I went for a funeral yesterday. One of my family friend, whose son used to be a close friend of mine, suffered a loss. His dad, who used to be my mom's secondary school classmate, passed away on Mon evening of cancer of the colon.

He was such a healthy person. Very active, played badminton once a week, went for strolls with his wife every Sat, enjoyed travelling, worked hard & ate healthily. There were no symptoms leading to his diagnosis at all. He started losing a tremendous amount of weight, 15 kg in 1 and half mths, and went to the doctor's to check. He was on a conscious effort to lose weight so when the first few kilos were shed, the family thought nothing of it until the weight loss became ridiculous. And the doctor told him, after a few tests, that he had cancer of the colon, final stage. This was in June.

He died 4 mths later, October 29th. But he was suffering throughout the 4mths. It was so sudden and shocking esp when you know the person who died personally. But his wife was really strong. She was very calm and composed when my mom and I went to visit the family yesterday night. But I could see the sadness in her eyes and she hugged me extra long and extra hard. They were really close as a couple, and I know she's devastated.

It's things like this which makes me appreciate the people around me more, and realise that there are more important things in life than superficial and shallow things. And the importance of taking care of yourself and going for regular check ups. I hope nothing like this happens to the people I love...

Yati has given birth!!! Yeah!! It's a baby boy, Ilhan Faheem. Nice name. Babies nowadays have the most glamorous names. But I'm digressing.

She had a very easy labour. 5 hrs, no epidural, no nothing, all au naturel. Yati's amazinglah. I guess all the exercising she was doing up to her due date paid off. But her husband did tell me she was scratching his arms when she was in labour. Only scratching. If I was in labour, my husband will suffer... Hahaha..

So Maya, Khalidal, Shahrom and I went to visit her on Sat. I was so surprised to see her. She didn't look like she just gave birth at all. Radiant, healthy, not fat. She has already lost 10kg since she gave birth, which was only a week ago, and now weighs 56kg. Only. Disgusting isn't it?

Anyway, here are the pictures taken of baby Ilhan and us. I can't believe she's a mother!!

Ilhan Faheem..He's so cute!


Clockwise: Me, Yati and Khalidal.


I made everyone take pictures..That's Maya there. And Khalidal, looking uncharacteristically gentle and motherly. Don't be deceived. She's not. Hahaha..


The group photo with all, clockwise: Me, Maya, Ghazi (Khalidal's fiance), Shahrom, Lili, Yati and Khalidal.


That was how I spent my Sat.

On Sun, I was out from 1030am till 830pm. What did I do? I went for a yoga and body balance class at Somerset (of which I overextended my knees when I did my yoga pose. But did I stop? No..I continued with body balance, hence screwing up my knees even more. It seems ok now..cross fingers), then popped over to Dev's place to see his mom and then went for facial at Amore spa and had dinner with Maya cos she went for a scrub and massage too.

So I had a pretty good weekend. One weekend with friends, one weekend for myself..:)

Have a good week people.. Ok, try to have a good week. Mondays suck...

My phone bills, both hp and home bills are going to sky rocket this month. I shudder to think about it. I have been talking to Dev on my home phone almost everyday, except for 3 days, when we went on Skype, and we message each other on our hps everyday. Sometimes, we even talk on the hp. Our conversations are an average of half an hour each time, with some nights dragging to an hour. I've subscribed to this cheap idd line, 1521 no. but I still think my bills will be crazy. Oh well..... I'll just spend lesser. Ok, who am I kidding.

Something totally irrelevant. I bought another bag from Charles and Keith, patent tote bag, with fuschia pink velvet lining. Gorgeousness. $ 38. Cheap. I've been hiding it at work cos my mom will scream if I were to bring it home cos she said I have too many bags. I beg to differ. I have many bags, but only 1 which I use very regularly. And I have a lot of clothes so I need bags to match. Anyway, so I'm only bringing it home today, even though I bought it 2 days ago.

And I have not been gymming. I'm so lazy. The 5 weeks lapse during fasting means that my body has not readjusted to gymming regularly and I'm not disciplined. Yet. Will try to gym this Sat and Sun morning. Key word: Try.

Ok. It's a Friday. Busy weekend. You guys enjoy the weekend.

Picture from http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/p/pms_gifts.asp

I get the world's most horrible PMS. I know there are some lucky ladies out there who do not go through it at all and all I can say to them is...'I HATE YOU!' What happens to me just before I get my period?

1. I become very greedy, and eat a lot, and become bloated. I blame the 1-2 kg weight gain on water retention. What? It's water retention, really....But I feel very, very fat and unattractive.

2. I get a massive break out on my face. On good mths, maybe 2 or 3 zits. On bad months, 5 or 6. This is a bad month. Thank god for the invention of concealer.

3. My lower back hurts like crazy.

4. I get really really bad cramps. My cramps are so bad that they can render me immobile in bed. I have to eat pills for my cramps, if not I cannot function. So I have my pills in my make up bag, at home and in the office. I have to be ready so that the pills are accessible wherever I am. There was once I finished my supply of pills and didn't get new ones. I got my period while gymming, and almost passed out. That's how bad it is.

5. But worst of all, I become an emotional wreck. I'm usually a very happy, cheerful and positive person. But 1 week before my period comes, I become this horrible monster. I can cry at the slightest thing, I get irritated very easily, I snap at almost about everything, I find fault in the tiniest of things. Like this mth, I cried for 3 nights in a row for the smallest things. Poor Dev always bear the brunt of my mood swings. Yes, even now that he's in Melbourne, he still has to go through it. The cartoon above describes me very accurately when I'm pms-ing. I can be happy one moment, to angry the next and to being weepy in another. Urgh...

I'm wondering if there's any way of dealing with PMS. It sucks... I hate getting my period. Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate!

Last Fri, my division had a Hari Raya and Deepavali celebrations and myself and Shahrul, another project officer from the south zone were emcees for the event. As it was a DeepaRaya celebrations, one of us had to don the Indian costume while another the Malay costume. Initially, I agreed to wear the sari but when I saw how skimpy the coli was, I almost died. It's not the best to be exposing 3/4 of your stomach to your directors. But cos Mrs Singh, the person in charge of the whole programme was the best sari tie-r (I don't think there's such a word), she managed to tie the sari such that only a little of the side of my stomach could be seen.

I had a pretty good time. Great company, ok food (sorry, the lontong was bland), sporting people and lots of interaction. The Supts and SAPOs made ketupats, wore saris and baju kurongs and danced to Hindi music. I definitely enjoyed myself....

Me and Shahrul, emcees for the day. He has 4 kids, very productive.



Me, Shahrul, Rodney, Vishaal (he's covered) and DD Leadership (DDLD). DDLD was talking to us about the judging criteria for the activities. Nice guy. :)



My favourite Supt and the Supt I'm assisting, Mr Dawson. He wore a sari and pranced around. Hahaha...:)



The SAPOs I hang around with all the time when I'm at work. Yes, they are all guys. It's not a deliberate attempt. Without them, my life in SD will be dull. From L to R standing: Leonard, Tom, Rodney & Vishaal. Seated is obviously me and Shahrul.



Yeah!! So many events down, my time in SD is ending!!!! And hello Australia!

Finally, an update on the flamenco performance I watched last Wed. I love dancing. Especially latin dances. I have learnt the salsa twice (once after JC, once when I was in my 2nd yr in teaching), merengue and even tried a flamenco workshop with Maya once. I think the dances are so passionate, and full of emotions. I watch every single dance movies there are in the theatres and up till today, my fav ones are the ones with latin/ argentinian flavour in them: Shall We Dance, Dirty Dancing Havana Nights, to name a few.

So last Wed, I was all psyched up cos I was going to watch a Flamenco performance by Maria Pages. And my god, it was so bloody good. From start till end. There was no intermission so we were pulled into the gloriousness of the dances and music and singing without interruptions. I loved it. The dancers movements were fluid, there were touches of humour in the performance, the stomping of the foot on the ground, creating music on its own, the bright costumes and hair, the use of props (canes and fans. I never thought that was possible.) and the live music being played on the guitar.

But the show stealer was no doubt Maria Pages herself. She is an amazing flamenco dancer. She oozes sensuality, and her movements are so graceful and you can see the passion in her eyes when she dances. My favourite part of the whole performance was when she was dressed in a velvet red dress, she was alone on stage, with the spotlight just on her, with guitar and singers accompaniment, as she danced to this haunting Spanish music. It was so...surreal, and she emoted so much sadness in her movements that I was brought to tears. That was how good she was.

Below are pictures from her official website.








That's Huda, Maya, me and Nourol. We went for coffee, tea and cakes after the performance and had a good laugh over nervous and incompetent waiters, photo taking, shaky cameras and imaginary people. That was my first time meeting Huda and Nourol. I hope they didn't think I was too strange. :)



Sigh....I wish I was a flamenco dancer..... It sounds so much more exotic than.... an MOE HQ Officer.

I actually have a lot of pictures and blog entries to put up but I've been so busy in the last week that I haven't had the time. There are pictures of me in a sari, when I was emceeing for my division's hari raya and deepavali celebrations, I'm waiting for my colleague to email me the pics so that I can upload together with the entry for that one, and pictures of me and Maya, with Huda and Nourol, when we went to watch Maria Pages flamenco performance at the Esplanade. Maya, email me the pics please....

For now, let me show you what I've bought in the last few days...

1. A bag from Charles and Keith, $45. I have a discount card, so I got it for 10% less. I like it cos it's big. My current big bags are in tatters. I like big bags. Can put all my things: My wallet (which is huge), my fuschia pink umbrella, my make up bag (which contains my whole make up kit. U never know when u need make up), my keys, blotter, sun glasses. Hence the need for a big bag.

2. A dress from This Fashion, $28. Dirt cheap. I bought both items above during lunch time on Wed. I need to alter the waist (make it a little smaller), and the length ( a little shorter) before I can use it.

3. 2 pairs of shoes from Far East Plaza which I bought on Sat while out with my sis. I've been looking for close toed shoes, to wear with my black panty hose. I have issues with my toes. Close toed heels/ shoes gives me horrible blisters. But now that I've discovered Foot Glide, this anti blister stick, hello Close toed heels! Very cheap. I spent $44 for both pairs. I wanted to buy 1 pair, but cos they were so cheap, I bought both.

I spent my Sat morning teaching an ex pupil of mine who's retaking his O levels, then went down to Dev's house for his niece's 1 mth baby shower. His mom's really nice and I think she's worried about me. She has called me twice in the course of the week to make sure that I'm alright. I had to keep reassuring her that I was ok. Yeahlah, I'm a bit sad, but not like total melt down....And I've been too busy to think about it. But it was nice spending time with his mom, Krish, Raj and Nicole...:)

After that, I went down to town to meet my younger sis and we went to watch her friends perform @ Centrepoint. I was a bit mortified cos I had to hang around outside Centrepoint, which was so juvenile and teenage-y but I was impressed by her friends, these 2 kids. 1 boy, fresh from uni, and a 16 year old girl. They sang while playing the guitar and they were pretty good. A lot of potential.

I'll upload the flamenco and sari pictures soon. :)

I went to the gym yesterday, after 5 whole weeks of not working out. I went for 1 measly yoga class and I was pretty pleased with myself cos I could still do the moves, albeit with a little difficulty. I was too pleased too soon. I woke up this morning for work and I could barely feel my limbs. My arms, expecially my triceps, my thighs, my hamstrings, my shoulders and my calves ached like crazy. I can barely turn without flinching in pain. Urgh....Needless to say, I spent the whole day at work today sitting in very awkward positions. It didn't help the situation when I found out at 845am that I had a 9am meeting, which lasted till 1.30pm, after which I was stuck at my desk trying to catch up on work since I was away Fri and Mon. I think I'm going to ache for at least the next 2 days. Oh...and I didn't have lunch today too. I feel like I'm still fasting.

Vidhu and Wendy came over to my place yesterday, after I gymmed. We ate Hari Raya kuehs and talked rubbish. We haven't met for quite a while, think the last time we met was the zoo trip, so we had a lot of rubbish to catch up on. They knew that I was a little sad about Dev leaving so they came down to keep me company. We had dinner after that at Chong Pang. Thanks for coming down guys. And Wendy, for the record, sorry for snapping. Glad things are ok now. :)

I'm going for a flamenco performance at the Esplanade with Maya tomorrow. That should be good. :)

Have a good mid week!

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!!! I had such a tiring Hari Raya eve. These were the things I did at home:

1. Vacuumed the house
2. Wiped the furniture in my room
3. Vacuumed and wiped my room walls (Yes, you didn't read wrongly. I have a very anal mom. She's into cleanliness.)
4. Folded a mountain-load of clothes
5. Scrubbed the windows (with my sis. We died doing that)
6. Hung the curtains
7. Changed the bedsheets
8. Chopped vegetables for mom

It was exhausting, but we ended everything by 6pm. So this was how my house looked like at the end of the cleaning. I was very pleased with the results. Please be remembered that I'm pretty anal when it comes to cleanliness and tidiness too..:)

My room....:) I pushed my bed aside single handedly and vacuumed and scrubbed behind the bed. I'm strong. Ha!



My living room. This year, we have nice curtains and the red flowers which my mom bought from Geylang gives a nice contrast.



Hari Raya itself was spent beautifying ourselves. I had a great time wearing my new baju, putting on make up, taking heaps of pictures. So here are the pictures. You can now check out my gorgeous black and pink lace lined with champagne silk.

I like my hair here. I thought I was going to have crap hair for Hari Raya cos I didn't bother going to the hairdressers to do my hair. So I twisted my hair from 9 am till about time for us to leave the house (about 12) and lo behold, my curls were so defined. People thought I permed it. Ha! In Maya's words, babe hair... Hahahaha...



Then as we waited for my elder sis and her family to come to my place, my sis and I cam whored as always.



We forced my mom to take a picture too...



My elder sis and family came at about 1230 and of course, more pictures taken. My niece and nephew, the cutie pies.



My younger sis, my elder sis and me...



A family picture. :) I love my family. And my hair. Hahahahaha....



Unfortunately, the day had to be spoiled by Dev's departure to Melbourne. I couldn't visit my aunties in Woodlands and Bedok cos Dev had to be at the airport by 430pm. So after visiting the first house, I left for Dev's place to send him to the airport. I was suprisingly composed and only cried a little..:) And I'm actually pretty alright now. I thought I was going to be a mess when he leaves. But I'm ok. :)

I'll be going to visit him end of Jan, so that gives me about 3 and a half mths before I see him. I'll survive. Looking forward to spending some time alone, even though I'll miss him.

In the meantime, enjoy the 2nd day of Raya people! :)

It's the last day of the fasting month and tomorrow is Hari Raya. This year has been a very trying fasting year. When I was in teaching, it wasn't so bad cos I ended school by 2 plus and I would reach home by 3 plus and napped till it was time to break my fast. So the hunger's pretty much in control. Now that I'm working in an office environment, I work till 6pm, which means the hunger pangs are really bad. And cos my work place is in Redhill, I break my fast only at 730pm. So that was pretty shitty.

Uusally, I only skip about 5 days of fasting mth cos of the time of the mth, but I don't know why this year, my body's acting up, so I missed 12 days of fasting. It was so frustrating.

And I spent the whole mth trying to deal with the fact that Dev's leaving, and trying to spend as much time with him as possible before he goes in the midst of baking cookies and cleaning the house. It was pretty exhausting.

The preparations for Hari Raya this year was kept to a minimal. Aside from the baking, and making one set of kebaya (which I've not collected even though today's a Fri and Raya's tomorrow), I didn't do much else. I didn't buy new shoes, new bag, do my hair, go Geylang, shop for flowers and things for the house, things which I do every year without fail. No mood...

I'm going to spend the first part of Hari Raya at my 1st aunt's place, after which I'll rush down to the airport, kebaya and all, to send Dev off. It's going to be a pretty gloomy hari raya.

All said and done, Selamat Hari Raya Aidifitri to all and for those who read my blog, I want to minta maaf zahir dan batin( to my non Malay friends, this basically means aking for forgiveness) if I have made any boo boos or hurt your feelings accidentally (or no, sometimes, ha!). Time to eat the good food people! Enjoy the Raya!

Remember my last entry when I said that if I got through the week last week, I would be fine for the rest of the year? Well, I'm taking it back and rephrasing it to ...If I get through this week, then I'll be fine for the rest of the year.

Last week was such a crazy week. (Hence the lack of blog entry) I spent 4 days out of 5 away from the office. There was the MOE WorkPlan Seminar (1 full day), the Division Work Plan Seminar (2 full days), the branch meeting, a committee meeting.On top of all of that, I had to rush through a paper (this paper made me wake up at 445am on Thursday morning, to make sure it was given to my Supt on time) and get started on my MC script for a meeting. So for once in a long, long, long time, I had to bring back work. I abhor, detest, hate, despise bringing back work. Maybe I'm anal but my schedule is pretty fixed. When at work, I work hard. But once it's time to go off, I get rid of all work baggage and spend the night for myself. But I didn't have a choice, if I didn't finish the work, I was screwed so very very reluctantly I brought the work back. I completed all the work, but I was really exhausted through the weekend. And it didn't help that I spent my Sat baking ( I made tarts, cornflakes and peanut cookies on Sat- 10am-430pm. No joke. My back almost broke from the sitting) and my Sun cleaning out my room. So this week, I don't feel recharged like I always do cos the weekend was spent doing back numbing work.

This is going to be another long week. I'm only in the office today and the rest of the week will be spent outside for meetings. Thank God Fri's a half day but I'll have to clean the windows on Fri. Urgh....

Anywy, pictures taken over the weekend.

My niece and nephew, after baking for 6 whole hrs. Not that they helped...More of a disturbance...They were both topless cos it was so hot that day. I think it was 33 degrees or something...



Last weekend was Dev's last weekend in Singapore. So after the baking, I met him and we went for dinner at Fullerton. A little costly but they have very nice food and ambience. We had sushi, fresh seafood, cooked seafood, lobster bisque, snapper, ravioli, pasta, dessert, amongst others. I've been to many buffets but this is my favourite one.

Oyster, clams, crayfish. I love crayfish...



Dessert was fantastic too. Mango mousse, panna cotta, chocolate mousse cake, bread and butter pudding with vanilla sauce, Malay kueh, the works. I controlled myself, of course.



We dressed up a little. :)



Then after dinner, we went out to the Singapore River and took photos. Dev was reluctant but I forced him to. :)

My new dress, from Outfitters' Girl. It was on sale. It's actually a tunic, to be worn with leggings or black panty hose, but I decided to wear it as a dress. A bit short but I didn't care. :) Better wear these things now than when you are old.



Dev is leaving this Sat, Hari Raya day and I helped him to pack on Sat night. I was sad as we packed as I see his clothes, books, furniture being packed into the luggages and boxes. I'm going to miss him...

The luggages. He's bringing with him 3 luggages. Prety little for someone who's relocating to a new place altogether.


And the boxes. He has 5 huge boxes of furniture, breakables, books, etc..These are going to be shipped over.



And this is a picture of Sonia Saisha Menon. Raj's daughter. I finally managed to take a picture of her. She's 2 weeks old.



This is going to be another crappy week. Not just cos I'm swamped with work, but also cos it's Dev's last week in Singapore.He's leaving for Melbourne on Sat, 745pm......I'm going to miss him.



Have a good week everyone. It's already October. 2 mths and a bit more before I leave for my studies. I can't wait.