Tired, lazy, grumpy... haiz.

What a day.

Got everything ready for work last night...did up my lesson materials, packed food for breakfast and lunch from home, bought munchies to reward my form class for their hard work during the mid-year exam period...only to end up not going to work today. Talk about irony. There were times when I simply dreaded facing the day at work, and wished I could stay home, but cos I wasn't ill or anything, I just had to force myself to get up and go through the day. But today was the exact opposite. Sigh. One can plan and plan but in the end, it just takes one miserable thing to upset all your plans. And for me, that thing is what's been my enemy for several years now -- the much-dreaded headache.

It's the one thing that whacks me off my feet without warning, and sometimes for no rhyme or reason even. But most of the time, I get it when I'm out in the sun for too long, when I feel dehydrated, when I'm under a lot of stress, or when I've little or poor sleep. Well, at least I know why I got it this morning when I tried to wake up for the first time at 5am+. The main reason's cos I've not been sleeping well these days, and last night was the worst with me awaking several times in the night. Sigh. So what to do? Felt so lethargic and the headache was attacking my very core of my head so I decided to call in sick and stay home to get a few more hours of sleep instead of dragging myself to work.

And a few more hours of sleep I did get. Slept till 10+ and woke up with head still throbbing, but less. Went about trying to settle some work, got frustrated because of some screw-ups I had to endure, then went to visit the doc in the afternoon. Told him about how I've not been sleeping well and got a couple of sleeping tablets in response, plus some anti-headache capsules (that might cause gastric), and gastric tablets to chew (so I wouldn't have gastric). =.= Actually Hubby also didn't have it easy last night. He had difficulty getting to sleep cos of some coughing fits, and when he finally did, he couldn't sleep peacefully. Am really hoping that he'd be able to have a less 'eventful' sleep tonight so he can catch up on his rest as well.

Anyway, when I came back from the doc's, what I experienced was only more irritation when I encountered some ridiculous problems with a new public email account that I just set up for additional work purposes. Long story. Ended up complaining to Hubby on the phone about how technology is supposed to bring convenience to people but can sometimes cause more trouble instead. How nice it'd be to just escape to a countryside where I can stay on a farm or ranch without having to worry about emails and phone calls or text messages etc. and just spend my day being around my loved ones and taking care of farm animals.

*blink blink* Oh but it's all just a dream... Never mind. At least my head doesn't hurt that much now.

My advanced birthday pressie! ^_^

Haha... I never could withstand the thought of putting off receiving or knowing about a surprise when I know it's already within reach. That's why whenever Hubby reveals to me that he's already gotten me a secret gift for some occasion, I'd always have this urge to know what it is and end up pestering him for it. Haha. (Actually hor, sometimes I wonder... if he meant for it to be a secret till it's time to present it to me, why does he like to even mention it to me and then want to keep me in suspense? =.= It's like Hubby enjoys seeing me hankering after the surprise :p).

Aiyah, but then, on a defensive note, who can blame me? It's only human nature to be curious, especially when it's about a nice surprise. And if you can get hold of it as soon as you find out about it, why would you wanna prolong the suspense and wait further?! Heh. So I guess I can be forgiven for behaving this way always. Ha! ;P

Anyway, this year for my birthday, the same thing happened again. Hubby let out that my birthday pressie was already lying somewhere quietly in our home, and asked if I wanted to receive this weekend or wait till next weekend when my actual birthday arrives to get it. I was in kinda a little dilemma over this. If I waited, I'd have something to look forward to after I'm done with work that day (yes, it's a darn Saturday, and of all Saturdays, that's the day when I've to return to work for almost an entire day), but then again, Hubby kept hinting that it was something I could use, and if it's something I could use, why wait for another week when I could have and start using it earlier? Ugh! After some contemplation, I decided... get it now, I shall.

And so I did! Hehe... am really happy with this gift. It's simple and nothing lavish, cos Hubby had to adhere to the budget of $50 that I set for him before he first started gift-hunting, but I love it! Actually it's the second special hair band that Hubby got me so far. The first one was a kimono fabric piece, which broke after some time. *sob sob* But at least now I've this as a kind of replacement. In fact, I started using it yesterday when we were out, and I think I'm gonna be using it pretty often each time I go out now! I've noticed accessories by Agatha before, and have always thought their trademark doggy really adorable, but have never thought of purchasing any from them when hair accessories costing a few bucks would do just as well. But now that I have it, it's shot up to the top rank among all the other hair clips and bands that I own. Hee... thank you, Hubby! ^_^

Visiting special watch stores... and getting a special watch

Hubby's passion in watches seems to be growing endlessly... yesterday, he had us both visiting non-mainstream stores that specialised in watches and related stuff. One is JW Horological Gallery, located at Great Eastern Centre, and the other's a small store named Big Time, along Sims Avenue near Aljunied, which also does watch wholesale business.

JW Horological Gallery's a cosy little store with a classy ambience (cos of the classical opera songs playing in the background) and several beautiful watches on display at wonderful discounts, with costs ranging from the tens to tens of thousands. What's special about it is also that it's got a little watchmaker's room/bench at the back of the store, and from the display window, you can take a peek at what's going on in there. JW stands for the owner's name -- John Wang, who's one rare soul in Singapore with watchmaking skills certified by ETA Swatch Group.

Big Time took us quite some time to get there by walking from Aljunied MRT Station, but after the troublesome walk through several alleys, streets etc. which we didn't really enjoy cos the area seemed rather sleazy and just not that nice to us (Geylang mah... maybe that's why), we finally found the small store among a row of other shops. Thank goodness the people at the store were really wonderful and amiable people who made an honest living from their watch business so we felt really good at the store, nothing like how we felt on the way there. :p

Anyway, the main reason Hubby wanted to visit that store was to get himself a pocket watch, which he'd always wanted since eons ago. This one'd caught his eye while he was surfing online in the wee hours of the morning (well, that's another story altogether), and after making some calls to enquire about the product, he'd made an appointment with the lady boss to view the item.

Yup, here's what he got -- an Orient pocket watch. The brand's a Japanese brand that's about to break into the Singapore market. Currently, only this place and the watch counter at Takashimaya have Orient watches on sale. Heh, I think this one's a beauty too. It's clean-looking and not too big or bulky, unlike other more branded pocket watches I've seen before. I like it's blue steel needles too. Very classy piece. :) Hubby's really pleased with it. What made him pleased too was how he was able to hold a looooooong conversation about watches etc. with the male boss while poor me had to smile or nod politely along, half the time not understanding what was mentioned. =.= Oh well, it's so obvious who're the experts and who's just there to kay poh and look at what's pretty! :p

FREE at last!!!... well almost, but good enough :p

Most mundane job in the world as invigilator to be completed..."Check!"
Seemingly endless piles of examination scripts to be marked..."Check!"
Detailed analysis and reports of results and common errors to be compiled..."Check!"
Regaining my freedom..."CHECKKKKKK!!!"

Yes, yes, YES! Woo hoo! The tedious examination period's finally over! Although there's still the hectic sessions of going through the marked papers and checking the final marks for each script (which more often than not includes a certain amount of screaming and whining from the students as they try to bargain for more marks -- dunno why they even try when they know just saying "Cher, you very pretty today leh..." and "I only need ONE MORE MARK... Pleeeeeaassseeeee.... Just one more... very easy to give one lah..." ain't gonna get them what they want =.=) and the preparation for some upcoming school events to see to, I'm already immensely relieved cos most of the burden's been lifted from my poor, tired heart.

Heh, but at least during the intensive period of marking, especially last weekend, when I had to hibernate at home and discipline myself to complete script after script for hours on end, I received a little surprise from Hubby.

Ta-da! It's the fierce Bullet Bill from the world of Mario! Hee... so cute hor. Hubby bought this for me to spur me on, so that I could charge through my marking just like how the bullet charges forward in Marioland, knocking any obstruction outta its way. I love it when Hubby gets me such meaningful little surprises to cheer me up when I'm bogged down by work and stuff. Been keeping it in its package till this evening when I decided to let it out to officially display it. Will certainly keep it in sight the next time I need to charge through work. ^_^

*Happy sigh* Once I left the office after completing my final report, the rest of the day was a rather relaxed one. Went to get my eyebrows trimmed cos it's been like 2 months since I last did that! Then went about buying little Japanese snacks as rewards for the top students of each of my classes. Also had this idea of creating and printing motivational certificates for them as well, like what I did a few years back, so went to choose some pretty paper from Popular. Didn't realise they had some with really elegant designs suitable for formal certs, so chose these as well. Hee. Being a bit of a stationery freak, you can imagine how delighted I was to be there browsing through these lovely sheets. ;p

Seeing these brightly coloured objects really puts me in a good mood. Am looking forward to presenting these rewards to the kids over the next couple of days! :)

Mother's Day

Last Saturday was when Hubby and I went back to both of our 'niang jia' for a meal with our families and also to sort of celebrate Mother's Day.

We went to AMK for lunch first. As previously posted, we gave a germanium/ titanium bracelet to MIL as a birthday-cum-Mothers' Day gift, which she seemed pretty pleased with. At first, we thought we had to persuade her to wear it, because although MIL is health-conscious, she has certain ideas that she swears by, and might not accept what is said about germanium if she has not come across it before. But thank goodness she had already heard of the benefits of this mineral during one of the health talks she usually attends, so she was more than happy to start wearing the bracelet. And I'm also glad that her aches and pains that used to keep her awake at night are less of a problem to her now. Yipee! :D

Dinner was at BT. Since Hubby and I took a bus from AMK to BT, we decided to drop by Ritz Apple Strudel along BT Road to buy Mummy's favourite strudel home for the family to enjoy. We bought the strawberry one cos both Beebee and I could vouch that it tastes really good, and cos Mummy hadn't tried that flavour before. Too bad the durian one was all gone by the time we got there, else we'd have gotten that one too (only thing was Beebee would have to run away from the table then :p).

Oooh... the huge sweet strawberries with cream and fluffly-light pastry make a wonderful combination. Having tried apple and mango before, I must say that the strawberry strudel is the best so far. Hee. *drool*

While enjoying the strudel as supper, we also gave Mummy her gift of the bio-magnetic pendant set that we got at Owell Bodycare too. It's supposed to also do quite a lot of things to the body with its magnetic therapeutic effects:

• relieve pain
• reduce swelling
• promote tissue alkalinazation
• promote better quality of sleep
• improve tissue oxygenation
• calm the nervous system
• control inflammatory conditions in the joints
• relieve muscles aches and stiffness
• improve speed of healing
• improve blood circulation, lymph flow and hormone production

And yippee again! ^_^ Mummy seemed pretty pleased with this set. She commented that the precious stones came in nice shiny colours, and she likes the shape of the pendant too. I think it's great that the stones are interchangeable -- the pendant case acts as a strong magnet to trap the stone in so it's really easy and safe to switch them around to match outfits.

The only disappointing part was that we realised Mummy didn't have a suitable chain to go with the pendant -- the sales person had told us firmly that no white gold or pure yellow gold should be used for the pendant, cos the pendant's so strong that after some friction, it could cause the chain to break. We had to get either silver or stainless steel chain, which we didn't at that time cos we'd thought Mummy might have one of her own. Turns out all her chains are white/ yellow gold. Anyway, Hubby called up the store yesterday and will be going back to Owell again to buy the stainless steel chain that's available there for Mummy. Hee. Filial son-in-law eh. :)

Overall, it was a pretty simple but satisfying day. :)

Discovering germanium

Last Thursday, after work, Hubby and I met at IMM to decide on a Mother's Day gift for both our mummies. Hubby already had an idea beforehand; he'd wanted to check out magnetic accessories that supposedly promotes general well-being, so we stopped by Owell Bodycare to see if they had anything suitable.

Basically, in the store, we were introduced to this other mineral named germanium, which many of the accessories available in the store included in their making. The salesman first performed a demo on Hubby to show us the effects of wearing something with germanium built in it to convince us to give it some attention (one'd have to feel it to believe it!), then we sat there at the counter for the rest of the time, listening to the sales assistant tell us more.

More than 2 hours later, Hubby and I stepped out of the store wearing a germanium/ titanium neck chain and bracelet respectively while we carried 2 other wrapped gifts -- another germanium/ titanium bracelet for Hubby's mum, and a bio-magnetic pendant set for mine. The sales guy must have been so pleased since all his promoting talks and demo literally paid off. :p

Here's a summary of what germanium generally does to benefit the human body:

• strengthen the immune system
• promote better sleep
• boost the body's oxygen supply
• improve blood circulation
• discharge toxins
• destroy damaging free radicals
• protect against radiation
• increase mental alertness
• balance perspiration system

Research has shown that germanium does all these by transmitting negative ions through infrared into the body to counter-balance the number of harmful positive ions that we take in through our everyday environment. Since wearing the accessories, Hubby and I have felt that we tend to feel more easily thirsty, and even while playing table tennis at home yesterday, we sweat more than usual, as if the effects of the exercise were doubled (I, for one, hope it burnt more fats than usual :p). Even MIL smsed us today to tell us that her usual shoulder and arm aches were finally relieved since she started wearing the bracelet Hubby chose for her. Cool!

In fact, according to the sales assistant, germanium has been proven so effective since it was discovered approximately 30 years ago that Japan had to resort to banning it from sale so as to protect its medical industry. Well, if that's true, I guess we did manage to get a good buy! Anyway, now we're definitely wearing our germanium items every day. Hubby now looks kinda 'beng' and macho with his tough-looking chain hanging on his neck. Heh.

Celeb couple

The media bees are buzzing about Shaun Chen and Michelle Chia's wedding... Last night, I too was reading the article featuring this couple in this week's issue of 8days.

So sweet... I'm no avid fan of either the groom or the bride, but I do admire Shaun Chen's acting and, having read the feature article about him in an interview, now respect him for being simple and contented in life despite enjoying moderate success in the entertainment industry. Not many wedding news about celeb couples have this effect on me. Usually I'm just neutral... I'll read news about who's getting hitched and then forget about it. But these two really touch me with their lover-cum-best-friends sort of relationship. Their exchange with each other as captured in the interview just reflects how down-to-earth they both are, and how they truly adore each other without pretence or trying to portray themselves as a glam couple, like many in the industry actually do. Like I said, so sweet... :)

I guess I'm the type who believes that one's spouse can be one's best friend too. I just like the pally sort of love, because after the initial sparks of romance cool between 2 people, what remains should be, in my opinion, a comfortable emotional bond that lasts way longer than the magic. This feeling is best depicted by the scene of an elderly couple holding hands and walking peacefully alongside each other, which never fails to warm my heart. :) May all couples be blessed with such love.

Working parents can't be loving parents???

In light of the recent swine flu outbreak, schools are now conducting temperature-taking exercises twice a day and telling students whose temperature exceeds the trigger temperature to go home and rest after visiting a doctor.

Today, I heard about a student who was brought to the quarantine area because she was running a rather high fever. In fact, quite a number of students are down with flu these days, so she wasn't the only one asked to go home. But what made her stand out was the way her mother reacted to the call from the school, telling her that her daughter was ill and had to be brought home.

Apparently, the conversation went like this...

Teacher: Good morning Mrs XXX, I'm calling from XXX School. Your daughter is running a fever and has to be sent home. Could you please pick her up?

Parent: Fever only mah. No need to go home lah. Still got lessons right?

Teacher: Yes, but because of the swine flu outbreak, we are taking precautionary measures and have to send whoever is not feeling well home.

Parent: But I'm working now leh. No time to pick her up. Just get her to come home herself lah.

Teacher: But she is feeling rather weak as well. It would not be safe to send her back alone. Is there anyone else who could pick her up?

Parent: Her father also working. We both no time to go to school to get her lah!

Teacher: What about any other adult?

Parent: You want a seventy-year-old ah ma to go all the way to school to get her ah? You crazy ah? We really no time lah! You see what you can do lah! *line went dead*

WTH??? Not only was the parent extremely rude to the teacher, she also shows that she'd rather continue working than accompany her sick daughter to see a doctor and go home to rest. It's not as if she tried and just couldn't get away from work -- she didn't even want to try to ask for leave. I just feel very sorry for the daughter who was just sitting feebly at the side while this conversation was going on. If a parent can be so cold over the phone, even when it comes to the well-being of her own child, what kind of a life does the child actually lead at home? I simply can't imagine this child being loved and cared for each day.

I'm sure this is not an isolated case. Just feeling sad when I think about this girl. Sigh. And the parent doesn't even seem to realise how serious the flu pandemic is right now, and the national consequences it may lead to. Would this parent be the kind to teach the child about social responsibilities? I seriously doubt it. Haiz... what to do... :(

4D Feast

God of Fortune recently paid a visit to Papa... he'd bought 4D based on the numbered lot that came with the fortune cookie that I'd bought during Chinese New Year earlier this year and won a consolation prize. It wasn't a lot of money, but it was enough to please him so much that he suggested taking the family out for dinner yesterday evening. Heh.

So off we went to the stretch opposite Beauty World. The only time I ate there was with my PIL when Hubby and I were still paktor-ing, but it was at a different restaurant, more of a kopitiam. But the food was pretty good, from what I remember. Anyway, yesterday we decided on this Hong Kong restaurant (mainly cos the weather was so warm that we wanted an air-conditioned place :p). It's named "Hong Kong Street Chun Kee" and apparently has more than one outlet on the island.

Next time we order something, we must really really remember to order in smaller portions! Oh, and never order food on an empty stomach. We ended up all bloated precisely because we were hungry and ambitious enough to tackle large portions of dishes. *burp* o_o!!! But at least the food was pretty good lah, so no regrets there. Beebee and I found that the crisp oatmeal from the prawns went great with the fried rice. Hehe.

Both Beebee and I also tried fried ice-cream for the first time in our lives! No kidding...Hubby even remarked how deprived I was being with him when he realised that he had never given me the experience of tasting fried ice-cream, even though I had told him many times that I'd wanted to try it. :p But then again, after tasting the fried ice-cream, I didn't think I'd missed much in life. Wasn't really as fantastic as I'd imagined. In fact, I ended up just consuming the ice-cream and leaving half the coated bread behind. Gimme plain ice-cream anytime; no more fried one!

After the meal, we seriously had to take a walk to aid digestion, so we all went over to Bukit Timah Plaza to do some supermarket shopping at NTUC Xtra. There was this guy who was dressed in some funky street attire, and whom Beebee thought was the actor Dai Yangtian. Even Hubby thought so. Well, having been an avid fan of the previous ping pong drama in which Dai Yangtian acted, I was of course curious and wanted to take a better look at him, especially since the supermarket wasn't crowded and we were in quite close proximity. So I foolishly reacted without thinking much when told that Dai Yangtian was there, and pranced like Pink Panther towards that guy. I even stopped to look up at his face (he was really tall) just so I could see him clearly. That's when I saw... SMALL EYES WITH SINGLE EYELIDS. =.= "Dai Yangtian where got look like that one..." I swear I was kicking myself for behaving so silly, especially when Hubby said that the guy noticed that he was being stared at! Ugh! *kick kick kick*

Oh well, at least we now know there's a Dai Yangtian lookalike in Bukit Timah. :p And thank goodness it wasn't a Joshua Ang lookalike -- who knows what I might have done! Haha... ok ok, better not say anymore, lest Hubby 'complains' again about me abandoning him in pursuit of another guy... hehe...