. Not too much. Not too little. For the period of reading, you are in a trance. The movie was not a disappointment for me. I do however think that you may not feel the same way if you had not been a fan of the books in the first place.

Doesn't hurt that the music was dream like. It's like the background music to the X-box game, Halo. The haunting tune is played over and over yet you don't tire of it.

Now comes the part I could not believe. To be honest, I had low expectations of the movie. I half expected it to be trash. A bad romance disguised as a vampire movie.
Was completely taken aback by the electric chemistry between the two protagonists, Bella Swan (starring Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (starring Robert Pattinson!
I compare their synergy to "Pretty Woman", "Top Gun", "Titanic", Nicholas Sparks' romances turned movies ~ "The Notebook", "Message in a Bottle", "Nights in Rodanthe" and even my all time favourites "An Officer and A Gentleman" and "Some Kind of Wonderful" - Romance yes. Chemistry maybe. Sparks, nada.

Ah..... but Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Me and the other gazillion Twilight Mums. We want to be Bella Swan and have that pale-faced Edward stare at us from across the canteen. From across the road. Come flying in his sleek wheels and save us from reality. I've never fancied pale guys, mind you, so I don't know what's up with me liking this Edward character. He is supposedly cold to the touch too. What's up with that? I usually like my guys strong, tanned and definitely warm. Then I realise, it's because he is strong. He takes control and he takes care of the lady.
They hardly ever kiss (read the book and you'll understand why) and there's no sex in this particular movie (read the book as I don't want this to be a spoiler) so what's the deal? If you ask me, I think it's just basic good ol' romancing and that's what all the Twilight Mums are going ga-ga over. For me, I'm saving my pennies to buy my own DVD soon.

Twilight the movie has been nominated for MTV's 2009 Movie Awards.
1) Best Movie
2) Best Female Performance for Kristen Stewart
3 & 4) Best Breakthrough Performance Male for actors Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.
5) Best Kiss between Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart
6) Best Song - Paramore Decode

‘Twilight’ is up against ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.
Both films are competing in the Best Movie category, while ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ lead star Dev Patel is up against Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner in the Best Breakthrough Performance Male category.

I like Bollywood shows but 'Slumdog' was only okay for me. I keep my fingers crossed, just like the other gazillion Twilight Mums.

Plumbing woes, plumber foes

What a LABOUR day weekend it was for Mike and myself.
We thought we had it bad the weekend before this when we found our common bathroom's floortrap choked and overflowing with water. After some calls and searching through the Straits Times' classifieds, we decided on a plumber who offered '1 year warranty'.

The boss Mike had spoken over the phone with, sent down an old man who grumbled non-stop the minute he entered our apartment. He looked at the bathroom scene and said in Hokkien that it was a big issue ('tua tai zee').
Well, who were we to judge? Although Mike's the handyman around the house and is usually able to fix small leaks, replace cistern parts, even install his own heater etc, a serious choke is beyond even him. The crafty thing is, these plumbers know this. They know we know next to nothing about plumbing.

The old man calls his boss to describe the 'seriousness' of the choke. The boss then speaks to Mike. After some haggling, we settle on the price. The old man gets down to work. He shuts the bathroom door and all we can hear is him cursing under his breath.
He emerges to ask Mike to follow him downstairs to check the the HDB pipes.
They return, satisfied that the HDB pipes are hollow, thus ruling out a choke.
The old man continues with his cursing.
I hear him making a couple of phone calls on his mobile phone, still within the confines of our bathroom.
He emerges and asks for a drink.
After some 45 minutes, he emerges and says he can't solve the problem, that it is 'HDB's fault'.
He demands for payment and says we should complain to HDB.

Mike and I are flabbergasted. We ask to hold payment till HDB confirms it is indeed their fault. The old man calls his boss again on his mobile phone. The boss assures us that we should pay him first and we can always get a refund from HDB if it turns out to be a fault with their pipes.
I demand for a receipt.
The old man digs into his pocket and removes all its contents before he locates a piece of paper, folded into a tiny square. He opens it up and it is a blank receipt. He writes in it.
I'm sceptical and so I ask if it's a legitimate receipt. He assures me it is, until I say I'm going to show my Town Council the receipt. He tells me I can't. I challenge him and ask why not.
He looks at me wide eyed, stretches out his hand and shouts, 'You PAY! I GO! You PAY! I GO!'
We really didn't see a way out. So we paid.

Mike calls the Town Council hotline. They appear within 10 minutes even though it's already nearly midnight. The man beckons Mike to follow him downstairs and also knocks the pipes. He opens a portion of it to show Mike that nothing is stuck. He thinks we've been ripped off because the plumber should have known better. He asks why we didn't hire a plumber listed at their Town Council website or a NTUC recommended plumber. Sigh.

We call the plumbing company's hotline again. The boss says he's having his dinner, to please call back the next day.
Mike calls and calls patiently the very next day. The 'boss' brushes his calls aside until finally, the old man appears again at 5 pm.
The boss demands a second payment as he says the job is more serious than what they thought.
Mike is furious. He wants to know how they could ask for a further payment when they hadn't completed the job on the very first day. We did not seem to have a choice. It was either pay this same plumber or start all over with goodness-knows-what-type of plumber again.
We agree to another payment.
The old man goes downstairs and pokes around a pipe. Mike watches him and confirms that nothing comes out. The old man says, 'OK! OK! OK!' He shows Mike that our bathroom water has receded. We believe him and think the job has been done.

Five days later, the floor trap is flooded again. Shit spills out of the toilet bowl. My Filipina helper is at her wit's end. I tell her not to clean up the mess because I'd like to show it to the plumber. She can't stand the mess and cleans it up anyway. That was fortunate because we just couldn't get hold of the plumber.
Mike calls him at 9.30 am. Boss says call back at 11.30 am.
Mike calls him at 11.30 am. Boss says call back at 12.30 pm.
Mike calls him at 12.30 pm. Boss says call back at 2.00 pm.
I stand by and watch my very, very patient husband and feel the volcanic lava travelling fast through my veins. I call the Boss and tell him he should give us a deadline when he's free to arrange an appointment. He insists I call him back at 2.00 pm. I refused. I told him to give me an appointment time now. He says 6.00 pm.
I hang up. Then I think again that it's ridiculous to have us wait from morning till evening for his guy to fix something he was supposed to have fixed on both visits, five days ago.
I call the Boss again and I insist he should give us an earlier appointment.

That's when his barrage of 'Mother F' Hokkien vulgarities and profanities come spewing through my earpiece. He does not stop there.
He threatens that he has my house address and he will come burn my house down.
I'm surprised but I remained really calm. I let him continue with his swearing. I tell him his company name on his receipts issued to me carry an incorrect name and it's illegal. I tell him I've run a check on his company. He doesn't stop swearing and continues threatening to burn my house down. I tell him I'm making a police report. That's when he goes berserk.

I really do make a statement with the police. I'm do not take threats lightly.
The Boss calls non-stop even whilst the police are in my house taking the statement. One of the officers looks impatiently at Mike as Mike patiently plays the boss' game and picks up every single call he makes to Mike's mobile phone at intervals of a minute.
The Boss asks Mike to tell me to not complain about him. He says he will come down at 6pm. He adds that he is a mental patient and he will go berserk if Mike's wife provokes him. He insists on speaking to me. I demand he speaks to me in English. He goes, 'I, I, I.....you make me gila!'
I calmly asked him if it were he who made me 'gila' (mad in Malay) instead.

I know it sounds ridiculous but we still wanted him to fix the shit's creek situation in our bathroom. We weren't about to blow more money and start all over again with another plumber.

He doesn't turn up at 6pm. Mike calls him later and gets mocked at by the Boss. He urges Mike to make a report against him. I can see Mike's disappointment. I comfort him by gently telling him that he's been fooled again by the Boss. We all sit down to have dinner and laugh about it.
I tell him to forget the money and call another plumber. We all continue to use the other useable bathroom in the Masterbedroom and don't think about it anymore.

It's late already. The Boss suddenly calls again and asks to come the next day between 2 to 3 pm. Mike agrees.
The next morning, the Boss calls and says he's on his way. But he doesn't turn up. The old man does with a younger chap. The old man passes his mobile phone to Mike again. Oh guess what? It's the Boss demanding for a third payment. Yep.
Now, all this time, I've locked myself in the room. Mike comes in all glum and says he's agreed to the third payment. He asks me what choice do we have? I agree. But I'm pissed.
I go outside and start grumbling at the old man, asking him if he has ever come across a company that asks you for payment every time they come to do a job they were supposed to have completed in the first place. I then ask him if he's heard of a boss telling a customer he's going to burn their house down.
Now the old man is pissed with me. The young man who seems to be supervising the old man remains very quiet and sneaks out of the house when I start grumbling at them (smart guy)!

To cut a long story short, they go downstairs and I hear water gushing out. The old man confirms the job is done. Mike tells him he doesn't believe him anymore.
I insist the old man write me a third receipt. He calls his Boss. The Boss seems to be weary now about giving me an invoice. The old man writes on a receipt with no company name. We're tired and don't really care anymore. I feel sorry for the old man and try to explain to him that I'm not angry with him but with his boss. He tells me to shut up. I tell him in return to shut up too. I don't care if my alter ago (Mrs Super Naggy) has surfaced no end but I continue to tell him it's not right for his Boss to be spewing his Mother F Hokkien at me and to be threatening me with burning my house down. The old man shouts back at me and asks me to go report to the police then. I knew I was taking it out on that plumber but if he had done a good job in the first place, he wouldn't have had to come back a second and third time and I wouldn't have had to file a police statement against his Mother F Boss.

For the moment, I haven't decided if I should press charges against the company Boss for his threat, thus, I cannot reveal his company name. I do wish to warn you that he has an impressive sized ad in the classifieds. One year warranty? Hasn't even been 5 days. Ha!