End Goal:

• Lose 30kg
• 60% of fat
• 25 cm off my waist and hips

Purpose:

• Vanity
• Health
• Wear nice (and cheaper) clothes
• Wear nice bridesmaid gown in January

Duration: May 2009 till whenever I meet the goals

Tools:

• Gym
• Personal Trainer
• Weight Loss medical programme at hospital

Frequency:

• 2x/wk Personal Trainer (aka paying to be tortured) – 1hour each
• 2x/wk cardio workout at gym – 1 hour each
• 1x/wk walk my doggy – 30 minutes
• Bi-monthly see the doctor and dietitian to track my progress and advice me (aka get scolded for eating Kentucky Fried Chicken)

Sounds heard along the way:

• Ouch
• Pain
• Help
• AHHHHH
• I feel old
• TORTUREEEEE!!!

Related posts:

1. Fun with Podiatry

WOOT! The hard work, pain, agony, and resistance of yummy, but sinful food is paying off!

More to lose!

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I’m tired and annoyed at it. It’s not what I wanted it to be nor envisioned. The work I’m doing… to me, they are meaningless and just “busy work”, with no real impact on people’s lives. Just self-promotion… but then again, I’m in corporate communications, so it’s basically just that.

Maybe I’m becoming disillusioned… or reality is setting in? Maybe this is the process every new job entrant faces? I’ve gotten sick and tired of my work… and it’s beginning to show. Not a good thing. I have to beg the Lord for better control, a change of attitude, and a not so critical heart.

Related posts:

1. Fun to Boring
2. I’m Exhausted!

From there, we drove to several places – York, a bird’s nature reserve & other places.

Here are some pics & a video of the cute birds!

Castle Howard

Castle Howard

Castle Howard - So big & grand!

Castle Howard - A "peeing" fountain

Pretty Swans!

New born ducklings!

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1. UK Trip: Days 1- 4, London

Our London hotel, Oxford Hotel, is small, but clean. The staff? Friendly. I took a much needed shower, glad to be clean of the dirt of the plane and relaxing under the hot water.

Then it was off to the half price ticket booth to see what cheaper tickets we could get for a drama, musical, etc. We ended up choosing “A Woman in Black,” a thriller, or so we thought. It ended up being a horror drama acted out by 2 men on a bare stage. And boy, they were GOOD!!! Their acting was solid, terrifying at times, so convincing that they had the audience gasping, jumping in time with them! Everyone was on the edge of our seats, and my heart was beating so heavily by the time of the intermission. Turns out this drama has been running in for 20 years. If you ever go to London, go see this play. You won’t regret it.

Day 2
Jet lag set in. I woke up at 3AM London time, 10AM Singapore time. Went back to bed after a while and woke up at 7:30AM London time.

After a very bare breakfast in the hotel (well, we get what we paid for… and we didn’t pay much for London lodging), we headed off for the half price ticket booth AGAIN. Did I mention that I have only 2 goals in London?

1. To see as many theatre productions as possible.
2. To go to the British Museum

Goal 1 is well on the way to being fulfilled.

We settled on The Mousetrap, based on the novel by Agatha Christie. Before that, we walked around Trafalgar Square, went to St. Martin’s Church and just enjoyed the sites and sounds. My mom and I went back to our hotel in the afternoon for a break, my dad and brother ventured onto to other sites.

After a good long nap, I woke up refreshed, my aching back much better. The plane journey has knocked my back out and all the walking about had aggravated it.

Then it was The MouseTrap drama. Nice set, good actors, good storyline. But the suspense wasn’t as good as the night before. Halfway through, I guessed who the killer was, and I wasn’t as captivated as I could have been. But overall, not a bad play.

And then the Debby blundering began. I had put our room key in the inner picket of my jacket… that didn’t have a zip, only a button. Well, guess what, it fell out of the pocket when I took off my jacket as the theatre. Only realized it one or two train stops away. So back my brother and I rushed to the theatre. Climbing up a super long and steep escalator, of which I nearly keeled over from the effort. The theatre was closed, no one seemed to be around. My heart dropped. I ran around the back, hoping to see someone. Someone was just leaving the stage door. I ran up and begged him to let us find out key. Thankfully, they had done a check through the seats after the show and someone had found the key! PHEW!! I came out of that incident with 2 valuable lessons.

1. Always put the key in a pocket that ZIPS close.
2. Never try and run up a steep, long escalator. I thought my heart was going to fall out of my chest!

Day 3
British Museum is HUGE!! By this time, my muscles and bones are so sore from all the walking and stairs climbing, that I had to stop every 5 minutes to sit down. And the museum doesn’t have many seats!

We only managed to look at 3 exhibitions – The Egyptian, Greek & Asian parts. I loved the Greek gallery the best. All the stuff that the British stole was bestowed upon by the nations they conquered lovingly entered. They had a pillar here, an obelisk there. Even took an entire humongous tomb and reassembled it in the museum.

In the evening, my parents went to see The Lion King, the musical, and my brother and I saw A Little Night Music, another musical. Our play was good, with the exception of a lady in front of my brother with a huge curly hairstyle that blocked his view!

Day 4
Another musical… this time, one that I’ve been waiting for since a few years back. WICKED!!! Oh, the set was beautiful. The music was great! The singers amazing! Only annoying thing? Younger theatre-goings who didn’t know theatre etiquette. Standing up in the middle of the play to go to the bathroom, standing on the corridors that blocked everyone else. So rude!!!

During the day, my brother and dad went exploring around London. My mom and I stayed back in the hotel, resting and enjoying not having to do anything. Ahhhh, this is the life!

Related posts:

1. Cinderella Play Review
2. “To Kill A Mockingbird” Play Review
3. UK Trip: 2nd Week

The real reason for my lack of blogging? Sheer laziness. Yup! I’ve been too lazy to blog. Sure I’m been swamped with work, but if I really wanted to, I would have blogged.

Plus, I’ve got nothing to say, just like this post. If you’ve read this far…. sorry for wasting your time!

But, I do have one great news! In about a week’s time, I’m flying to the UK and Paris for a wonderful family vacation… and I’m darn excited! WOHOOOO!!!

No related posts.

Recently, a dear blog friend, Lizzie, gave me this Barnabas award. Wow! Thanks!

Truth be told, giving or helping others makes me feel good. I’m happy when I can help someone, no matter how tiny. And sometimes I wonder if I give because it makes me feel good, or if it’s because it’s part of the Lord’s calling for me. Maybe both?

Anyway, I’ve thought about this for a while and I’ve finally decided who I wanna pass this award on to.

1. My amazing mom, dad and brother

2. Lizzie (yes, I’m giving it back to her.) I just enjoy talking to her. It encourages me, lifts me up, makes me smile.

3. Grace. Her advice, her motherly-ness, kindness. Amazing!!

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After making a lot of noise, spending hours with customer relations officers and making their life miserable (only way to make them solve the problem is to make them wanna get me off their back), the technician from Starhub came down. They finally changed our modem and changed the splinter that feeds the cable lines throughout the house (which they installed initially).

Then, a funny thing happened.

You see, my brother has been using Speedtest.net to test our connection speed, or lack there of. And Starhub always insists that this was not an accurate tool to gauge and that they had to use their own (modified, me thinks) tool. Well, their very own technician, used Speedtest.net to test our speeds!! Meaning, their customer service officer lied to us! Starhub should really stop giving useless and sometimes deceitful excuses. Doesn’t help with their brand identity.

Also, their technician admitted that there were some major issues with our connection and that our connection did break in and out a lot (first time Starhub has ever admitted to anything instead of blaming it on”router problems”). Why can’t Starhub just be honest upfront and stop wasting people’s time and money!

Anyhoo, after that, our internet stopped cutting out! It’s still very slow sometimes, but at least it’s there. Hopefully it’ll stay that way, or I’m going to start making noise again and annoying them to death. We’ll see.

Related posts:

1. Phone Lines: Starhub vs. SingTel

The National Heritage Board redesigned their yesterday.sg portal. It was interesting before but now… WOOO. It looks pretty good, its even more interesting and informational and… dare I say it, very un-government like! It actually uses true social media tools (not like some other who make it ‘look’ like web 2.0… but it actually isn’t) and allows people to talk freely WITHOUT PRE-MODERATION (meaning we can actually post in real-time)!!

I like the blog. Very fun and things I never knew about Singapore. I love the way they wrote the entire language of the site, easy going, light-hearted, no pompous words that Singapore government seem to love. Very… Singaporean (and not government-like).

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Well, evil corporation, aka Starhub. Let’s see, they have failed in providing reliable internet service for the last month. Almost every other day, from 10:30pm to midnight (and other erratic times) we lose all connection to the internet. One moment it works, the next it’s dead. Every time it dies, every time we call their “customer service”, which is debatable whether it really is service at all. They always give the same excuses as to why it’s not their fault.

1. It’s your router problem (Nope, unless two very expensive high end routers happen to both be spoilt now yet work on other networks)

2. It’s your computer settings problem (Nope, my brother, the computer genius, sets everything for optimal performance and less barriers for speed)

3. It’s your eternet cable problem (Now this is the lamest excuse ever and we’ve used multiple cables to prove to them otherwise)

4. Only detecting “small package losses” (yet somehow these losses end up in a total cut. which leads me to wonder what they label as big losses? The whole Singapore is cut off?!)

So after numerous times of being nice, yet being talked down to or treated like an idiot or facing a barrier of excuses, I decided to get tougher. Meaning, the minute they start their same routine, I cut them off, talk to them firmly that their excuses aren’t working and they darn well solve my problem if not I’ll pursue this matter as high as I can. You see, unlike numerous other Singaporeans who only complain but don’t have the guts and determination to actually DO something about it, I don’t quit when I know I’m being shortchanged and bullied by some corporation who think they can get away with not fulfilling their contract terms.

Also from my brother and my own investigations, one possible cause for the problem is that Starhub’s infrastructure is being overloaded. With the sudden influx of customers for digital voice (which uses the same lines as their cable internet), they find their network and infrastructure maxed out. And yet, they don’t want to upgrade their aging & limited systems because they want to show high profits to their shareholders. And in typical Singapore fashion, big companies almost ALWAYS get away with bullying and underservicing their customers… I mean, who can blame them? They just learn it from the CEOs of Singapore Inc. (aka the govt).

As to cringing at what my government said, well, while I disagree with making mean-spirited comments, the question they should be asking is why so many people hate or are unsupportive of them. Maybe it’s something to do with the fact that throwing money at citizens isn’t going to make them love you. Actually caring and making regulations FOR all the people and not AGAINST the people (or just for the rich & elites) is more important. Oh and you’re “disappointed”? Do we even care about your “approval” of us? Or should we be regulating that? Oh and the way he said that speech? Pure elitism oozing out of his every word.

Sorry, I’m majorly annoyed right now.

Note: Now that I’ve come down a tad, here’s my more logical thoughts on the internet comments by RADM(NS) Lui.

1. He obviously doesn’t understand the culture of forum users. The reason why most didn’t respond to their mean-spirited comments? Because most ignored it. In the internet forum culture, it’s not what type of responses you get. It’s HOW MANY you get. If it’s stupid, most wouldn’t want to help “publicise” the stupidity by bumping up the post.

2. Next, in forums, the replies are not linear in response. One reply doesn’t mean it’s in direct response to the one before. And sometimes it doesn’t make sense until you read the FIRST post and then link to what replies were talking about, or the post before it (much easier than it sounds).

3. This also brings up the issue on HOW Lui is reading these posts. From my experience, usually the tracking software comes up with a lot of hits, say 1000. A lower ranking staff member sieves through it to extract what he/she deems appropriate or useful. Then the next level person does the same. Eventually, after 3 or 4 rounds of sieving and narrowing it down, the “best” posts, maybe only 50, are sent to the top level guy to read. In this long process, things are lost, contexts are lost. Results? The top guys sees what his staff what him to see. Maybe that’s why Obama fought so hard to keep his blackberry. The higher up you up, the more alienated and closed-in you are from the ground. You need to be personally savvy and pro-active in following the news / trends by yourself, without depending on others to pass you selected information, without the big picture.

4. The internet is a place for people to vent, especially in countries where the mainstream media is so “buddy” with the government. So they vent, saying stupid things that they wouldn’t dare to say out loud. And most of the time, they don’t mean them or they know they are just talking nonsense. No one puts much weight into these comments… well, except the government or people who take everything too seriously.

Related posts:

1. New Media Frontiers
2. Finally Moving On…

Yu Sheng	Tossing of the Yu Sheng. The higher you toss, the better your fortune… Or so they say.
Some Mushroom Dish. (I stay clear of it. It’s full of vegetables, mushrooms & it’s been boiled out of its mind.) It’s a annual tradition dish. My grandmother’s recipe.	Fried Chicken. Yummy!
Sauted Beef. With tons of spring onions. yummy.	Rotisserie Chicken. My fav dish. I’m salivating just looking at this!
Sweet & Sour Pork. A classic.	Longan & Aloe Vera Dessert. Refreshing!

Related posts:

1. 1st Blog Series: Chinese New Year
2. Chinese New Year: How It Began
3. Gong Xi Fa Cai

Oh and note the language and writing style they use. Very personal and easy to read. Not those pompous words. (Singapore Government can learn a lot).

Related posts:

1. New Media Frontiers
2. Social New Media Tools

I’ve see the Ophthalmologist, Gastroengologist and the Podiatrist. (And who says I don’t support the medical community.)

My adventures with the Podiatrist started yearsssssssssss ago, when I was a little girl (Ahh, I miss those days). My leg (esp the knees) used to have stabbing pains almost everyday and I would literally cry myself to sleep. My parents and I were baffled. Doctor after doctor couldn’t explain why and all that was accomplished was $$ down the drain. Until, someone told us about a Podiatrist (basically a specialist of the foot, ankle and related issues). That was the first we’ve heard of it, but we went to see him anyway. And boy, he was a life-saver!

Dr Tye Lee Tze of The Podiatry Centre was the first Podiratrist in Singapore. When we went to see him, he had just set up his practice. He was the first to know exactly what was happening and told us it could be easily fixed. EASILY FIXED!! After alllll those misdiagnosis and wasted $$?

Apparently, I had high-arched feet. And as such, I couldn’t walk properly on the ground, which strained my bones, knees, etc. So with custom-made insoles and a good New Balance walking shoe, the pain stopped. Just like that. After a few years, the doctor said my feet had developed properly and I didn’t need to see him anymore. So years past, with no pain, no insoles.

Turn the page to a month ago. I started exercising, just normal walking for half an hour. Guess what happened? The pain came back (only less pain since my tolerance level is much higher now)! ARGHHHHHH!! So after yearssssss of not seeing him, I went back to Dr Tye. Now, because my feet is weird (narrow heel, broad front), I have to wear another insole. Meaning, no more nice but bad-for-feet shoes (No high heels, no fashion shoes). Well, at least I can save money on shoes now.

Anyhoo, longggg story short, if your feet is hurting consistently, I highly recommend Dr Tye. He’s caring, kind, easy to talk too, explains things veryyyy well and knows what he is doing.

Related posts:

1. I feel like 50.

My failed aspiration of being a tennis player.

My “Uh? What? Who?” confused look. It’s an art.

“Hm… I’m tasty!”

My angst teenage years

“I’m sleepppppyyy”

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Over the years, I’ve learnt how to ignore them or insult the person back (the latter is more fun for me). Of course, it still hurts.

So to well-meaning individuals out there, here’s my take on what NOT to say:

1) “You’re Fat/Overweight.” duh. I know that! No need to tell me the obvious. Most guilty of this are the sales aunties or sales ladies from China. Now, how is that an effective sales tool?

2) “Why don’t you wanna lose weight? You like being fat?” No, I don’t actually like being overweight. Neither do I hate it. It just… is. Of course, I don’t like the fact that good clothes are tough to find in Singapore. And that everyone is a size zero. Or that I get tired from walking up a flight of stairs.

3) “(Without any invitation) Here’s what you can do to lose weight.” Thank you but no thank you. I KNOW what to do to lose weight. I AM doing them. But isn’t going to happen overnight, so don’t expect instant results. I’m not about to become someone obsessed over my weight and looks just because society thinks I should. I am more than my weight.

4) “If you remain fat, you’re gonna die.” We’re ALL gonna die someday. Fat or not.

5) “If you’re like that, no guy will like you.” Now this annoys me. Firstly, not all guys are that shallow (as the person who said that thinks). Second, if a guy doesn’t like me purely based on my looks, well then, no loss of mine, right?

6) “You’ll be pretty if you lose weight.” I think I’m pretty now. And who says being skinny automatically makes you pretty. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, isn’t it? And True Beauty is not what’s on the surface.

7) “I’m soooo fat! (Coming from a skinny girl’s mouth)” Excuse me? If you’re fat, than I’m what. Ginormous? Thanks a lot.

Now if I want to lose weight primarily to look pretty and have guys like me, then losing weight won’t work will it? But if I mainly want to lose weight because I wanna take care of this God-given body, then that’s more lasting.

So please, before you open your mouth, think before you talk.

No related posts.

The play is a light-hearted and fun play on the classic fairytale, with lines and scripts that insert current events and modern day behaviour. Lea Salonga plays Cinderella (duh!). It got off to a slow start, and if I might say, a tad boring. It did pick up around the mid of the 1st act with the fairy god-mother, played by Charlie Parker, doing her magic and making Cinderella’s wish come true. Now, the fairy god-mother is HILARIOUS!! She would make funny comments and actions that made me laugh. In fact, my favourite line in the whole play was “Some people are so dumb!” by the god-mother, referring to the prince and cinderella.

Lea Salonga was amazing, as usual. Her voice was so clear and I could hear every single word she sang (some others left me struggling to figure out what they were saying). The prince, Peter Saide, was charming and… TALL! When he was dancing with Lea Salonga, the height difference was so apparent. He had to bow down a little. She was almost on her tippy toes! My mom also commented that in some scenes, Peter Saide looked like Jim Carrey!! haha!

The stepsisters and stepmothers were really played over the top, in a funny way! I loved the exaggeration of the characters, with Portia being this almost blind idiot, and Joy being a miserable, spiteful, unjoyful person. (Note the play on their names… the total opposites to their meanings!).

The sad thing was that the theatre wasn’t remotely full. There were so many empty seats, I felt so bad for the cast and crew. I guess when they planned this run, they didn’t anticipate the economic crisis hitting. Also, I think the run of this play is too long – 20 days! It might have been better if they played for 10 days and gotten a better crowd for each show.

The play is still running in Singapore, Esplanade Theatre until Jan 20. So if you want a fun time, go see it!

Additional Note: I forgot to mention that the props and set were very well done. I especially loved the dresses in the wedding scene. The blue and white gowns were soooo gorgeous. I want one of those!

The stage was a bit narrow though and that became apparent during the dancing scene in the ball. The dancers had to dance carefully and nearly banged into each other a few times.

Related posts:

1. “To Kill A Mockingbird” Play Review
2. UK Trip: Days 1- 4, London
3. The Love of Performing

*You’re an ox? How? What? Who?!* Some might say. Well, here’s why.

The Chinese believe in the Zodiac system, consisting of 12 animals (Greeks came up with shapes in the stars, Chinese has the animals).

The animals consist of Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. In that order. Why in that order?

“Well, according to one Chinese legend, the twelve animals quarreled one day as to who was to head the cycle of years. The gods were asked to decide and they held a contest: whoever was to reach the opposite bank of the river would be first, and the rest of the animals would receive their years according to their finish.

All the twelve animals gathered at the river bank and jumped in. Unknown to the ox, the rat had jumped upon his back. As the ox was about to jump ashore, the rat jumped off the ox’s back, and won the race. The pig, who was very lazy, ended up last. That is why the rat is the first year of the animal cycle, the ox second, and the pig last.”

To the traditional (& superstitious) Chinese, the Chinese Zodiac System is highly important in planning out the year. Dates of marriages and births are determined by which day is “luckiest” and most properous. Compatibility of couples are also influenced.

To me, while I don’t believe in the whole zodiac system of luck and prosperity and superstition, it is still fun to see how the “animal” in me is explained. Let’s compare shall we?

To find out what animal you are and your “description”, go here. It’s purely just for fun!

Related posts:

1. 1st Blog Series: Chinese New Year
2. Chinese New Year: How It Began
3. Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner

But earning money hasn’t never really been my motivation to work (but having $$ is nice, I won’t deny). I work because I enjoy it, it challenges me and I learn and grow. That’s my joy in working.

And this job holds no more joy for me. The office politics and environment have changed dramatically since I first joined a year ago. Outside forces and internal management shifts have created an atmosphere that is stifling to work in. Everyday, I feel like I’m in a 4 x 4 brick box, and that’s all I can do in my work. Nothing creative, nothing adventurous, pointless.

I’ve become what I’ve dreaded: A paper-pushing, do-as-bosses-tell-me-to-do civil servant robot. And that is terrifying.

My “fun” projects are either cut or put on the backburner because of cost cuts and conservative, traditional bosses. All I’m doing now are pointless paper-pushing and anything I can get my hands on… which is barely enough to fill up an hour, much less a day. And of course I can’t use that empty time to do other things for myself, like read the newspapers, etc. because others gossip and spread comments like “She’s very free! No need to work ah.”

Sigh… my mom keeps reminding me to be grateful and that this is a God-given situation to teach me patience and other life lessons. I get that mentally. Tell that to my depressed spirit and heart.

Meaningless work is just that, meaningless. And a whole waste of precious time.

Related posts:

1. For lack of a better word… Update

Nien (Year) & Kong-Si (Congratulations)

There are many stories about the beginnings of Chinese New Year (CNY). Some myths, some practical.

The most widely known myth is not exactly a happy tale. Legend tells of a wild beast named Nien (Chinese for year) that would come out every New Year’s eve to attack and kill villagers. To scare away the beast, villagers started making loud noises with firecrackers, pasted red paper everywhere (for they believe that Nien was afraid of red) and used tons of bright lights. The next morning, as feelings of triumph and success fill the air at successfully keeping Nien away for another year, people would greet each other with kong-si , or “congratulations.”

A more practical and down-to-earth explanation is that the end of the year also meant the end of a harsh winter in China.  Families would gather together after the tough season to see who was still alive, to celebrate the start of a better life and wish each other good luck and prosperity for the new year.

Historically, the date of CNY has been set according to the emperor that ruled China at that time. For a few years, CNY was actually based on the Gregorian calendar (Western Calendar). It was only after the Chinese Revolution and the start of the Communist government did the Chinese Lunar calendar became the master calendar that ruled all Chinese holidays, including CNY.

CNY typically happens around late January and early February. This year, 2009, it starts on 26th January 2009 and runs 15 days. In China, that means 15 days of public holidays.

In Singapore, that means 2. *grimace* (Part of being a racial and religious equal country. Every major religion and race gets 2 days of holidays a year. That’s it. I’m sure non-Chinese would enjoy 15 days of CNY public holidays! I don’t think I’ll hear anyone complaining. Well, except the Government.)

Related posts:

1. 1st Blog Series: Chinese New Year
2. Chinese New Year: The Ox & The Other Animals
3. Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner

Having celebrated Chinese New Year all my life, I never really treasured the value and importance of it till I missed it for two years when I was in college.

So, from now till the start of Chinese New Year, January 26th, 2009, (and I say start because it’s 15 days long), I’ll be running a series of posts on Chinese New Year. I’ll post about what Chinese New Year is, the history and dynamics behind it and than move on to how my family traditionally celebrates it.

So watch this space!

Related posts:

1. Chinese New Year: How It Began
2. Chinese New Year: The Ox & The Other Animals
3. Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner