confession time

i have a confession to make - i bought a NEW wallet today.... again! :P

there's absolutely nothing wrong with buying a new wallet. problem is: i JUST bought myself a new wallet 3 months ago *guilty* and i love my current renoma wallet to bits.

a wallet can typically last me for 2 - 5 years, i don't change that often, so having 2 new wallets at the same time just seem quite ridiculous (i can't say the same for handbags though - i have tons of them..... but you can change handbags everyday to match different outfits, so that is alright :D).

posted a picture of my newbie above - it's from pierre cardin. i first saw it at the handbag department in takashimaya, and i knew i had to get it... it's so "me"! :) i LOVE pink + black colour-combi... it's so chic, pretty and sexy. you probably can't see the details in that image i posted, those motif-prints are actually pink threads machine-sewn onto the leather cover... oooh, too lovely! plus the size is just perfect - 6 card slots + 3 side pockets + 1 transparent ID slot (where i can insert my fav. picture!) too cool....

at first, i tried to resist the temptation and walked away. so i didn't get the wallet - at least not at takashimya. but i couldn't get it out of my mind. i walked all the way to CK tangs, told myself if i could find the same wallet there, then i'd get it instantly (since i have $30+ rebate value in my tangs card)... so as you can see, i DID find the same wallet at tangs. there was a 10% discount off pierre cardin wallets + after redeeming my rebates, i ended up paying less than half the retail price for the lovely wallet.
i'm a happy girl today :D

not using my new wallet yet - decided that i shouldn't foresake my 3-month-old renoma wallet for newer fancy. so i shall store the newbie for now, wait till some special occassion before transferring all my cards and such over.

lego brokeback mountain

like i said in my earlier post, there's no limit to creativity :)

check out the lego version of "brokeback mountain".... too funny!

note: looks like smugmug (the creator) has maxed out his bandwidth limit on that site. if you're lucky, you might be able to view the larger images, otherwise he'd probably exceeded his monthly limit again *_*

creative stuff

there is just no limit to creativity :)
check out these interesting paperbags.... real cool *thumps up*!

movie time

as the trend goes... i watched another movie last night - rumour has it, starring jennifer anniston and kevin cosnan. wasn't planning on watching this show, but since it was a last-minute decision to catch a midnight show somewhere near my place, this seemed like the only decent show to watch.

sometimes it's good to walk into the cinema without any expectations, this one turned out better than we thought. it's light-hearted, funny, well-paced, interesting. and jennifer anniston is ever beautiful with gorgeous hair and to-die-for figure. she looked great in the show. btw, mark ruffalo (jennifer's fiance in the movie) is kinda cute too - i like dark-haired guys ;) also, the movie leaves you something to think about love & fidelity.

since i'm likely going to watch yet another movie pretty soon, figured i might as well jot down my "wishlist".... upcoming: mrs henderson presents (judi dench), failure to launch (sarah jessica parker), nanny mcphee (emma thompson/colin firth), the libertine (jonny depp).....

just for laughs

pms-ing

i'm so tired of work lately - lots of politics and weird structures in the company. sometimes i wish i didn't have to go to work at all. why do we have to work this hard? what life is life... if you wake up to slog an average of 9 - 12 hours each day, come home, have your dinner and then it's time for bed already. what enjoyment do we get out of that? what quality is there to life?

if only i could earn money just from sitting around all day and day-dreaming. i think i'm pretty good at that - FYI, horoscope experts say that librians tend to have a lazy streak in us - and i don't deny that :P anyway, if some people can make a living out of drawing sketches, some earn their bucks performing in the streets, some make cakes and sell them, some collect rag-and-bones, how come i can't find a way to benefit from my superb "daydreaming skills"?

i asked myself tonight, why do i work away my youth? what is it exactly that i want out of working this hard, this many hours everyday?

hmmm..... only one thing, MONEY.

i think that's about it.

i once thought i worked for the experience (when i first graduated from university), then i thought work gave me sense of achivement... i also thought worklife helps widen one's social circle, make more friends.... but now i sit back and think - how true is that? i start to think all this slogging is just to make enough money to stay alive, and then leave some spare to buy lavish things to "destress" youself from all that madness. so at the end of the day, you're back to square one, kinda pointless. at least for me, i'm not getting any richer, i don't get a proper promotion, and my occassional "sense of achievement" didn't seem to add much value to my life either. it's just that temporary high when i accomplish something good (not considering all that crap i get from some people who mess things up), and then back to madness, stress, monotonous life. why do i even care so much (short of vomitting blood) about work, lose sleep over it, get irritable and throw tempers at my family, get so stressed up i just keep stuffing myself with chocolates? why do we fall under the mercy of all that just for money? how come i feel that i'm cheating myself whenever i tell my mum "i love doing what i'm doing...."

so today i conclude, i spend 3/4 of my waking hours just to make enough money to sustain my life, so that i can continue to spend many many other 3/4 of my waking hours slogging away. kinda sad, erh? no wonder it feels like i'm going in circles....

anyway, thanks for reading. pardon the bitterness. must be the pms *sigh*

fork, spoon, chopsticks

i was queuing at the claypot rice stall at wisma foodcourt (the republic) this evening.... saw a middle-aged caucasian couple seated at the table nearby, having chinese claypot rice. the man clumsily picked at his rice with a pair of chopsticks. i watched as he struggled with his chopsticks, fidgeted between his fingers, criss-crossed them, sank them into the bowl of rice, failed, retried, failed, retried, failed.... obviously hungry and frustrated, but just couldn't seem to pick up more than a few grains of rice with each attempt. no matter how he tried, the gap between the crossed-chopsticks was just too big.

his lady partner seated facing him laughed in amusement. she hadn't even lifted the lid of her dish - guess she wanted to make sure she learned from his experience first before making a fool out of herself too. actually i didn't think that guy's a fool. it was just very interesting to see how hard he tried to use that pair of chopsticks, his persistence. i watched silently (while waiting to order) for close to 2 mins without shifting my attention. then, that man finally gave up, stubbornly flipped his chopsticks away and this time, tried scooping the meat from the mini wok using the soup spoon. soon, his fingers were digging around in the mini wok too :P poor guy.

i wanted to walk up to him and suggest that he has the option of picking up a pair of metal fork & spoon from the other stalls, but i was still in queue for my food. so i continued to watch, semi-entertained.. hehe. by the time i bought my food, some kind stall-owner from the other stall had already offered his forks & spoons to that frustratingly starving couple :)

speaking of utensils, i'm not good with chopsticks myself. i don't hold them the proper way too (i criss-cross them, which is incorrect). when rice is served in a small bowl, i like to eat it with chopsticks - you hold the small round bowl in one hand, tilt it close to your mouth, and use the chopsticks to lightly dig from the bowl. i do that when i eat rice congee too. when the rice is served on a plate or other flat surfaces (eg. hotplate, styrofoam box) i prefer to use just a single metal fork. most of my friends would choose a metal spoon to eat rice but i like the versatility of the fork more - you can poke, dig, scoop, mesh, pick, twist, turn... it literally works for any kind of food except soup (in which case, you can just sip from the bowl directly).

if you ask what i'm driving at with all this utensil talk? i'll say - absolutely nothing. it's just one of those many "so unimportant that nobody wants to listen to me" kind of thoughts, that i figured where better than post it here on my blog? :) if this post was a school essay, i'd probably score 2/100 for content.......

so back to the topic, what is your style - the fork, the spoon, the chopsticks, the ladle, the knife, or the hands??

- read up on the history of eating utensils
- how to use chopsticks
- more on chopsticks I
- more on chopsticks II

doggie bouquets...

first, you have plush toys that look like real babies.
now, you get chrysanthemum bouquets that look like doggies.... *lol* i must salute the creators for their creativity - really cute and special bouquets, especially since this is the lunar year of the Dog. i wonder if the florists will start making piggie bouquets for next year.. hehe.

received these pictures in email from a colleague, no idea where this originated from (suspect it's from korea or japan), how much each bouquet costs, and whether there're other types of flowers used??.....

other chrysanthemum-dogs:
- woof
- woof woof

"baby" plush toys... anyone?

i'm sure most of us would have heard of anne geddes - her oh-so-adorable photographs and products of babies, mostly pictured with huge colourful flowers, ladybirds or bees etc. she's capable of making pictures that make one go "awwww...." in an instant.

just saw this on her website - baby plush toys. apparently, these are cuddly plush toys, each with a face that resembles a r-e-a-l newborn baby. take a closer look at the images.... i can't say for all, but i sure am not comfortable buying a toy like that for a kid or even myself. kinda eerie, if you know what i mean.

don't get me wrong, these baby plush toys are really cute (there's bear, bunny, bee, ladybug), makes you wanna pick one up and give it a big squishy-squashy cuddle. each even comes packaged in an egg-shaped container.

hmmm... but somehow, i would just leave it at that - hug and go. just won't bring one home, too life-like for my comfort. no offence.

more anne geddes links:
- newborn baby doll
- tote & diaper bags
- bed linen
- watches

coach 2006 patchwork & scribble collection

i love the new coach hamptons patchwork & scribble collection 2006.... so colourful and pretty :)

i don't own any coach handbags yet, but sure am toying with the idea of getting one when the right opportunity strikes *wink*. the 2006 spring range is so pretty, so cheerful and fun! am resisting the temptations for now, keep telling myself that it's much cheaper getting coach in the USA... hehe.



my current favourites from the hamptons weekend collection:
- patchwork small hobo
- patchwork small tote
- patchwork pouch
- patchwork wristlet
- scribble wristlet
- scribble demi roll

GAP: cute peforated bags & shoes

these are so cute. new peforated leather bag from GAP - even comes with matching peforated shoes *love*. i know this is a passing fancy, no major lemmings, but they're soo cute, just had to share :D


GAP makes some of the cutest bags around.
pictures show "new pale lemon" - other colours available.

happy valentine's day

in most years, valentine's day fall on a weekday (ie. a school day or work day). this year is no exception - it's good, you don't have to worry about how to spend the day, or where to go to... just bury in work and soon, it's dinner time.

i've learnt from my past "mistakes" - NEVER attempt to have a quiet pampering dinner alone in town on this day! remember 2 - 3 years ago, i wanted to give myself a dinner treat at some lavish restaurant on valentine's day.... thinking i didn't have to hide at home in a cold corner just because S. is not here with me. so i took a bus down to orchard road after work... BIG mistake. after walking around aimlessly for close to 2 hours, trying my luck from one restaurant to another, i decided to just buy a miserable mini bread loaf from breadtalk, and make my way back home sweet home. that year, i had one of the most miserable valentine's day. seeing couples kissing and snuggling, hugging huge bouquets of flowers, teddy bears etc., just didn't make things better. so i've learnt my lesson. since then, i've always headed straight home right after work, on valentine's day.

this year, i broke the trend - i had a date, a special one. it's carolyn's birthday, and she invited the girls together for a cozy all-girls dinner tonight at a thai restaurant (yhingthai). well, not all of us are single/ unattached, mind you - sherie's a married mum (her hubby's in military re-service this week), carolyn kept receiving calls after calls from all different boy-friends throughout the dinner *wink*, tanny's bf paced up and down the walkway outside our restaurant for almost 2 hours, waiting for her to finish dinner (the restaurant had glass windows, you see), and then there's livia and me. we had lots of fun chit-chatting, sharing pictures, joking, making plans for next gathering, enjoying the food - btw, the food was yummilicious! we had mango salad, olive rice, fried crispy fish, spicy thai string beans, tom yum soup, chicken in thai green curry. it's very fun, girl's night out on valentine's day.... best of all, we avoided the terrible crowd in the hot spots in town :)

came home and mum asked with a cheeky smile, whether i was out celebrating valentine's day. hmmm... i guess i did celebrate this day, and had fun too - just not with a guy. did i receive flowers? nope, but my colleague sitting right next to my desk received a HUGE bouquet of lilies today that made the entire office smell flowery sweet. so i guess all of us got to share some elements of that bouquet somehow.

valentine's day is a day worth celebrating, a day to share love and little loving gestures.... but it sure is NOT the only day to do so. this may sound cliche (and you know it most probably comes from someone who doesn't get to enjoy the luxuries of spending the day with her loved one).... love shouldn't be expressed only on valentine's day, love shouldn't be measured by the amount of money spent, the size of bouquet received, the price on that dinner menu. love is not taking each other for granted; and valentine's day is just an additional reminder to not forget to appreciate your other half.

before i go on penning more and more philosophical doctrines, i better stop here.
wishing one & all, a very happy and enjoyable valentine's day.

happy valentine's day, dar!
also, happy birthday carolyn!

vent

i just broke my own record, 4 new posts in a single day. can't help it, i'm fuming mad now... needed to come up here to vent.

just had an argument with mum. it all started over a small disagreement and then escalated to more intensive argument. i'm so fed up, i'm actually still shaking from frustration as i'm typing this.

my mum is finally going for her first holiday in years. she's planning to go china with dad sometime in march/ april, and i'm happy for them. she's ironing her clothes while i was watching tv... then suddenly she said, "when i go on holiday in march, remember to remind your brother to wash his military uniform when he comes home over the weekends..."

to that, i told my mum honestly... i will not be bothered with that. (he's almost 22 for goodness sake). i told her that he's old enough to take care of his own things, and i won't care even if he has to wear dirty clothes back to the army. if he can't even take responsibility of his own life, make sure he dumps his own clothes into to washing machine when he comes home, then let him learn his lesson when he has to wear soiled clothes or get punished by his officer.

that reply triggered off a whole chain of accusations and nags from mum. she accused me of being a heartless sister, a useless daughter who wouldn't even help her own mum. (what an accusation!) then she went on to say girls are supposed to help with everything around the house, guys don't even have to lay a finger. OMG! what century are we living in now? i can't believe my own mum actually condones that. honestly, this kind of thinking disgusts me.

i lead a proper life, i work hard to earn my own living, i behave myself, never worry my parents over my personal problems, give my mum monthly allowances since i found my first job. even before than, i stopped taking pocket money from her when i started giving tuitions right after junior college education - FYI, i was 18 then (considered relatively sensible for a typical local teenager).

my brother, at the age of 22, still takes money from my mum... not only has he NOT given my mum a single cent (granted, he only gets a nominal national service token of less than $500 each month for now), he comes home every weekend, sleep away like nobody's business, contribute nothing to the family, dumps his stinky haversack in the living room and waits for my mum to come home, buy him dinner and then dig out his dirty laundry to wash. what kind of crappy life is that?

and my mum thinks i'm heartless just cuz i'm not willing to wash his clothes? d-u-h!
she went on with her unreasonable rants, until i snapped back at her.

i raised my voice, knowing i am not in the wrong, rebuted that she is NOT helping my brother in any way at all! this spoon-feeding in all manners just drives me crazy. in the past, she said i'm being jealous, whatever she wants to think... i just KNOW that in today's society, if my brother doesn't wake up and realise he better buck up and take responsibility of his own life, he's gonna have a very very tough time surviving out there. she's in fact causing him more harm than any good.

nobody's gonna give him a second chance if he continues to wait for people to spoon-feed him. nobody's gonna be patient enough to take you by the hand and go through everything step by step. in today's society, you have to observe and pick things up yourself - fast, you have to learn to fend for yourself. if you don't, you will be eliminated. period. that's how life is right now.

and mum thinks i'm NOT helping my brother by not washing his clothes, that i'm a heartless sister, a useless daughter (how hurtful). i beg to differ.

brokeback mountain

i find myself watching more movies lately than i had in the past 6 months :P even my colleague commented that i'm a "movie-person"... hmm... i didn't even realise that. not sure if that's cuz (i) i'm beginning to find more interests in movies now, (ii) able to get a "date" more often, (iii) better movies recently, or (iv) i'm becomming a bore, can't find anything else to do except watch movies on weekends.

anyway, after watching my last "to-watch" movie, the next one i'm going for is brokeback mountain - the special "friendship" between 2 men, a different kind of intimacy, passion and more.

"Set against the sweeping vistas of Wyoming and Texas, the film tells the story of two young men – a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy – who meet in the summer of 1963, and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection, one whose complications, joys and tragedies provide a testament to the endurance and power of love." (source: www.gv.com.sg)

catch the trailer here:
high res
low res

ps: i like the soundtrack (you'd get to listen to random short clips when you click on the official movie website)

my new cute handwoven bag

via airmail - a friend sent me this gorgeous handmade bamboo bag she bought in jakarta (new year present) - isn't it cute? *love*

the size is perfect for a casual day out, fits my wallet + coin purse + mobile phone + small makeup items. plus it's so unique! (you hardly see anyone else carrying a similar bag in the streets) i carried this to work yesterday, and received lots of compliments on it :) one of my colleagues even joked that the added benefit of this bag being it's hardness - enough to beat up any suspicious evil-intenders *lol*.

specially took a small pic. on my mobile phone to post it up for all to see.
thank you so much, susan! :D

north country - afterthought

couldn't wait and went to watch north country with mel last night after work - have been so looking forward to it since i first saw the trailers at the cinema.

"... among the first women hired by a northern Minnesota iron mine in 1975. In this brutal workplace, female miners were relentlessly threatened with pornographic graffiti, denigrating language, stalking, and physical assaults. Terrified of losing their jobs, the women kept their problems largely to themselves?ntil Lois, devastated by the abuse, found the courage to file a complaint against the company in 1984." (excerpt from the book "class action")

the movie's fairly long - went in at 9:35pm, came out just minutes before 12 midnight. i liked the movie (more so the theme), but guess i must have had too high expectations of this show, ended up feeling a little disappointed after watching it. i found the first 2/3 of the movie a little slow and draggy, not much help in building up the climax of the story either. the portayals of the sexual harrassment incidents somehow didn't quite do it for me - yes they're disgusting, but just not impactful enough. i enjoyed the last 30 mins. of the movie best... the emotional crunch, touching moments (ok, now you know i'm a sucker for soap dramas... lol), and of course, the final victory of josie which led to the birth of the first sexual harrassment class action in USA, which eventually benefitted all women around the world. (((applause)))

since north country was inspired by a true story, i salute the women who stood strong against the "dark forces" of those more powerful, and fought till the final victory.

winter depression

nope - i'm not suffering from winter depression (this is singapore, remember?).

i was flipping through the chinese newspapers last sunday, and chanced upon a full-page article on "winter depression", a term i'd previously unheard/ unread of. it was an interesting read, especially for "tropical-beings" like us, who would never really understand how winter seasons/the cloudy skies/ lack of sunshine (source of energy) could cause damage to a person's well-being and emotional health.

read up a little more on the topic online tonight, the proper term being "seasonal affective disorder" (SAD syndrome), even the term sounds real s-a-d to me. the article stated that women are 3 times more likely to suffer SAD than men. SAD patients are very sensitive to light (or the lack of it)... typically experience depression, oversleeping (yet forever feeling lethargic), and food craving for carbohydrates. even though i've never experienced winter before, i can almost imagine that kind of blue-ish low feeling the 24/7 "sunlessness" can cause. not forgetting the day-to-day hassle of travelling in the snow, heavy traffic jams caused by roadblocks & accidents, minimal outdoor activities (no swimming, no al fresco dining by candlelight, no t-shirt + miniskirt outfit).....

i showed my brother the newspaper article, and you know what he said?
"you mean to say that people in the antartica suffer from depression all the time?" hmm... i sure don't have an answer for that... some food for thoughts.

other links on SAD: (i) netdoctor.uk (ii) bbc (iii) webmd

ps: and yes, i still love the romanticised idea of a white christmas, sipping hot tea by the window, watching snow fall peacefully to the sounds of carols..... :)

i cried.

must be the pent up stress level and all that lack of quality sleep... just little unhappy things that tipped off the balance, and *wail*.... i cried. 5 mins. ago.

i literally sat in front of the PC since the moment i woke up this morning, worked non-stop on my projects, except to stop for lunch and dinner. i called in to say i need to work from home today, cuz there's just toooooo much work to be done, all that nitty gritty details, documentations etc. i needed the time to concentrate and actually get things done, so i chose to avoid the disturbances from colleagues at work. i probably accomplished more today, than any other 2-day's efforts combined, when i'm in the office.

anyway, today's monday - or rather, yesterday (it's past midnight now). my favourite tv shows - desperate housewives (new season, first episode) and grey's anatomy were showing monday night. i had been so looking forward to them a-l-l of last week. i never missed an episode of either show. they have become my subtle source of motivation to get on with another week. helps beat the monday blues too.

i knew i had to work late tonight, so it's a choice between (i) watching the shows live (from 10pm - 12 midnight) and then catching up with work after that, or (ii) record the shows on VCR, then watch them some other evenings when i'm free. usually, i'd give in to option 1 and then feel too sleepy to finish my work after that... but tonight i was bent on getting my work done, i couldn't afford to pile up anymore "undone work" for tomorrow. so i went with option 2, put in the tape and contently went on with work.

came 12 midnight, i went to the VCR to retrieve my tape... and alas!!! my dad switched off the entire TV plug without even checking!! first it was intense shock, followed by an overwhelming sense of disappointment + anger + frustration... then i calmly knelt down to examine my tape.... only 20% was used (lots of it probably tv commercials)... and all of a sudden, i just broke down and sobbed. *sob sob* *sob sob* *sob sob*...

i'm very sad that i missed both my favourite shows on tv, but i know it's more of the stress plus tire plus some other unknown elements that really pushed me over my limit. some of you must be thinking i'm crazy, fancy crying over some tv episodes i missed.... i guess you're probably right. but i couldn't help it. besides, people do weird things all the time, don't we?

time to head to bed. almost 1am now... gotta be in the office by 8am to prepare for a meeting at 9:30am. i wish i could make time slow down a little once in a while. i'm really tired.

just for laughs...

need i saw more??
*lol*.... this baby must be starving!!

ps: received these funny images from a colleague, no idea where's the original source.

pink is BIG :)

after 2 years 2 months of loyalty to my nokia 7250i, i finally bought myself a new mobile phone on saturday - the lovely nokia 6111 pink! this is the 3rd mobile phone i've ever owned in my entire life, the only one i paid for myself :P one glance and you can tell it's a lady's phone... sleek design, compact size, feminine colours/ themes etc.

i had been casually looking out for a new target since late last year - cuz my 2-year singtel plan expired in december, which meant i could get a new phone at a fraction of it's retail price when i renew my subscription. all my phones had been nokia-made. as much as i tried to give other manufacturers a chance, i still find myself drawn back to the safe & easy, idiot-proof navigations of a nokia phone. sadly though, nokia hadn't exactly come up with interesting phones for a long time, unlike it's competitors samsung, sony ericsson, even motorola.....

sometime in december, i fell in love with a new phone model - nokia 7370. when i first saw the dummy set behind the display shelves in a wywy shop, i knew i had to start saving up for it. it was love at first sight! i started reading up on the phone, features, online reviews and all... then somehow, the novelty wore off. my short-lived "love-affair".

then came along nokia 6111... i loved the tv commercial "little moves mean a lot", it made me smile. but i didn't think much of the phone (thought it was too much of a copycat version of samsung's predecessors), until i saw pictures of the pink model *instant twinkle in my eye* :D ahhh.. pink, my weak spot (though you rarely find me admitting it).

since i just ended my last "fling" with nokia 7370, i didn't want to jump right into another one without being sure. i read some reviews, there were complaints about the short battery life, fragile slide mechanism, noisy keypads etc. so that made me somewhat half-hearted about nokia 6111. then last week, right after chinese new year break, my colleague came back to work with a new nokia 6111 white. ooh, and i'm sold. i don't care even if i have to be extra extra careful when handling the phone, i love how compact & smooth it feels in my palm, the cute slider... and the ringtones sound so good. i'd made up my mind!

on saturday, i picked up the newspapers and called all the singtel distributors near my area to enquire about the availablity of the pink handset. disappointment started to creep in when 4 - 5 stores told me that pink's out of stock. but i refused to budge... continued dialing down the list of stores until i finally located a store in centrepoint that has one last set for sale -yay! and that's how i began my love-story with nokia 6111 pink :)

this phone is super uber cute... comes with a one-megapixel camera + bluetooth too. now i gotta get a bluetooth adapter to start synchronising my phone with PC, upload pictures + ringtones + MP3s. for now, everytime the phone rings, i get a high *lol*....

women secret - baby valentine collection

received women secret e-newsletter today, saw their new baby valentine collection... wow! soooo cute! i want!!! :D

baby valentine PJ
baby valentine t-shirt & boxer
baby valentine nightdress

don't know when this collection will arrive at the local stores, must ask the sales assistants at great world city next week. the prices are steep (as with most women secret stuff) but the colours are so bright and lovely, and the kitty cat prints drive me crazy... hehe. *lemmings lemmings*

just remembered that my citibank dividend card offers discount at women secret... yay! more push factor to get the nighties ;)

ps: wrecking your brains for an innovative idea to propose to your man? check this out (click on the image).... bet you won't even have to ask :P

happy chinese new year!

gong xi fa cai!
happy chinese new year!

wee hours of 4th day of february, also the 7th day of the lunar new year. according to chinese new year's celebrations, 7th day in the lunar month is "ren ri" (mortal's day), ie. everyone's birthday. on this day, it's common to go to restaurants to "lou hei" (toss and eat raw fish slices with mixed vegetables) for good luck.

so glad it's the weekend again. work is so stressful nowadays, i just keep looking forward to the weekends. wonder how much longer i can hang on, the idea of a job-change has popped up at least twice in the past month.... hmm... not sure if i wanna do that - too high risk. call me conservative/ risk-adverse, but i somehow believe that every company has it's own problems, leaving company A doesn't necessarily guarantee "greener pastures" at company B or C. besides, i don't hate what i'm doing, just too much to handle that i don't know how to enjoy it anymore. i've been trying to wipe out those negative thoughts from my mind and look at the bright side of things. attitude and conviction are very important.

met up with a friend for dinner and shared our work problems with each other. everyone seems to have problems at work (my point above proven). i don't like being a whiny/ complain-some person, but have to admit the occassional rants are very good ways to vent and release built-up tension. more often than not, this actually helps control the stress and dissatisfaction level, thus keep you staying longer in the company.

my friend said that i don't show enough of what i'm doing, as in i have to learn to make known "louder" that i am doing a lot of things and contributing a lot more than others realise (esp. the management). climbing the corporate ladder has always been a mixed approach of talent-vs-tactic. doesn't matter how hard you work, how late you stay up burning the midnight oil, how many weekends burnt slogging for the company, how incredibly "superwomanly" you've been.... the key lies in being smart in finding ways to announce your efforts to the world. it's all in the perception.

i call that the art of recognition-fishing. some people are very good at that, while others either overdo it or have lots to catch up on. i want to shout out loud too, "hey, look at me! notice that i'm doing great things to contribute!" but just haven't found the right moment, right person, right opportunity, without coming across as show-off or braggy, yet drawing just the right amount of attention upon myself. shall try harder next time.