Friday, November 28, 2008

happenings

The first signs of calm is appearing.


Thank goodness after a crazy month.


To be able to have some personal life. At last!





I actually got to go to a new hair salon yesterday.


Sis took me to this place near our homes.


I have spent the past decades going faithfully to the wonderful W.


Now that I live an hour away, I need an emergency back-up salon.


The lady at the new place does a pretty good job at coloring.


She is not as good as my C at blow drying.




Anyways, this new place charges a little cheaper so thats ok.





Sis and I have made plans for Friday night. Her son has just completed his examinations so that means she too is now out of the stress zone. And I will have some kind of social life once again.



I dont know how I managed to survive this past month but I am just glad that its over.

Its good to work in a stressed temporary environment but it should not last this long at a stretch. Unhealthy.



I need to start packing for my holiday trip next week.

I am looking forwards to a relaxing time (though I am prepared to be the leader, defender, protecter, porter, maid, etc, etc for my beloved mom and aunt!)

JAR and his brothers have gone to Mi for Thanksgiving with their sister's family.

They are also going to visit some property they just purchased this year whilst there.

Good times - I have been waiting too long for u!!!

Friday, November 21, 2008



Its been an intensive time!


Work has overtaken my life for the past fortnight and looks like it will continue to do so for another week at least.


However smart me has planned a short break abroad with my mom and aunt in early December. As usual, when I put my mind to something I get the results in the most minimum of time. Within two days I got the transport and lodgings settled.




It will be a slow holiday as I will be travelling with senior citizens.


Just the kind of holiday I will be needing after the hectic time at work


We will stay at a fancy spansy hotel (guess who has offered to fully pay for that???). We will do lots of shopping. Go eat at strange places. Rest alot at the hotel (heck! With the prices we should actually not even spend any time away from the hotel!)




The world economy is going thru a really bad time.
Companies are closing down there stores. People are losing their jobs.
The natural reaction is to hang on to every cent that u have got.
Nope!
You be more careful with your spending.... but u have to be realistic.
Spend some, INVEST some, save some.
I need this vacation if only to keep on being sane.
In the process I hope to help (in a very minor way) to boost the economic cycle.
On the emotional end, I dont know how much time is left for my mom, my aunt and I to be able to holiday together.
We all used to go together for some vacations with my dad, uncle and cousin. Now my dad and uncle have passed on. My cousin is amrried with 4 kids and thus will holiday with her own family.
The three of us will enjoy ourselves. While we can!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Tomorrow

Tomorrow will be the start of the optimal busy period.
I have been anticipating, looking forwards, avoiding, ignoring, hiding, etc it.
I expect it to last till the end of the month.

I might not have the time to blog much till its over.

Everything will go on hold.
Even the thought of a vacation.

I am tired.
From hoping.

Monday, November 10, 2008

why a vacation is a necessity

If u read the comments I made in response to Noel's in the previous bolg, u'd be aware of how important it is for me to have a vacation. Especially when its a joint vacation.

I've been buddies with JAR for over a decade now.
We've managed to work out our vacations to coincide and do quite a bit of traveling on both sides of the world.
Mainly I am the one who has constraints on when I can have time off from work.
Sometimes we have a extra large group (with practically all his siblings and their kids) like in a couple of years ago right after his sister's eldest daughter got married.
We've also travelled with just a few others like his brothers or my BIL.
Sometimes its just us.
Whichever way it is, we all have fun.

Because we live so far apart, we keep in touch via emails and the phones.
We used to chat and had cameras attached to our computers to see each other.
We dont do that anymore cos we're at a more matured stage of being us.

Because we've travelled so far and so many times, sometimes I cannot even remember the places we've been to. I mean I cannot remember their names.
I remember the joys of being at each one.
In the sun, in the snow, at the beach, at the sea,
On the dry desert, in the tropical jungle, up the mountains
On the train, on the flights, in the car, on the boat
We been there
and hopefully we will continue to journey
again and again.

Friday, November 07, 2008

Planning a vacation

Planning a vacation is not easy especially if the parties interested are half the world away from each other.


I believe that it is easier when I do the travelling cos I tend to plan early, do lots of pre planning and keep the other parties constantly informed.

This time round, however, the other parties need to travel to this part of the world.
We've all done this before.
Even with all the hassle it normally turns out just great! I am praying that the trend continues.

We've been to the Singapore Zoo twice. I rate that Zoo as amongst the best in the world.

We had tea with the orang utan. That was fun. But those orang utan are human tamed. They've been in captivity for so long they are partly human.

Then on another trip we all went to the orang utan reserve in Borneo. That was another beautiful trip. To see real life wild orang utan in their element. Yes, even when wild they have quite a bit of human characteristics.


We've also had our holiday with the leeches story.

We've travelled through the rain forest both day and night. Gotten our bodies sucked by the leeches. It doesnt hurt but it does make your skin crawl to see a parasite greedily drinking your blood.

What are we going to do this time?
I dont really know.
We've been looking through the internet for clues.
I thought of visiting Lakes, towns in areas we've never driven thru before, Beach towns, more forests, maybe a mud volcano.
There's a lot of work to be done. Bookings to be made.
I need more constant contact for this to be properly done.
Or is it all going to be done for me? (This has also happened before).

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Being President






Obama's won.





I am ok with that.





I would have been ok even if Mc Cain had won had he not chosen Palin as his running mate.


As one person had put it - Mc Cain's 72, the possibility of him dying in office is greater, then Palin gets to be president and that person says he'll migrate to Canada. I wouldn't need to migrate but since the American economy affects the economy of most countries, I definitely will feel the effects of that.











If there was to be a first woman vice president, I'd rather let Hillary Clinton have it. She's tested.

If she could handle Bill Clinton's stupidity in his brilliance, she can handle
most anything.


JAR just worries that a Democrate president will tax him even more to fund someone else




OK, now we have a first colored president of the USA.
Hopefully he brings good changes for the whole world. And the whole world is not just USA alone.


PS. Two posts today! Is that something I should continue doing?
The begining of this week has been fruitful.

Monday I got alot of workstuff done - beyond my expectation.

Its so satisfying to see the completion of some projects and the start of some new ones.


Tuesday I settled some condo bills, saw the doctor, went on a shopping trip with the little girls and SIL, bought a new bag (yet again!).


Wednesday I started the day by increasing my investments.



OK now for the details.







Why did I need to see the doctor?



Well, I have been having some rashes between my fingers. Then I got some on my left cheek. I put some cream on them and they went away only to return again. I got my bed sheet and pillow cases washed yet again (I have a habit of cleaning them every fortnight) thinking it might help. My face was getting rough skin from using the Betnovate)



Finally to the doctor's. The doctor said that it probably be due to some food that I am alergic to. He gave me some cream after saying that one should NOT use Betnovate on the face and some anti histamin (Priviton)! It worked. I got a good night's sleep from the drug and my skin look really better by the morning.







Why did I buy (another) new handbag?



Since I have been busy at work I found that I needed to carry more stuff to and fro work. That meant having to carry at least two bags. I noted that big handbags are now 'in'. Decided that I should get one. The one I got is big, black, has many compartments, some shiny sequins layer covered with some embroidered first layer. Wish I could put up a pic of it but I dont have my camera right now. Its pretty! Looking vogue and being practical at the same time. Hehe.



Good thing I did not get the expensive handbag at the begining of the year. Now I have the excuse to change my bags every three months or so. After all I am not spending a fortune on it.



SIL who had bought the expensive handbag then has since regretted it. Its definitely branded but it lost its shape in less than a month and was not worth the price she paid for it. In fact during the shopping trip we went back to the brand's boutique to lodge a complaint. The sales ladies there gave all kinds of silly reasons on the malfunction of the bag.



My conclusion is : I shall stick to my way of shopping for a bag.....look for the many compartments, it should have a wide base, select the color, see the material used and the finishing. If ites reasobalby priced (which means I should not care if I have to change to a newer one in three months) then grab it!





Investments.


There are two schools of thought.





1. Keep your money guarded cos the world is about to enter another round of recession.


2. Invest now if u have the money cos stock is at an all time low. U are bound to make money when it bounces back.





Which one is correct? Which one to follow?


I dont know but I guess I have some faith in the second one whilst I am also keeping a close watch on my money.


Spend some, save some at the same time and ALSO invest some.


Thats what I have done.


Thas what I call playing it safe!

Monday, November 03, 2008

weekend and monday news

I had to work on Saturday.
Thus I missed out on Little A's first Sports Day of her life.
Got loads of pics and even saw a video of my precious A doing prcisely everything that was she was supposed to do.
The pre school gave everyone a medal (goodie). Even Little D, A's baby sister who only goes to school when her fancy strikes.

It was a fun weekend.
We went out for late lunch at the club after I came home from work.
As usual, I had to pick the bill. Girls had loads of fun, running over the little water feature that the coffehouse had.
Sunday, brother's turn to treat us to brunch.
Then when we go home, I had a splitting headache.
Decided to drive back to the condo when it receeded.
Fully rested and recovered by Monday morning.

Got in touch with JAR.
He had emailed me about his weekend.
His sis in law had a birthday party and he met many friends (who had met me).
They asked about me and he proudly told them about the award that I had recently won.
Thanks JAR!
I am happy that I made u proud!

Time to get back to work.
More tomorrow if I can squeeze in the time.
Have a fun week!