A Wasted Trip and a Bus Ride

Made a wasted trip to Comfort Driving Centre (CDC) this morning, tsk! When I enrolled myself as a student of the driving centre two months ago, I was given a slip of paper that says "Photo-Taking and Collection of Photo Card", and was told to get my photo card done before my first theory or practical lesson. I only remembered about this yesterday, and I will be having my first practical lesson tomorrow!

So I booked a taxi to take me to Ubi. (In this secluded dead-end corner of the world where I live, I don't normally get taxis simply by stretching out my hand. The only way is to contribute an extra $2.50 AND pray for a driver who knows how to check the street directory to get to Eden Grove.) A chatty and jovial taxi driver came. He quickly took the liberty to start a conversation (given that I'm headed to the driving centre) on driving, and went on and on about the "ethics" of driving. He insisted that, being an 'elder' to me, he has the responsibility to impart the golden rule of driving to me (drum-roll....) "holding one's temper on the roads". [Uncle, thank you very much.]

Actually he's correct, but not complete. What I find most annoying is that there are so many horrible drivers on the roads! These people shouldn't drive (or breathe)! Even as a passenger, I sometimes run the risk of tearing out the side of my leather seat, or experiencing the fall of my heart 2 inches into my ribs because of bad experiences on the roads. The ones I cannot tahan most are:

Type A : Drivers with cars that do not come with signal levers, usually makes of 2000cc and above and/or SUVs, MPVs and/or cars bearing such brands as Mercedes, BMW, Porsche etc.

Type B: Drivers who are unaware that their cars cannot out-run others, and yet refuse to give way and move off to a lane more fitting of the maximum speed of their cars when floored, such as Getz, QQ, Perodua or other brands I don't normally take notice of.

Type C: Kayu drivers who are oblivious to the hazard they are posing by looking left and right at their, maybe missed turning, while driving in the middle of 2 lanes at 30km/h, and making no notice even after you send them 2 flashes of "hello please wake up high-beams" from behind.

Which type are you?? The Type As make me very nervous on the road as they can suddenly swerve in front of you even when you are travelling at high speed, without pre-signaling, of course. It absolutely irritates me! Because I have a metal cross hanging just below my rear mirror, I have to refrain myself from any 'elevated emotions', but just try to breathe normally through flared nostrils. According to the taxi uncle, people are leading stressful lives now, their minds are on other things, they are always in a hurry, finding opportunities to cut time in everything etc. Yup, so maybe cutting themselves discourteously in front of others can indeed save them valuable time indeed. Unfortunately, I have to overcome this fear of meeting such drivers on the roads if I were to drive.

Anyway, back to the CDC, lo and behold! The wonderful card printing machine at CDC was not working, so no photo card for me. The best part was that the CDC staff told me actually the photo card is not necessary - I will be able to book lessons or identify myself as a CDC student with my lesson booklet! Super TSK right??

After this waste-my-time trip, I carried out my plan for an adventure of "bus-taking". I had done research on what bus to take from which bus stop before hand. So this morning I took the longest bus ride I've taken in Singapore in 5 years... all the way from Ubi Ave 4 to Bishan! Hee heee..... See, the spoilt-brat me usually only go where MRT can take me, or driven by my loyal chauffeur-hubby, or by taxis. (Confession: I think taking buses are a wee-bit too unglam for me. Sorry, I so atas!) Hey, major achievement ok!!

Pineapple Up-Side Down Cake

Thursdays are good baking days, coz my hubby hosts his cell group meetings at our home. I can have a bunch a guys to eat up whatever I bake (provided the end-result is edible lah). See, I can't possibly finish up whatever I bake by myself in a few days, while they're fresh.

This is by far the most complicated cake I've baked! Have to melt butter and brown sugar, arrange the pineapple slices, beat the separated egg yolks with lemon rind, beat the egg whites separately, fold in this and that, blar blar. But I must say the cake mixture turned up very nice and spongy. However, maybe because I have used rather expensive large cholesterol-free eggs, the cake tastes very very 'eggy'. I thought the recipe calls for too much brown sugar because it's a tad too sweet. Will improvise the next time round. Oh dear, not sure if the guys will like it that sweet. But anyway, these good guys will never complain. It's the fellowship they share after the meeting that's the best supper for the day. : )

Do Something Useful!

A deafening thunder startled me! I thought it must be someone 'upstairs' warning me to stop playing the silly computer game and do something more worthwhile. Uh, no, it's not one of those PS3 kind of games, but a very primitive tetris where you stack three or more of the falling bricks to clear the tiles etc. I'm absolutely addicted to it! I have always loved super tetris (actually I used to be quite good at it) as it gives you a sense of satisfaction breaking your own hi-score over and over again. Hee hee... so bo liao right?


My plan made this morning is to finish studying the book of James - as the DVD by Pastor Rick Warren which discusses the book has been lying on my TV console for a week. And then I shall continue to read Mark's Gospel and try to go through the guidebook which KY lent me by this week. Thanks gal, it's good! : )





I had been quiet for sometime coz I was eager to finish a book ("The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley). It's 876 pages and 4.5cm thick, and by far the longest novel I've read! It's a legend of King Arthur told through the eyes of his 'sorceress' sister, who was a priestess that worshiped the pagan Goddess before the gospel came to their land, and through Arthur's queen, a Christian, who struggled to turn the king's court to Christianity and later struggled with her own faith. The story is beautifully written and very magical, but the language is so tough it's not a book which is that easy to read as Harry Potter! Anyway I'm glad I can finally emerge from the 'mists' - very satisfying reading indeed! Now can move on to my other 20 books waiting for me on the shelf...... Oops, can anyone see my Advanced Theory of Driving book in the background? *Grumble*. My test date is booked for November but I have not started revision yet. Am not very enthusiastic about driving because I do have a real fear of it. Will write about it next time after my first practical lesson, end of the month.

Bangkok Holiday Good and Bad

Just came back last night from a short holiday with hubby in Bangkok. It's not that interesting to visit Bangkok anymore because we've been there umpteen times. Well, actually we just wanted to redeem our Kris miles as they expire at quite an alarming rate of hundreds-of-points every month. As there's no where else on earth we would like to visit at this time (plus hubby's busy with work, can't get away for too long), Bangkok seems a cheap choice. So off we went on Raffles Class (yes, nice to have someone to lay the table for your meals and greet you by your last name!) for a rare experience.

It's even nicer to have free 2-nights stay at The Ascott Bangkok Sathorn, courtesy of hubby's employer, which dishes out free nights stay in apartments under the Ascott Group within a fixed budget per year as part of their staff benefits. He's quite blessed indeed to be working for, in my opinion, the best property developer in Singapore. Wish my employer would do they same. Oh, I think my organisation will try to provide better staff benefits in months to come to arrest the high turnover rate (or boost our happiness-index). Already upon my return from Bangkok I received a letter in the mail regarding the recent salary adjustment exercise. Praise God, it's a good start! : )

Travelling has become quite unpleasant post 911. I recall in the past, they used to fuss about whether or not we carry sharp objects on board (oh no, where am I going to put my eyebrow tweezers now!), and for a while serve us meals with flimsy plastic cutlery?? Now it's the liquids and its getting ever more inconvenient. I mean, I can't bring more than 100ml of my shampoo and favorite shower gel when I travel? Am I expected to buy these toiletries at my destination? I had to pack my bottles in a miserable small plastic zip-log (one per passenger only, mind you), which was bursting at the seams with my stuff - facial cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, body lotion, perfume - nothing that's not necessary! And so without exceptions, every luggage had to be ransacked at security checkpoint, and this was not even done in courteous fashion. Sigh! Yes, I appreciate the need to do this, and I can't help but feel annoyed.

Anyway, the best thing that happened this trip was to have found a good tailor for my hubby's work-shirts and I wish to recommend it to anyone looking for a tailor. We chanced upon Baron's Fashions (105-107 Sukhumvit Road) and hubby made 8 shirts. They are reasonably priced: Baht850 for 100% cotton, Baht700 for other fabrics, service was good too. The shirts turned up in excellent workmanship, and were delivered to our apartment in 24 hours (ahead of estimated time)! I guess I was extremely pleased and relieved because we had a horrible experience with a tailor during our last trip. Not only did the dishonest tailor not deliver our garments on time, they delivered part of the orders minutes before we got on the plane, and the remaining came via DHL after 2 weeks after some chasing. On top of that, I got cheated of US$300 for 2 badly cut suits which I threw away, in tears, once I came home. So if any of you guys want a good tailor, go to Baron's! If you have other good tailors in Bangkok to recommend, please share them on my blog!

Coconut Macaroons

I tried making Coconut Macaroons this afternoon. The day after I bought the new recipe book from Borders, I headed straight to the supermarket to gather the ingredients. This was even before I stopped work 2 weeks ago! I had wanted to 'conquer' the recipe book cover-to-cover, and strive to achieve the same output as those photographed in the book. Coconut Macaroons appear to be the easiest to make, as the ingredient as simple - condense milk, dessicated coconut, a little flour - and I don't even need to set up my cake-mixer.

I immediately regretted coz it's so messy to work the recipe. As I was scooping the mixture onto the baking tray, dessicated coconut scattered all over the place! And I got cheated by the instructions. It says I should leave them in the 180 degree C oven for 20 mins, but 10 minutes into the oven, and my macaroons were about to chow-da! Plus, there is nothing macaroonish about my Coconut Macaroons. They taste crispy and dry, like those coconut biscuits we buy from JB whenever we cross the border.

Mission failed - not nice!!! :`(

Menu for Today...but...What are they Eating?

Since I'm lazing at home while hubby is busy at work, I've got to be the dutiful wife and cook a warm dinner for him when he returns right? A friend suggested I prepare a scrumptious lobster meal for hubby, but sorry lah, I only know how to cook simple zhe-cha dishes, with little fussy-garnishes, so that everything on the plates can be licked clean.

Unfortunately, half a packet of the caixin I bought on Saturday has turned yellow (aiyoh, my fridge must be too cold/dry). As I was plucking away the withered leaves, I suddenly thought of what I read on a World Vision webpage. There are many people starving around the world, and a pot of withered vegetables would no doubt make the most nutritious meal in years and years. No, I'm not normally a philanthropist and have taken little interest in the past in uncontrolled population growth, diseases, starving and dying children etc. But I came across an article in the Oct 2007 issue of Her World magazine titled "The Border Between Hope & Despair" which featured the harsh lives of people in very poor and remote villages, and how World Vision helped to lift the villagers out of poverty through child-sponsorship programs or setting up micro-enterprises to make a living.

Out of interest I checked out the website. My attention was immediately drawn to the picture of a small skeletal boy with the caption 'To keep me and my siblings alive, this is what my parents feed us...'. I clicked on the link to find out more and was startled by what I saw :- rotten cassava cooked with dead rats, in a filthy battered pot! [I can't produce the photo here, check out this link for a look: http://www.worldvision.org.sg/st_emergency.php] My heart immediately went out to those who have to live without proper food! Anyway, the website got my interest and I read on about child-sponsorship. For a mere $45 a month, the sponsored child and his/her family could receive food and water, healthcare and sanitation, education and income generation participation etc.

In fact for the last 2 days I had been thinking about this on and off. It's after all a long-drawn 'relationship' with the child because sponsorship usually lasts between 10 -15 years. Would I be able to sustain this commitment? In future, should I decide to be a stay-home mom, would I have the money to continue with the sponsorship, or be bothered with other people's children if I have my own?? On balance, $45 a month is a well affordable sum for me, so money should not be a problem. What's holding me back is the long-term commitment and accountability for the well-being of the child through the sponsorship. I just shared the website with my hubby and while he was quick to agree to sponsorship, we both decided to mull over the idea for a while lest we make a hasty decision. It's for a good cause, certainly, as quoted in the website, "Luke 9:48 Whoever welcomes this little child in my name, welcomes me"......