if you don't have a basketball court near you...

... just bring one right into your office! :)
simply no better way to practise your three-pointer shoots without even having to move your bum.. LOL.

btw, if you remember this older post...
now that we have upgraded to a new office, surely the old 'basketball court' needs an upgrade too, right? ;)

we have moved!

we have officially moved into our spanking brand new office today!

and i like it here! :)

actually, the physical move (all that unpacking, cleaning and personalising) took place last Friday.. but we sort of started a new work day afresh at our new location today.

everyone seems to be enjoying the new office so far, it's a bigger and brighter environment, the interior decor is nicely done up - fresher air, fun and coordinated colours, warm and comfortable, with enough space and rooms for meetings and break out activities. all in all, a more cheerful and conducive office, professional yet fun and casual enough, hope that bodes well for everyone.

there are many more corporate offices in this area too, with people dressed up in proper business attire.. makes us all more mindful of our own dressing too (far cry from our casual slippers and t-shirt days back at the Phase Z. Ro container-office or Holland Village residential unit)...

the lunch queues are longer here as well (not liking that so much) but i guess we'll soon get used to that or find our way around to some other favourite lunch spots in no time.

ooh.. and check this out too! our new office has a security biometric fingerprint reader at the door, it's so cool! i feel like a secret agent every time i get that "verified" message. LOL.. ;) awesome!

happy easter 2011!

it’s a short work-week this week, and who doesn’t love short work-weeks? :)

Easter is just around the corner, and it’s time for this self-declared Easter Bunny to hop by and leave little surprises for everyone in the office again!
(a personal little tradition - see previous years surprises: 2010 / 2008 / 2007)

our staff strength has certainly grown over the years... from a handful 4 years ago, to a little more.. and now i have 24 colleagues to plan for! *whoa* :P

well, more eggs to hide, more fun for everyone.. hehehe.

i certainly enjoy doing this, and it's so much fun seeing everyone go crazy hunting for their treasure eggs.

ooh.. and this year, the Easter Bunny herself received a very special HUGE version Easter egg too! awww... :) THANK YOU!

 HAPPY EASTER 2011!

mille crêpes... ooh yummilicious!

wow! the yummiest cake i've tasted in a while... the mille crêpes!
i've never heard of or had this before.. until today. we had a combined birthday celebration for several colleagues earlier today, and a sweet colleague brought in a mille crêpes birthday cake from classic cakes... mmmm... it's heaven in a tiny slice!

*yumm yumm yumm* i'm so ordering this for the next birthday gathering or party :)
flaky, soft and light.. the texture is simply amazing!

click here for the recipe

i guess it's somewhat like the indonesian kueh lapis, but done with a french flare.
well, i can make the crêpes, will someone please assemble the rest for me? hehe..

my office became a 'crime scene' this morning...

lol.

oh my, i so love the crazy bunch sometimes. i mean, where else would you find people who play pranks like these on... their boss? (he actually thought it's very cool and even posed as CSI Horatio with a 'live victim' lol).

my colleagues are really good with 'art installations' around the office... hehe ;)
take a look at what they had done to me sometime back.

new directions to my workplace...

new directions to my workplace:
1) drive through the one-way lane along Jalan Kilang.
2) when you arrive at the junction, lift the metal lid, then go down the sewage drain.
3) you will find us at the other end of the tunnel (where there is light) ;)

ps: this picture has not been photoshopped, the sign did fall off. took this shot earlier today on our way back from lunch...

remember miffy? part 2...

when i posted 'remember miffy' on here back in August, i mentioned it to a colleague and she clearly remembered miffy and we got into a mini conversation around the little illustrated character, history and what we had remembered of it.

little would i know that the little conversation actually brought miffy to me! hehe.. this was what i received for my birthday from the colleague when i came back to work middle of this week :)

new case (with front flap) for my iPhone!
weee... miffy + polka dots + pink!!
what more could i have asked for? hehehe.. ;)
thank you!

btw, you can now download desktop wallpapers of miffy and other designs from women'secret online. check them out here.

weird things happen...

something weird just happened.

for the first time in my life, i actually felt sorry for a cockroach!
anyone who knows me will be aware that i'm deadly terrified of them.. the sight, sound or idea of these yucky, disgusting flying creatures just horrifies me. unfortunately, i seem to never be able to shake them out of my life.. they're just super resistant, existing in every corner, everywhere around the world.

anyway, i was at the office female toilet earlier. i had first checked around for any signs of the 'terror', confirmed that i was safe before stepping into a cubicle. just right after i was done using the toilet and about to flush, i saw a very tiny (ladybug-size) cockroach appear under the seat. i jumped, and that sent the mini-roach scrambling frantically around trying to avoid being stepped on. it was so tiny but so fast, darted from one corner to another and finally dodged right under the tiniest sheet piece fragment of toilet paper on the floor. as much as i loathe cockroaches, at that very moment, i actually pity that tiny little thing. no it was not cute, but it was so scared (and looked pretty harmless). that fragment of paper is no larger than a thumb, yet it stayed so still under it, right in the middle of the cubicle floor. it's almost amusing.

i could have just stepped and killed it in an instant (i wouldn't in any case), but i just let it be. i hope i will not regret this some day, when it grows up to its full adult size and really terrorise me in the toilet...

anyway, on this day, that creature got lucky. the toilet paper act saved its life. and right after i stepped out of the cubicle to wash my hands, it came out of hiding. hmm..

baby carrots are not "babies" at all..

in an attempt to say no to the "sinful stash" in the office, i've decided to prepare my own healthy snacks to feed the mid-day cravings at work today - some ready-to-eat baby carrots and strawberries i'd picked up from the supermarket.

i was just having a conversation with a friend earlier, and learnt something new about these baby carrots i'm munching on at the very moment (ooh so exciting.. hehe)... *drum rolls*..

did you know that baby carrots are not what we think they are?

the common belief:

• baby carrots are sweet tiny young carrots that are harvested in their baby stage

the truth:

• most baby / cocktail carrots that are sold in supermarkets are actually adult carrots pre-cut and processed to look like baby carrots *duh* - think french fries...
  
• U.S. farmers first invented "baby carrots" because their deformed, odd looking adult carrots wouldn't sell, so they conceived the idea of cutting them into uniform sizes, pretty shapes to enhance their appeal (and it worked big time)
• and because these carrots are pre-cut and exposed to bacteria, some farmers treat them with chlorine before shipping.. *uh ok*

Grimmway Farms explains the process:


read more here:

• baby carrots are not what you think they are
• the truth about baby carrots
• carrot and shtick

isn't it interesting? :)
i mentioned this to a few colleagues and, like me, none of them were aware at all!
examining the carrots up close, they're shaped so nicely it's almost hard to believe these babies are not that "baby" afterall. how deceiving! hehehe..

i do like munching on baby carrots and the tinier cherry/grape tomatoes. i guess from tomorrow onwards, i'll buy adult carrots and cut them into cute little shapes on my own. the healthy-snacking will not stop, perhaps the chlorine intake may... :)

the 'de-stress' stash...

you know what's my boss's favourite way to show that he cares?
he makes sure the pantry is always stocked up with an overwhelming supply of "good stuff" for us lol..

oh gosh, each time he does this, i get a mini heart attack!

i try so hard to avoid that sinful corner whenever i fill up my water at the dispenser... but i have to admit, it's so tempting! especially during mid-day when you get a little peckish and start hearing other colleagues tearing open and munching on packs of mamee or chips *yikes!* sometimes i could smell it too! but it's just sooo soooo sinful! *tsk tsk* :P

good thing my seat is as far away as it could be from that corner...
of course, that doesn't mean i'm 100% safe from the evils.

TGIF! :)

TGIF! this must be the most sane, peaceful and quiet day at work in a long long long long while :)

several colleagues are out for meetings and events today, clients are not bugging us for deadlines.. wow. unbelievably serene, happy friday.

just plugged in to my itunes on headphones and leisurely preparing some documents for next monday's meetings. decided to have some fragrant strawberry milk i bought at lunch earlier.. yumm yumm. oh, looks like strawberry to-fu is asking for some too.. hehe :P

ok, yes.. dumbest post of the month.. hehe.
please ignore me.

Aaron Kwok was in my seat!

last friday, my colleagues knew i was going to head back to the office late to pick up something, and look what a 'surprise' a few of my prankster colleagues left behind for me...

kudos to them, i literally jumped when i switched on the lights and saw a guy seated at the corner staring at me. lol.

they knew i used to like Aaron Kwok (郭富城) in my early teenage years, so they made a life-size printout of his face and palms??! (haha) and then dressed 'him' up in my red hoodie sweater with my office slippers right at his invisible feet *tsk tsk*..

i must say they had done a pretty good job with this, didn't they? it did look real at first glance especially in the dark office, very life-like and i sure got freaked out for a bit *smile* hmm.. i wonder where they had gotten those track pants from...

i shredded a CD today! :)

call me a country bumpkin, it never occurred to me before that you can actually shred a CD (or DVD).

we've recently added a fellowes paper shredder in our office and some of us have been using it to shred up old project archives and confidential documents.

i haven't been using it much until last night when i had to shift from my old desk to another one at the opposite end of the office, so i spent quite some time throwing out old project files and ended up with thick loads of paper to shred. it's actually quite enjoyable and therapeutic to use the shredder. the simple repetitive action of feeding the shredder and then seeing everything turn into tiny colourful strips of paper, who would have expected it to be so much fun and even an outlet to de-stress and allow the mind a little break? :)

this morning, as i was shredding the last bits of paper i have (i suspect i might be mildly addicted after last night *grin*), removing all staples before feeding the shredder, my colleague walked by and told me that i didn't have to do that, the shredder would break down the staples too. i was quite skeptical about that, wouldn't the metal bits spoil the machine? but that's when i found out that the shredder could even shred up CDs! wow!

feeling excited, i just had to try it to believe it. so we went around the office and found an old unwanted CD. there's a plastic cover near the feeder of the shredder, flip it over and there's a tinier slot customised for CDs and credit cards (looks very similar to the thin slot where you insert a CD into an iMac). so i gathered a few other interested colleagues near the shredder and started feeding the CD through the slot. it was instantly garbled up by the shredder - "clark.. clurk clark.. " it went. not the most pleasant sound to the ears but it's just so so cool! wow. i shredded my first CD today! :)

i even pulled open the trash bin to examine how the CD looked like after it's shredded.. just like broken pieces of glasses or crystals. sparkly.

happy easter!

yay for long weekend! we all love long weekends, don't we?
and since it's easter this sunday, i continued a little tradition that i'd started back in 2007 at my workplace.

the annual easter eggs hunt for everyone in the office! :D

every year, on the last workday before Good Friday, i would secretly hide little pouches or plastic eggs filled with cute easter chocolates and candies all around the office - behind window blinds, above cabinets & shelves, inside baskets, in odd corners, above signages etc. - each personalised with a colleague's name so no one gets left out :)

it certainly takes more time to prepare these surprises now, as the company strength grows over the years... but it's just so much fun, it's totally worth it! i enjoy every bit planning and hiding the eggs as much as the folks go bonkers hunting them down.. hehehe.

happy easter!

50 ways to cope with stress...

speaking of "spying" interesting items and articles on fellow colleagues' desks, i found this on yet another co-worker's desk, so good it'll be a pity not to share :) so in addition to the colourscope posted in my earlier post, here's another inspirational piece...

(as seen on bellefemme)

hmm.. i'm glad to note that i've already been doing several points listed in the article below... guess that's what been keeping me sane so far. well, obviously i'm failing on the point "leave work early" on the 3rd last line... :P okie, better get going now.

what's your colourscope?

i work very long hours in the office, i interact a lot with my fellow co-workers but i just realised today that i hardly go around checking out other colleagues' personal desks and things they put up on their partition wall.. stuff around their desks etc. maybe i'm not a very nosy person...

anyway, i'm hanging around the office slightly later than most others again tonight. i was just standing around a colleague's desk and noticed some of the very interesting things she has on her wall...

i liked THIS so much, i had to search for it on the Internet - and all thanks to GOOGLE, here's the exact version she had printed out and "magnetised" above her desk.

so.. what is your colourscope? :)
for a closeup on the descriptions, download PDF here.

at first glance, i'm kinda drawn towards these 2 colours:

*blossom
you are able to gently say the things that your friends need to hear. you have a lovely smile but you need to smile much more often. you are too serious and you need to be more tolerant of failure–both in yourself and in others.

*strawberry
you are very lucky with opportunities appearing like magic. you are an enchanter, attracting people to you. you are open and enthusiastic.

february the 14th...

happy valentine's day to all...
and happy lunar new year too! 恭喜发财，万事如意!

have a very happy, sweet and lovely day.
thank you for the surprise bouquet! :)

potato spicky

it poured cats and dogs out at lunch today and since none of us had brought an umbrella out, a few colleagues and i took a slightly longer lunch and shopped the minimart near the hawker centre while waiting for the rain to stop (or at least lighten into a drizzle).

you can always find the less common snacks at these neighbourhood minimarts... things you never quite see at the larger supermarkets. today, i randomly picked up a box of these crunchy potato sticks snacks (S$1.30 each) - potato spicky. made in thailand under the glico label, there were 3 different flavours on display - original, cheese and sour cream & onion. more flavours/photos shown on flickr.

i have to admit such snacks are not exactly the wisest of choice for health's sake, but i'm just always curious to try it out anyway.

verdict - it's an instant burst of savoury cheese flavour from the first bite! surprisingly tasty! and i guarantee you won't be able to stop just at one stick :P it's very very yummy (i attribute it to the MSG content, even though i can't read a single thai word on the box). lol. i passed it around and everyone loved it too.

as for me, i'm gonna restrict myself to just this one box, figured it's just too tasty and salty to be good *oops*. but if you have not tried this before, worth doing so at least once. it is really tasty and a tad bit addictive too. some colleagues say it tastes a little like the jack n' jill "roller coaster" potato snacks... only cheesier :) so give it a try and give your own take on it - just drink lots of water after that.

cost-cutting measure...

when times get bad, and companies try their utmost to cut costs... this is what happens.

tada!
our very own de-stress DIY office wall-mount basketball hoop! *LOL*

sometimes i just can't help but laugh at these crazy folks i work with, some of them are just so funny/spontaneous.

this is such a cheap thrill... recycled paper and DVD packaging, and it really works!
now if only the "smiley face stress ball" can be a tad bit less bouncy so that it'll stop bouncing off the wall...