It's a Monday again. And it's going to be a busy, busy week. I dread just thinking about it so I'm not going through a lengthy detail of what is in store for me this week. All I can say is I'll be away at Copthorne King's Hotel with all my fellow Special Assistants and Project Officers from my zone, my DD, my Supts, 4 Principals, and about 50 Vice Principals, overnight stay for this year's VP Retreat. Tuesday till Wednesday. We'll be going to St James Power Station on Tuesday night and the CEO, Dennis Foo himself will be addressing us. It'll be interesting to see what he has to say. I am in this committee. Which means it's butt numbing work. And I will be so, so glad when it finally ends.

Met Dev on Sunday and went to watch Harry Potter. Which was crappy cos they didn't follow the book closely. Wasted my time. Had a talk with him at night while we were having dinner. And he spoke again of his reluctance to embrace my religion. Which got me thinking. How long am I going to wait? I've been waiting for him to decide for many years now, 4 years to be exact. He told me to give him time, which I have. We went for the Beginners Course for Islam in March and I saw a ray of hope there. But when that ended, any further discussion also ended. And I didn't want to push so I left it at that. But now that he's leaving soon for Melboure, I wanted a definitive answer, cos I don't want to be left hanging. Cos we all know that its an either or thing. There's no trying to beat the system.

I guess it's not an easy choice for him. He has been raised as a Chrisitian, he was baptised, he goes to church, though not regularly, he has lived his whole life with a set of rules, and principles, laid out by his religion, and he is expected to sacrifice all that to be with me. And I'm sure his mom won't be the happiest person to find out that her son has decided to convert. I know mine won't. Despite me being rather modern and not overly religious, I know that conversion should not be a matter of coercion. It should be a matter of chocie as there's no point in deceiving God cos...well, , he's God.

I used to be so angry with God for making me go through a relationship which has no hope. Why put me together with a guy, knowing for sure he's not going to convert? Is HE making a mockery of me? Now, I can only pray that he's doing this for a reason, and maybe it's a test of how strong my faith is. I waver very easily when it comes to religion..but I don't know why this time round, I stand firm to what is required.

It's so depressing. It's like the last time, all over again. Whatever it is, I hope he makes a decision soon and don't leave me hanging. We love each other very much, but unfortunately, love does not transcend all barriers. I'm not usually a mushy or sickeningly sweet person when it comes to my boyfriend. But all I can and will say is, whatever he decides, it's something which I will respect. If he decides to convert, I will be a very happy girl and I will start planning for the next phase of our relationship. If he decides not to, well.... I will be very sad cos there has been a lot of emotional investment in the relationship; all the memories, the plans, the happy times.....

I believe everything happens for a reason and Insya Allah, HE will know what's best for me. And I hope that HE will give me the strength to pull through anything that comes my way. Insya Allah.

I'm a firm believer in being independent. I believe in being self sufficient and not to depend on anyone but yourself to be happy. To me, family and friends are very important. And that is why I get upset when friends who are attached, be it in the bf-gf stage, or engaged, or married, cannot seem to tear themselves away from their other halves to meet up. It's either that, or they meet up by bringing along their other halves. Planning to meet up with them is like an arduous task as weekends are always with their partners so you get slotted a pathetic weekday slot, if we do meet up, for such a short period of time. And even if you get to spend some time with them, their other halves are perpetually calling or smsing them and asking of their whereabouts. Or they have to stop the meeting halfway cos their partners are waiting for them someplace else. It pisses the hell out of me. And that is why I am always a bitch to partners who tag along when we are meeting up. They always think I'm agressive and bitchy but I don't care. I mean, hello??!! You meet your gf almost every god-damn day! Can give her some time off to spend some semblance of personal time with her friends? What are you? Clingy? Geez...

I have nothing against them having a partner. I have a partner too. The tendency is for people to want to stick to their partners 24/7, and that pisses me off cos it only shows that you have nothing else going for you aside from your partner. I know the urge is there for you to spend every waking minute with your other half. I have to admit that at times, I want to spend time with my bf only. But honestly, after seeing Dev for 3 days in a row, I kind of need a short break to just be by myself.

I know , then you'll ask, 'So when you get married, how?' I think even with marriage, you still need a life of your own. I try not to get caught up in a cycle whereby you are constantly with your partner whenever you are free. And that is why I try to do my own things; gym, meet up friends at least on one of the weekends every week, go out with my family, do my own things like massages, facials exercising, manicures, pedicures, do my hair, shop on my own, or just stay home and read a book, sleep or watch tv. And even though I love to have company around me, I actually love being on my own and doing my own things too. I think we need to have a sense of appreciation of ourself. People say that 'My partner completes me. He makes me so happy.' I beg to differ. I think you complete yourself and if you have a partner, he simply enriches your experience in this lifetime.

That's why when my friends tell me that they are getting engaged, or married, my heart always sinks. Cos that will usually mean they will have no more time for you as their priorities change, their responsibilites change and as you are just the friend, you get sidelined always. It makes me really sad cos most of the time, the friendship has been around longer than their relationships.

I miss the times when you can just make plans with your gfs and go out shopping and have coffee and movies on a weekend, or any other time for that matter, without them worrying about their partners being alone.

Dev asked me why I haven't been meeting up with my friends (aside from the usual suspects aka Wendy and Vidhu) and I told him, 'I make such a hell of an effort to meet them all up, I ask them out, but they always say no to me.' All my friends know that I have no qualms about spending time with them, even if it means my bf is left alone. And he understands that we need some alone time too.

And the one thing that irks me most if when they come running to you when they have a crisis with their partners. What are we? Spare tyres? It irritates the hell of me cos when they are happy, we are forgotten, and when they are not, their friends are the ones they turn to.

So girls, we need more backbones. Remember that you complete yourself and appreciate that.

Mrs Yau came over on Thursday night to collect my baju kebaya's kain cos she needed to borrow them for Racial Harmony Day the following day, Friday. So I loaned her 3 of my kain wiron (That's like a Javanese kain, very traditional) and a kebaya nyonya just in case she might want to have a whole suit. Spent a good half an hour gossiping with her under my block.

Racial Harmony Day in school is the one the days which I enjoy most when I used to be in school, aside from school hols and public hols of course. But Racial Harmony Day was a blast always cos everyone, teachers, Principal, VP, students all dress up in traditional costumes, you gather your class a week or 2 before the day itself and psych every student in the class to wear a traditional costume on that day. They borrow from teachers, classmates, school mates, they buy...A lot of class spirit involved and you can always tell which are the classes which had no class spirit. The ones where all the students in the class cannot be bothered to dress up and come to school on that day in their uniforms. I always get upper sec NA classes as my form class and I will make sure every single student has a costume. Last year, I had a Sec 5NA class. Me and Mrs Yau, my other form teacher then, managed to get the whole class to be dressed in traditional garb so you see saris, cheongsam, punjabi suits, kebayas on that day itself.

The morning is usually spent with your class, taking photos and you all know what a camera whore I am so I really enjoy the morning. Students from other classes, especially my graduating classes will look for me and take photos with me and their other teachers for memories.

The second half of the day comprises of an event in the hall where the graduating classes will take their turns on stage with their Form teachers and parade their costumes on stage. And there will be top 3 best dressed class awards. It's so much fun. Last year, my class managed to get 2nd for the best dressed class award, and my dept got 1st for the best dressed dept award. :)

And I used to loan my kebayas to teachers in the staff room. It was so much fun.

What happened during Racial Harmony Day this year now that I'm in hq? Nothing. I had to prepare for an FGD in the morning, had the FGD in the afternoon. It was like a normal day, and no one was dressed in traditional garb. I actually wanted to wear a kebaya to work but woke up too late so had no time to iron my kebaya. When I met Wendy and Vidhu in the evening for dinner, they were telling me about what happened for RH Day and I felt a pang of sadness and nostalgia. I'm such a sucker , I know.

I know I've said this a million times, but I really miss being in school. The student's excitement always rubs off on me... That said, look at the photos below, taken during RH Day last year.


Mrs Yau and me.. She's a mother of 3 boys! Fit as hell..


Kelwin, one of my bestest friend in school. He's sarcastic, a fantastic teacher, makes me laugh all the time and gives damn good advice. Love him.


My 3 Sec 4 boys who are my babies, they can be monsters to other teachers but are angels to me. And they care a lot about me. I went to Cambodia with all 3 of them. Miss them. They went out to a costume shop and loaned out Chinese period drama costumes.


My Sec 5 NA class. Small, but united. They make me love going to school. Taught them for 3 whole years.


My 4E4, Not my form class but they were so close to me that they made me take a class picture with them.

Sigh....I miss being in school...

Coming back to work after almost a whole week away is so not fun. Makes you wish that you came to work and suffered with a stuffed nose anyway rather than having to deal with so much crap when you get back.

Of course I came back on Monday with a feeling of impending doom. So what transpired this week?

1. My email inbox, as expected, almost bombed. I had 70 freaking emails which needed my attention. Spent like the whole of Monday afternoon responding to them.

2. Meeting at a school first thing on Monday morning. When did I find out I had a meeting? On Monday morning, at 8am when I was in the train on the way to work and my Supt called me. So I rushed down to office, reached at 830 and then left at 9 for a meeting. Meeting lasted till 2pm! And there was so much tying up to do after the meeting.

3. Paper due on Tuesday evening. Based on the Mon meeting data.I almost died. Had to cull information from the meeting and draw up a paper. God...I was pulling my hair out. Cos the paper was going to be read by the big shots and my Supt was so stressed, which amde me stressed out too. And on Tues morning, I was out with DD on a school visit as well. It's like I'm here and there, then here then there...

4. Focused Group Discussion for DD on another paper this Friday so time had to be spent on preparing for that too. And I have to prepare talking points for her. It's Thursday, the FGD's tomorrow, and her talking points are not ready. I am screwed.

5. Another paper for another Supt, which is waaaayyyy overdue..so I have to finish that by today, by hook or by crook.

6. Preparing logistics for my upcoming VP Retreat.

Yes, I'm rambling but I can't help it. And these are the main ones, not inclusive of the other nonsense which I have to do as well... Urgh..I'm so tired.So I've been skipping lunches, getting my colleagues to buy back food for me, and ....the thing I that most. Going back late! Every single day this week, I've been going home at 8! And I had to cancel my going out plans yesterday. Aarrgghh!!!!!!!!!!

I ca't wait for Friday to come, cos I'm meeting my friends for dinner on Fri, I'm going to gym and my bro-in law's treating the whole family to dinner on Sat and I'm going to chill out with Dev on Sunday... I so need the weekend to be here...

I was away from work for 4 whole days this week. Okay. 4 and a half days. I left work at 230pm on Mon to go to the doctors and got an MC for Tues and Wed. Didn't get well after Wed, so went to the doctors again on Thursday and MC got extended till Friday. Which means I am screwed when I get back to work cos I have a 101 things pending, my email inbox is probably bombed cos in HQ, not checking your mail for anything more than 3 days is suicidal and I owe my colleagues a meal, ok, 2 meals, cos last week was a crazily busy week for me but cos I was away, they had to cover for me.

Not that I was having a whale of a time at home. Spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday sleeping cos the medication was the kind which concusses you. Thursday and Friday was spent in discomfort cos I switched anti biotics, a stronger course, so that gave me a lot of stomach discomfort. Feel way better now, nose is still running with phlegm but at least my fever's gone.

I went out with Dev and his mom on Fri to have dinner and it was with a lot of discomfort that I ate. Went to Big O at Wheelock Place.

That's Dev and his mom.

I forced him to take this picture.

I spent Sat at Dev's place, sleeping while Dev prepared for his job interview July 24th and we went out for dinner and coffee at night in town.

Sun was spent on waxing my legs at my Amore Day Spa and even though I spent very litttle time out, I managed to buy myself so many things. All these within the short time I was out. You'll be amazed.

I bought this top from CHAOS at Far East Plaza when I was out on Fri. $49.90, but was on sale go I got it for $39.90. I like it cos I can wear it with a work skirt and look formal but not stuffy and I can wear it with jeans for a weekend out. It's tight, like all CHAOS clothes so must permanently suck in tummy. Love the prints.

I bought these hair accessories from Livia at Far East Plaza on Friday. The left flower is a hairclip for me to pin when I twist my hair, or I can put it at the side of my hair when my hair is down. Very Spanish, or Hawaiian? Whatever, it's nice. The one on the right is a flower rubber band. Can use it to decorate my hair. I know, I'm vain.

Then on Sun, I had 30 minutes before my waxing appointment so I went over to Causeway Point G2000 and bought all of these:

2 identical camisoles in different colours. I know, 'identical??!!" It was cheap! 50% sale, so each cost me only $11.50. And the lace at the top is gorgeous and I love the lime green one. Can wear it with my black cropped jacket. Gorgeousness. The black one is bought just because it's black and versatile and I can wear it with anything. :)

This top, I have been wanting to buy it for 2 months. Cos the original price was $59! Crazy. Then, when I entered the shop, I saw that it was on 30% discount so I grabbed it. It was still costly to me, $41 but oklah. Wear it with a black pencil skirt, tucked in, with high heels. Nice.

And I bought the black pencil skirt.:) Cos my pencil skirt which I bought from Melbourne last year in June is 1 year old and I've worn it to death. Cheap. $24. I love pencil skirts, worn with a shirt tucked in. Or with a camisole with a cropped jacket or cardi. Makes me look long and thinner.

And I saw this white skirt and I couldn't resist. Cos I'm into white now, and the white skirt shows off my skin colour nicely. $30. Bargain. Cos I have the beige one, bought it when there was no sale for freaking $50!!!!

I also bought a pair of silver hooped earrings for $1.90 at Chameleon. I figured since I have the small ones and the large ones, I might as well get the medium ones. :)

And Vaseline. Cos the medication makes my lips peel like nobody's business and my kiehl lip balm is not doing its job so my elder sis recommended Vaseline. Cheap but works. $3. I love it when my things are cheap. And good.

And that's me on Sat night. I look a little pale cos wasn't 100% ok.

So even though I'm sick, I'm relatively happy cos I managed to shop and I spent a grand total of....$150!!! For everything here. I'm a happy camper. Makes me realise if there was one thing I'm really good at, it's shopping. With a bargain. I am so good at it. :)

Let's hope next week is a good week and I can actually get some productive work in. Have a good week all of you.

Can you beat this? I am sick. Again. I've got the flu now. Urgh...Was ok, mid last week, could gym on Thurs and Fri, then on Sat afternoon, I started to run a slight fever, and scratchy nsoe. Nose started running on Sat night..Urgh...And I'm having full blown fever and runny nose and body ache today but am still at work cos I have an induction programme to run. Will probably go off after lunch to see a doctor. I so need to rest.

I think it's the workload and the air con environment thats making me sick. And the fact that when Supts in my room get sick, they don't go to see the doctor. They just keep coughing, and sneezing and still go to work and refuse to see the doctor, and hence their germs are spread around the small office which I'm in. How not to get sick?

So the weekend was pretty crappy, yet again. I managed to push myself out of bed on Sun evening though to watch Transformers, and it was so bloody good. And this is coming from a person who has no knowledge about Tranformers, though the cartoon was in my era. The only thing I know about Transformers is that they are robots (wow), and they can transform to become cars (double wow). And the theme song 'Trasformers, robots in disguise'. That's all I know of them.

So I only went to watch cos I got such hyped reviews from all my friends who have watched it, some of them going as far as 'It's the best show I've ever watched'. So I went down to Golden Village at Northpoint with Dev and we watched it, and man, it was so good. Action from start till end. The way the robots transformed themselves were amazing...Very real. And now I know that the good robots are called autobots with Optimus Prime as the leader of the goodies, and the bad robots are called deceptors with Megatron as the leader of the baddies, and a whole load of other robots which look like damn lean mean machines.. You should catch it if you haven't. Really good.

Aside from watching Tranformers, I went for my facial on Sun morning, went to see property in Melbourne at Conrad and Hyatt on Sat with Dev and his mum ( No, I'm not buying property. We were just looking at apartments esp now that Dev's leaving in a few months) and did bodycombat on Fri evening. I didn't buy my Bobbi Brown Make-up!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will probably be on mc at least tomorrow, if not tomorrow and Wed..I hate being sick.... :(

Just when I thought I had finished the bulk of my work this week, I just got dumped 2 major projects.

1. Yesterday afternoon, about 4pm, I was happily tidying up the last of my work (or what I thought was last) when I received a call from HQ stating that there was an urgent submission to be done on the analysis of Racial Harmony Plans from all West Zone Schools to be handed in by the next day 5pm, which is basically today. Of course, I panicked cos I hate to do last minute work so went to Supt for clarifications and realised that this slipped his mind and he forgot to inform me in March, yes March, and so, I had no choice but to do it. ALL FREAKING SCHOOLS IN WEST ZONE, PRI, SEC & JC!!! You know how many schools that is in all? 92 GOD-DAMN SCHOOLS! I had to sift through each and everyone of their RH plans, and analyse across levels, and fill out this stupid template..I almost went cross eyed doing this, and I was so close to either crying or tearing my hair out. That took me the whole morning till lunch time, which was about 4hrs...But oklah, quite fast I think given the fact that it was 92 schools.

2. When I came to work this morning, my other Supt called me to her desk and said DD wants a paper up by end of July to look at strategies schools can deploy to handle NT students. That leaves me with only 3 weeks to work on it. And I had to call up schools from my Supt's cluster to get their inputs on what they do with their NT students, and now I have to cull out the information from what they have given me, do my own research, call up other divisions in HQ. Why? Cos we have a discussion with DD...Next Wednesday! I'm going to die cos I have to give intelligent ideas or she'll shoot me down in front of the committee...Which means...I have to bring back work..Unless I give in shoddy work, which I hate. I am going to die....

And next week is going to be another crazy week. I still have 2 days of induction for the new Vice Principals, I have a workshop planned for Principals, I have a learning Journey to Pathlight Schools with my zone, I have a VP Retreat Meeting, and a branch meeting and a divisional meeting. It's going to be a looong.............. week.

I know I'm rambling and probably boring you guys with the things I'm doing at work but I need to vent...So sorry guys.:)

What am I going to do this weekend? I'm going to kick some ass today after work (body combat at the gym) and meet Dev for dinner, I'm going to do CIP on Sat morning (send food stuff to Old folks living in 1 room flats), hopefully watch Transformers after that and buy my Bobbi Brown make-up which I've been lusting after for a while and on Sun, I'm going for a facial, get the damn work done and hopefully, if I'm not too lazy, I'll go for a yoga class at Novena's California Fitness....

I feel fat...The gastric flu medication is making my stomach bloated..Or maybe it's just the chocolates which the Supts have been stuffing my face with everyday since they got back from their hols (One came back from NZ, another from States), or the chocolate and kaya buns which I eat every morning as I walk from the train station...Urgh, I feel fat.

Yesterday, after a week and a half of not gymming, I finally hit the gym again. I ran like crazy on the treadmill, managed to cover 4km in 27 mins..Not bad right? Then even though my thighs were killing me, I continued on with a Body Balance class (combination of pilates and yoga). Felt so much better. Must have more discipline and gym more often. This whole eating non stop and sitting down in the office thing is making me feel like a fatty.

No pictures for this entry. I feel fat.

You all have a good weekend...And yes, I still want to get a tattoo...

Ok...This is going to be a random entry. I have a sudden urge to.....GET A TATTOO!!!!! I know! It's so weird! I've been watching Miami Ink when I was on leave in June , and they have reruns every weekday afternoons at 2pm so I watch the show every freaking day while on leave. And the tattooes were beautiful... It's not the ah beng ah lian kind of big dragon, wire barb nonsense that people do here. But the more artistic kind, like portraits, intricate roses, Japanese cherry blossoms, lotus flowers...Gorgeous. The colours on them were so vibrant. I love them.

Then, a friend, went to get a tribal scorpion tattoo on his shoulder blades during the hols and it looks damn hot. But he said it was excruciating. And I got scared. Naturally. Cos if a guy says it hurts, then it must hurt. He said he was numb after 45 minutes of drilling into the skin. So whatever tiny thoughts I have of getting a tattoo obviously disappeared into thin air.

But for the past few days, I've been thinking, and thinking, and thinking about getting one. Don;t know why. Was thinking of where to get it. The shoulder blades is an option, but that will hurt like crazy. Or the lower back, but that is so ah lian. All ahlians in the world have a tattoo there. Or next to the navel, but once I give birth (If I ever give birth), a butterfly tattoo will morph into a goddamn mothlah. Expansion of stomach and all. Totally unsexy.

I need to find a place where it's not prominent. Like my ankles or my lower back is bad cos it can be easily seen. My shoulder blades also not the best cos if I walk around in a towel in the house, my mom will see it and kill me. So I was thinking of just slightly above my boobs..Yeh..Sexy right? No one can see except for my husband...Or my really close friends..Hee..:) Just show what...That will mean everyone of you who reads this blog.:)

Dev said I should get it just above my pelvic bone. Not a bad idea, though I think that will hurt like hell too...

And I want to get a tattoo of either a fairy, or an angel or a pixie. Don't ask me why. It's just so...innocent, and I am so not innocent. ;) I've got some pictures. Show you guys and tell me which ones are nice.



I
1. Fairy 1.


2. Angel


3. Fairy 2


4. Pixie.

Which one is nice? Have to seriously think about it cos it's for life. But I want it so badly...Maybe when I go and study in Australia, I'll do it there. The colours are nicer there, Dev said. If I can't wait that long, might do it here. We'll see how it goes. Or I might change my mind...;) I know all my Malay friends are going...'Gasp! Berdosa!' Berdosa means sinning in Malay...Oookkaayy....It's a thought..Don't hyperventilate people.

I had a horrible weekend!!!! I went to the doctors on Thursday night to do something about my sprained pinkie, which has been sprained since 2 months ago, and I have stubbornly refused to do anything about it until last Thursday cos I was scared I was going to have a crooked pinkie for the rest of my life. Oh, and that it was causing me a lot of discomfort. So, the Doc told me I could either do a minor op where they will put a splint into the pinkie to straighten it out or I could eat oral medication to lessen the swelling. The only drawback? The medicine's pretty strong so it will give me bad gastric. Doc put me on anti gastric pills as well. That was that. And I started on the medication. Cos I don't want no splint in my pinkie.

The medication was a KILLER! It gave me such bad gastric that even the gastric pills didn't help. I stopped taking the medication on Fri night, which meant I effectively took them for only 1 full day, which is about 3 dosage. But on Sat, I was in extreme pain. Not only was my stomach in pain, I developed a high fever, body aches and all. I had to keep popping panadols every 6 hrly if not, my body aches and fever will act up again. And I spent the whole Sat suffering in pain and only managed to muster up energy for dinner at Junction 8. Blech. So much for shopping, and Olive Tree, and Oceans 13, Fantastic Four and Transformers.

On Sun, I still went for my mani and pedi session with my elder sis and my niece and nephew despite my discomfort. It was all good till lunch time when my fever started to come back. So we did our nails, went for a late lunch at Swensens, almost died cos my niece and nephew were always bickering, came back home at almost 5 and was concussed till about 830pm... I was so weak...

Forced myself to work today cos I have an afternoon meeting. Fever's down but I'm surviving on panadols... And I have no appetite....And everyone has a school holiday to day cos it's youth day, except for me! BOO!

So I had a crappy weekend. Only solace? I have nicely manicured nails and pedicured toes. Pinkish nude for my nails and dark red for my toes. :)

Photos talen over the weekend. I may not look it but I was sick but for the camera, I hammed it up..:)

On Fri night, where I had dinner with Dec at TCC at Centrepoint. He just finished gym, hence explaining the big arms. He was so embarrased about taking the photos.. Hahahaha..I obviously didn't care.

I know, it's my hair again. I couldn't resist. It's so long now right compared to the previous post? :) I'm hoping to have self discipline and grow it to my waist so my curls will show up more.. :)

Krish's (Dev's bro) new dog. His previous dog, also a Border Collie died of cancer so he and his wife bought another border collie, Shadow. He is adorable. And he gets very excited when he sees me and runs around with me.:) But he always tries to climb on me and licks my face and I have to keep pushing him off... I like him and all, but I stop at the licking. :)

Lunch at Swensens. My niece, Alysha, who is so bloody vain. She took out her shades and perched it on her head before she allowed me to take the photo. Vain ass.

My nephew, Farhan. He's just...calm and sedate.

She finished the whole thing, plus a little of my ice cream, plus a little of her bro's one. And she's still so skinny. Unfair.

That's my red Mango slouchy sweater which I bought 2 Sat ago! I know, you guys are probably wondering 'Sweater in this weather???' Hey, I was sick ok...And vain..Hahahaha...Wore it with my brown tights, but you can't see it cos I was seated.

My 2 babies...Even though they are walking hazards at this age, I love, love, love, love them! And this was another high point of my weekend, aside from my nails...:)