Vandal?

It was around 11:40pm, just before the New Year Countdown..

I was in the living room, watching a very boring telecast of the New Year celebrations party at the Marina when I heard a noise outside my door. It sounded like someone was trying to open my metal grille. I could hear someone trying to put a key in the door and fumbling, as if he or she was drunk. I was scared and I didn't dare to peep to see who it was. Wild thoughts ran through my head .. was it my landlord? Maybe Kek was back early from France? Maybe it was my idiot ex-housemate, Gilbert? Or one of his many his spurned lovers? Maybe it was that psychotic neighbour of mine?? Help!!

The noise at my door stopped. It moved to the rubbish chute and then, it was gone. I waited ten minutes before I dared to go to the door. I peeped out but saw nothing. I stepped out into the corridor. A neighbour was peering around his door and saw me - I guess he must have heard the commotion too. That's when I saw my right-side neighbour's lovely purple orchids all over the floor! She had hung it near the rubbish chute to get the best light, I suppose. Or maybe it was her idea to brighten up that area with a pretty plant.

I was out in the corridor that evening, trying to take some night photos of the expressway and the evening sky. I'd seen the plant and thought of taking some pictures but I decided the light wasn't too good. It would look better in the day. Next time, I said.

Now all I got, are pretty flowers scattered all over the floor ...

My Last Buys Of 2008

I just had to buy something before the year comes to an end. I ended up with ...

* My favourite bubble-tea drink - Oreo Chocolate
* 2 Chinese New Year cards (for 2 lucky friends)
* A "pineapple with gold coins" good luck charm (to hang outside my front door)
* A bottle of Colgate Plax mouthwash in Freshmint (it was on sale!!)
* A can of Nivea deodorant (I need to smell good for the new year!)
* The last newspaper of the year!
* The first magazine of 2009 - 8Days dated 01Jan2009
* I spent a total of S$27.63 - a lucky 4D number, perhaps?? *

I also had my last meal of the year - an all-time favourite - Malaysian style curry beehoon with chicken. Yummy!

47.5

I never thought that I would ever get my weight back down to 47.5kg.

Over the last two years, I put on 4kg?? My weight crept up on me, slowly but surely, from 47kg to 48kg to 49kg. And then I hit the magic 50. I kept telling myself that once I hit 50kg, I would curb my eating and start doing something, exercising if need be. Last resort, of course. But easier said than done. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, not to mention the tummy! I love food! I live to eat! Being in Singapore, it's hard to stay away from food. There is food everywhere! On every corner, every street, at any time of the day or night! My favourite foods - chicken rice, char kway teow, noodles, carbs. My uniform was straining at the seams to hold me in. I think I hit my heaviest at 52.

Then about a month ago, I started to lose my appetite. I could get by with just a meal a day. There were times when I didn't even eat anything for 24hours. I was just not hungry. I also wasn't sleeping well. Was it stress? Or was it because I was missing my makan-kaki, E? The weight started to drop. My cheekbones were a little bit more pronounced. My double chin was now a "half double"? I looked better in pictures. But my buddha-belly was still the same :( Round and wobbly.

Unfortunately, my appetite is back now and so is my weight. I'm hovering between 48 and 49. But I'm glad I managed to see 47.5 on my scales before the year ended. I feel a little better about myself.

So here's to 2009 and a new resolution : To keep my weight under the magic number 50!

Mr Krishna

Mr Krishna was calling ..

I had barely opened my eyes and switched on the lights when the phone rang ..

(Veering off course a little here ..) In this really cool room, I have this really fancy remote thing-y that switches off the lights or dims it to your liking... Cool! Usually the good hotel rooms have light switches near your bed which can switch off certain lights or a master switch that turns off all the lights which is great. Unless you're in the US / San Francisco to be exact.. you have to go to every single switch / light to turn it off... Walk to the passage, switch light off. Walk to the toilet, switch light off. Walk to the desk, switch light off. Walk to the standing light, switch light off. Walk to bed (finally!!), switch off bedside lamp. Phew! What a stupid system, right? And to think that you have to do the reverse when you wake up!! So usually, I just fall asleep with all the lights on! Haha!

Anyway, the phone rang and the caller ID read "Mr Krishna". I didn't know a Mr Krishna. I was in Dubai and I was a little apprehensive in picking up unknown numbers. But it could have been a wrong number and we were staying at the Angsana so certainly no riff-raff here! I picked up and it turned out to be my colleague. I know him as Viviek. He wasn't feeling so good so he wasn't coming back with us. Poor guy - he'll be celebrating his New Year here in Dubai all alone instead of at home with friends and family.

So Mr Krishna, Happy New Year and get well soon! Hare Hare :o)

Best Before??

Look at the date!!

I was going through my pantry to stock up my noodle-bag for my upcoming trip to Dubai when I came across this packet of noodles. It was 13 months too late.

This shows you how bad I am when it comes to shopping. I can go to NTUC, buy my groceries and stick them in the fridge / pantry and totally forget about them till it's too late. I buy oranges because I felt like having some or a carton of milk because I know that I should be getting some calcium. I usually end up with prune-ny looking oranges and tofu-like milk. Sometimes, I'm just plain greedy. I hardly get to go to Tokyo so when I do, I buy lots of fruity jelly-cups because they are so yummy. And who knows when my next trip will be, right? So I stock up... just in case. I end up throwing them away because I can't finish them in time.

That day, I went through my pantry and threw away packets and packets of expired noodles and drinks.

Now, what if they DIDN'T have a Best Before date??

Mini-Bar Mystery

This was my mini-bar in Istanbul.

A mini-bar doesn't usually get that cold, much less freeze a whole bottle of Coke. The rest of the drinks inside the fridge were at the right temperature. So how did one single bottle get frozen solid while the rest remain chilled?

I had to call Housekeeping to clean up the mess. The guy wasn't too happy. I don't know if it was because he had to handle broken glass or he just looks like that all the time?

Who knew that Coke Light would be that explosive?

Aftermath!

This was my bedroom floor after I finished wrapping some Christmas presents! All this for only ONE person's pressie!!