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Feeling peckish? My dessert for the day…:

*burp*

Hehe…P was so nice to do a writeup of my car! Read it here. I wouldn’t have been able to write such a detailed one…for me, if it looks nice and it feels good while I’m driving it…I’m a happy cat. =)

I thought I’d better sit myself down to write this post, else I’ll forget everything that I’ve done there!

Hubby and I left for Singapore on 24th July 2005, him for a 3 day conference, while yours truly was just tagging along for fun. Since he already has a room booked by the company, all I had to pay for was the plane fare…*claps hand with glee!!*. Cheap trip!

Day 1

We arrived on a hot sticky Sunday afternoon after a quick 45 minute plane ride from KLIA. Getting a cab was a breeze, and we were soon on our way to the Pan Pacific at Marina Square. As we travelled down the wide and clean highway, I was feeling very happy and excited…after all, I’ve started my sabbatical, I’m in Singapore and there’s shopping to be done! Soon after the familiar sight of Centennial and Millenia Towers came into view, the cab pulled up at Pan Pacific’s main entrance and we hastened to the check in counter. I was pleasantly surprised by the hotel as I didn’t expect it to be so nicely decked out. In fact, I was bemoaning the fact that hubby’s conference wasn’t held in Conrad as I had stayed there the last time I came for a course and I totally loved the room (and the yellow rubber ducky in the bathroom!). Well well, turns out I had nothing to complain about. The room was nice and spacious with a king-sized bed and the bathroom turned out to be just as nice, just lacking a rubber ducky…*grin*. As soon as I finished unpacking all the toiletries, etc., we took a cab out to Funan IT Centre to check out the price of the Apple iBook. Hubby got abit sidetracked and ended up surveying the price for the latest boy-toy. Ok, sorry, cool-man-gadget. Yup, the PSP (Playstation Portable). The console and games were cheaper than the ones in Malaysia…could see that he was pretty tempted!

By the time we left Funan, the slight drizzle had stopped, and the weather was cool and balmy. We took the MRT to Wisma Atria, and headed to the adjoining Takashimaya shopping centre to meet up with J and her boyfriend K. J took us to a dim sum shop in Taka that serves really nice siu loong pau (it’s meat wrapped in wantan skin - probably - and when steamed, the flavourful ‘juice’ that drips out from the meat gets caught in the wrapping as well). Hubby was pretty hungry, so he ordered a bowl of Szechuan soup as well,which turned out to be extremely spicy! Sweat…sweat…

After dinner, we went back to J’s sister’s place to take a look at her (J’s sister) Miniature Schnauzer…oh darn. I forgot his name!! He’s really cute, even though he did pee on my feet when he saw me! After a quick peek at J’s room (which contained piles and piles of clothes..hehe…), we headed back to Orchard Road for some Muddy Mud Pie at Coffee Club. Even though it was a Sunday night, the place was packed with hungry people! Orchard Road was beautifully lighted up, and again, the weather remained pretty cool after the earlier rain so we got a table outdoors underneath the mist-fan. Hubby was happily digging in his Mud Pie while I settled for a strawberry shortcake-like cake and garlic bread. J recommended the ice lychee, which turned out to be heavenly. Ice cold and not too sweet. The garlic bread was good too as it was nicely buttered and the garlicky taste was pretty strong (well, hubby ate some too, so we wouldn’t have noticed our bad breath later…hehe….).

Day 2

After hubby headed off for his conference, I lazed about abit before taking a shower, changing and heading off to Wisma Atria. Unfortunately, the nearest MRT station at City Hall was quite a long walk away…I had to go through Suntec and the City Link mall before reaching the station. It was still quite early, so most of the shops weren’t opened yet. Upon reaching Wisma Atria, I headed to one of the shops that had caught my eye on Sunday, Fond Hugs. And was I glad I did! Fond Hugs had lots and lots of simple tops and pretty sundresses in my favourite colours: white and pink. I think I must’ve spent almost an hour trying on one dress after another. The salesperson was really helpful, bringing me armful after armful of tops for me to try. I ended up leaving with 2 white tops, 1 dress and 1 pair of pants. And SGD300 poorer.

I wandered into another shop and to my delight, I found another two dressed…a pink paisley one with really delicate straps, and a white one that had torquoise detailing around the bodice and the hem of the skirt. I tried and paid for them without a moment’s hesitation!

Feeling quite pleased with myself, I wandered around Taka for some time and ended up in the lingerie section. Now, my so-called lingerie collection has been sadly neglected for quite some time. I just never found the time, nor the interest, to search for new bras (though I found really nice low back undies from Truimph some time back…ended up buying 10!). But I was in such a good shopping-mood that I decided to try some. The first few ones I tried didn’t fit too well and I was feeling quite disappointed when I walked into the Pierre Cardin section. Rows and rows of pastel colored bras! The saleslady was really helpful, suggesting the ones that could fit my small frame (and breasts!). And she was right…when I tried them on, they were a perfect fit. I ended up buying enough to fill my lingerie drawer for the next year or so. Put it this way, I’m making up for lost time! And hubby will…well, nevermind that.

As my shopping bags were getting heavier, I decided that I’ve had enough for the day. Oh..maybe a quick trip to Wheelock Place to see the Apple Centre…hehe…=) To my disappointment, the so-called ‘centre’ was one measly small shop. I just browsed around and left within 5 minutes. By then, I was getting quite hungry, so I decided to try the Japanese sushi shop right around the corner: Sakae Sushi (which incidentally have opened a branch in KL at The Curve). As I actually hate eating alone, I was already well prepared with a magazine to flip through while waiting for the food. The hand rolls that I ordered - California Hand-Roll and the Ebi Tempura (fried prawn) Hand-Roll - arrived quickly and I polished them off just as fast. Hungry-lah.

By the time I left Wheelock Place, it had started to drizzle. I just only made it inside the MRT station before it started pouring. The ride back was uneventful, and I had to trudge through City Link mall again. It really is a long walk…even more so when you are carrying a couple of shopping bags and your feet has started aching. There wasn’t much to see there, though I did go in one or two shops…one selling purses made of Japanese kimono-like fabric, another 2 selling paper products.

By the time I came out of the City Link mall, it was pouring cats and dogs. I got thoroughly wet walking through the overhead bridge linking the City Link to Suntec City. Shivering all the way through Suntec City, I finally reached the hotel via the exhibition centre. Well, no rest for my weary feet as I had promised hubby that I’ll go buy cinema tickets to watch The Island tonight. I changed from my high heels to my comfy black slippers, and off I went again…this time to Marina Square shopping centre.

And how it has changed! The old Marina Square always reminded me of Sg Wang, minus the loads of people. The new Marina Square is sparkling clean and spacious! After a few wrong turns, I finally found GSC hidden in one corner of (probably) the old wing and managed to buy the tickets for a 9.30pm show. On the way back, I stopped by at Jollibean to ta-pau some red-bean and peanut rolls and two cups of soya bean (one for hubby, of course!).

Back at the hotel room, I got snap-happy and starting taking photos of my loot for the day. I managed to take a quick nap before hubby got back from his conference -needed to recharge as we were going back to Funan to buy my laptop!

Hubby was back by 6pm, and we quickly rushed off to Funan. I was feeling really excited…but after visiting a few shops, my happiness waned…why? 3 dreaded words…out of stock! How could this be?!? How could they be out of stock? Argh! And the ones that did have the iBook in stock were charging a higher price. Well, it still turned out to be my lucky day cause the last shop we decided to go into had the iBook. But at a higher price as we decided to pay by credit card. I was quite disappointed and I told hubby that I didn’t want to get it. As we were stepping out of the store, the sales guy made a last minute attempt and asked: “If I give it to you at the price you want, will you buy it now?” Of course, you silly silly man! And that’s how I got my iBook! =))

As for hubby’s PSP, he had already decided to buy it since Sunday night, so we went back to the shop we visited yesterday, and after abit of bargaining, he walked out as a proud owner of a spanking new PSP and four games (one for me!).

By the time we got back to Pan Pac, we had just enough time to rush out to grab a bite to eat before heading to GSC for the show. Unlike KL cinemas, this cinema was quite empty…so we didn’t have to fight for elbow space…hehe. I found The Island to be quite an interesting show. The story started out showing the residents in this big huge white complex, where each resident has his or her life pretty much mapped out by the administrator of the complex, where close interaction between the opposite sex is forbidden. Every week (if I remember correctly), there’ll be a lottery draw where the winner gets his chance at freedom and is shipped off to the Island, the last remaining so-called sanctuary that is free from contamination. Of course, there has to be some deep dark secret and it’s up to the hero (Ewan McGregor) and heroine (Scarlett Johansson) to expose it. Although the starting of the show was a tad bit slow, the action quickly picked up somewhere around the middle and the show ended with…well, go watch it yourself. No offense to Scarlett Johansson fans, but I personally felt that she was merely eye candy in this job…and what’s with the bees-stung lips and super-snug t-shirts? She looked like a mini-Pammie. I prefered her in Lost In Translation, where she had a really luminous glow and a little-girl-lost look about her.

We followed the crowd out of the cinema after the show, and found ourselves behind Marina Square shopping centre. We didn’t fancy a midnight stroll, so we tried to find a way back into the shopping centre to get back to the hotel (there’s an adjoining door between the hotel and the shopping centre). Well, we got back in all right. And we were stuck in the shopping centre for a good half hour because ALL. THE. FREAKING. DOORS. WERE. LOCKED. We must’ve walked the whole shopping center end to end, only to find every door firmly shut. Just as I was starting to feel claustrophobic, we managed to get out through a side door into the garbage area (ewww…), and I heaved a sigh of relief to see our hotel right across the road. What a night!

Day 3
After the excitement from yesterday’s shopping, I slept like a baby and only got out of bed at 11am. I met up with J for lunch at Plaza Singapura where she took me to try out the Teriyaki Chicken Burger at…ok. I forgot the shop name as well. Note to self: Time to start using that Moleskin notebook. We had a good chat, after which she headed back to work and I ended up wandering around Orchard Road. Hubby and I went back to Funan again after his conference where he ended up buying a Logitech casing for his PSP, and I bought an Apple mouse for my laptop.

Dinner was at Tony Romas @ Suntec City with J. Hubby happily tucked into his pork ribs while I was busy updating J about the latest gossip at Citi. We managed to take some really silly shots with my camera, hubby spilled his drink, we won a mini Wheel of Fortune…it was a good, fun night. J looked really happy and contented, and I was sad to say goodbye. Happily, she’ll be down in KL in September…so I’ll be seeing her in 2 weeks time! =))

Day 4

Our last day in Singapore. Again, I lazed about in the hotel room till about 1pm. I played with my iBook, had some fun playing with the PSP (it really is a thing of beauty…one gorgeous toy, that!), packed the clothes and toiletries, etc. After checking out and leaving our bags with the bellhop, I went off to Suntec City to while away the time before our flight (hubby’s conference only ended at 5pm!). Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to see in Suntec City with exception for another branch of Fond Hugs. I managed to spend almost an hour there, trying on more clothes, and ended up buying another 3 dresses (one of which is a gorgous white and blue halterneck dress that can be converted to cross-back or conventional spaghetti strap!), 1 top and 1 skirt! I also managed to find a teeny tiny coin pouch for hubby (he lost his about a month back)…happy happy joy joy…=)

Unfortunately, I must’ve ate something rather nasty for lunch, cause my last day was plagued with frequent stomach aches. Ugh. Well, looking at the bright side, Singapore washrooms are nice and clean!

By 4pm, I was totally exhausted from the walking and the tummy cramps, so I headed back to the Pan Pac lobby to wait for hubby. Luckily, his conference ended right on time, and we were soon on our way to Changi Airport.

The journey back to M’sia was uneventful with exception of the horrible cab we got on the way back from KLIA to our apartment. Of all the bad luck…we got the oldest cab in the queue, and it rattled all the way back along the highway. And the stupid idiotic driver…goodness knows what he was doing…he kept on letting go of the steering wheel along the highway…my god. I wanted to smack him so damn hard. Bloody idiot.

Back home, we unpacked our stuff and went out for a quick supper at the nearby mamak stall. Full and happy, we came home to continue unpacking and also managed to catch a 3 hour marathon session of CSI Las Vegas and CSI New York. Now, that (plus the fact that hubby was on leave for the next two days) was a perfect ending to the trip…heheh…=)

Epilogue
This was one of the best Singapore trips ever. I felt that Singapore is very much more Westernized, in a way, and I feel like I’m ‘one of them’, ie. I can picture myself among the sea of Chinese faces. I tried envisioning staying and working in Singapore and y’know what? I quite like that idea. Please don’t get me wrong. I like my home in Malaysia. But…I really dislike the segregation between Muslim, Chinese and Malay. We are all Malaysians, shouldn’t that be our identity as well as our nationality? I dislike the quota system, and the idea of bringing back NEP just makes me want to leave Malaysia. Maybe the grass always seems greener on the other side of the pasture. I admit that I might not have the full picture of what it’s like living in Singapore, but let me tell you this…at this point in time, it’s tempting. And if I do have the chance, and if hubby is willing to relocate as well, I would go without a moment’s hesitation. Even my parents encourage me to go somewhere else and start a new life instead of staying in Malaysia and getting sidelined due to my race. It’s sad, actually. To be Malaysian, yet not be truly Malaysian. And it’s sad when you read articles condemning the taxi drivers and toilets in Malaysia, yet you have to nod your head and agree.

As for that tummy bug that I caught on the last day in Singapore…I think it stayed in me for almost 2-3 weeks. I had bad bad bouts of stomach ache every other day till the point where I didn’t dare to eat outside. In total, I think I lost almost 2kg and with it, my appetite as well. Luckily, my internal resistance seem to have fought back, and I’m happily back to normal again…=)

Lovely lovely Sunday!

I joined WS, M, P, B & WL for breakfast at Delicious @ Bangsar Village this morning. And delicious it was. B and I ordered the French Toast with Grilled Bananas and Beef Bacon, M had scrambled (organic) eggs with beef bacon and sauteed mushrooms, while the other 3 guys went for the Big Breakfast which consisted of 2 eggs (scrambled/poached or …can’t remember the last choice), beef bacon or sausages, cherry tomatoes, toast, sauteed mushrooms, coffee and orange juice. And if you thought that’s quite alot, these guys obviously didn’t as they ordered extras on top of the platter…hash browns, baked beans, etc.

The french toast came first, together with a small cup of maple syrup. The grilled bananas looked so yummy…and it really tasted as good as it looked. It had that sweet melt-in-your-mouth texture that went perfectly well with the crumbly french toast. The maple syrup added just the right touch without making the whole meal coyingly sweet…very nice indeed! The guys’ Big Breakfast ended up not looking that big, though the variety of the food was mind-boggling, ie…hmmm…which one should I stuff in my mouth first? I stole abit of WS’s mushrooms, and it tasted really nice, with a strong garlicky taste that is a must (at least for me) for sauteed mushrooms. The cherry tomatoes were nice and ripe, and the coffee (which came with two small pieces of biscotti), smelt heavenly, even to a non-coffee drinker. I really must bring hubby there one day (hubby was in Pangkor the past 3 days for a company team building trip). Add good company and conversation (explanations of long white vs. short black coffee (or was it the other way round?!?), car conversations, a job search for system administrators and a debate on potatoes growing on trees) and there you have it…a perfect brekkie on a Sunday morning.

M and I headed up to OPI for a mani-pedi after breakfast. M chose a nice light pinkish color for her fingernails, and a darker one for her toes, while I choose apple green for my toes (no fingernails to speak off!). We spent almost 2 hours there (poor guys!), and by the time we left, our butts were numb, but we had nice buffed nails to show off. Unfortunately, my Incredible Hulk colored toenails got compared to P’s…urmm…slightly sickly one (see pic below, see related post on P’s site). Not a very flattering comparison….*pout*

We left Bangsar Village and adjourned back at my place. M & P spent some time getting acquinted with Moshi and Moro, while WS spent the same amount of time torturing them. And thanks again, M, for the basket thingy for Moshi and Moro (what is it called?!?)! After getting the bunnies thoroughly tired (Moro was leaving a poop trail around the floor!!), P spent some time happily snapping away with my SLR, while WS fiddled around with my Mac. At the same time, M was debating whether to buy the SLR that she was eyeing at: the Nikon D50. Hmm…think think think…

So off to Midvalley we went to check out the price!

P drove us there in my Jazz and lucky us…we managed to get the guard to open one of the entrances while the rest of the cars got stuck in the jam further up front….*evil laugh*. Of course, it might have something to do with the truck that was behind us that was heading to the loading bay and had to go through the same entrance…*grin*

After comparing the prices at 3 shops, M decided to buy from the 2nd shop we went to. She got a really good deal too! In addition to the Nikon D50 + lens, the guy threw in a tripod, 512Mb memory card, bag, extra battery and a LCD screen protector…M looked like one satisfied woman walking out of that store…=) And I swear the guy at the store was flirting with her! Perhaps that explains the good deal she got…*laugh*.

About an hour after the 3 of them headed off, I went to pick hubby up from the LRT station. He looked abit more tanned, but tired. Poor guy. We went off to 1 Utama for a quick dinner and a not-so-quick visit to MPH where I picked up Yvonne Lee’s new book: The Sky Must Be Crazy (she’s my music teacher’s spouse…mother of two adorable kids, very capable and a very good writer). Incidentally, she’ll be at MPH 1 Utama on 31st August 2005, 3pm, so if you are free, do go and take a look. After that, it was back to home sweet home for a good rest (yeah…some people have to work tomorrow…muahahaha…).

And right now, I’m having hubby’s Macadamia Brittle Haagen Daz ice-cream for dessert.

Told you it was a good day! =)

I was surfing around and stumbled on this link on the Project Petaling Street page: Mooncups in Asia.

Hmmm…I was intrigued. In I went.

I swear my jaw dropped.

I never knew such things existed! So I clicked on one of the links to one of the company’s website to find out more, and it led me to their Q&A section. All the questions had reassuring answers…except the following (not a word by word excerpt, yah…):

Q: “Will it get stuck?”
A: “Yadda yadda yadda, don’t panic, can be taken out, etc. BUT if it does ride up too high to reach, please call our toll free customer service line as our experienced staff can help.”

I was rolling on the floor with laughter. Yes, I can just imagine the following conversation:

Customer: “Hi, I’m facing a small problem, was wondering if you could help?”
Staff: “May I know what’s the problem?”
Customer: “Well, my cup is…stuck.”
Staff: “Oh, not a problem. Have you tried Method 1/2/3/etc…?”
Customer: “Yes yes…I’ve tried everything and it’s still stuck!!”
Staff: “In that case, please be patient. We will dispatch one of our staff to assist in the removal as soon as possible.”

Right. I can just imagine that happening. How in the world are they going to assist you in getting it out? I for one ain’t…err…baring it all even though desperate times may call for desperate measures! *grin*

Anyways, here’s an description written by the author about the product and her experience (yes, this is a word by word excerpt):

I’m a Malaysian chinese girl in my mid-20s. I’m not a pagan, a feminist, an Greenpeace groupie or a quack selling gag-joke products (in fact, this is the first time I have ever sold anything commercially). I care about both the environment and my body because I have to live with both for the next 50 years. I’m a normal woman - just like you or your girlfriend, wife or sister.

I recently discovered menstrual cups while surfing on the net - reference the very good Museum of Menstruation website.

The first web forum that I discovered was based in the U.S. and discussed the merits of the Keeper / Divacup - cups made out of natural gum latex and medical grade silicone respectively.

I was apprehensive at first - after all, I cannot even stand tiny tampons, let alone this seemingly huge rubber thing! However, as I have always tried to be environmentally conscious, I ordered one from the States. I’ve never looked back since.

Using it was a cinch from the get go - probably because I had read so many other women’s experiences so I knew exactly what to avoid and what would make the whole process easier.

I subsequently found out about the mooncup, which is the same as the Keeper, only made of medical grade silicone. Personally, I preferred the shape of the Keeper to the Divacup - the Diva looked larger and longer for one thing! So I ordered a mooncup.

I feel liberated by my Mooncup! I no longer need to worry about carrying around disposable products or how to “get rid of the evidence” if I am moving around a lot (my office is predominantly male and there’s no sanitary disposal bin). I no longer have to feel umcomfortable stickiness or worry that I need to change my pad in case it leaks or starts to smell (disposable pads, on their own have an inherent unpleasant smell, which is exacerbated by moisture). I no longer have to worry about how much I am spending on disposable products.

Wanting to spread the word around (After all, if I did not know about it, no-one else will), I’ve arranged a distributorship with www.mooncup.co.uk in the UK, and will be receiving the first shipment to Malaysia soon. I don’t expect to make a profit from selling these cups, my primary aim is to spread their use, and concurrently decrease the use of disposables.

It’s in everyone’s best interests to spread the word on menstrual cups - in terms of Women’s health generally and also in terms of slowing the impact of non-biodegradeable disposable products on our landfills.

No-one wants to go swimming on the beach with their grandchildren 30 years from now only to be confronted by floating discarded disposable products used when they were younger.

Well, while the concept of it sounds pretty darn good and there are some pretty good testimonials from the original distributor’s website, I still don’t know if it’s something I personally would try. Periods are icky. Period (no pun intended). Inserting tampons are icky. I wouldn’t even try tampons without the applicator. And this sounds pretty similar to tampons without applicators. Just that the menstrual blood is still there and not all soaked up. Still, that’s just my personal opinion, so if you are interested and want to know more, do check out Mooncups in Asia.

You really do learn something new everyday.