Frugal Dee

I have just proven one of my mother’s commandments true. "Thou shalt not put hands on/near door hinges." I vividly remember my childhood with my mother always shouting "Don’t PUT your hands there!What if it gets kiapped?(teochew for getting squished)" And I as I grew up the fear and paranoia of getting kiapped was instilled in me.

But on one unfateful night, I was kiapped by a car door and it bloody hurt. Maddie parked her car and we all got out. I closed her door by holding the window frame and I conveniently forgot my hand…Yizhen at the back slammed her door close and I had my fourth and pinkie squished right in between the small gap of the front door and back door.haha. I could still say calmly "Yizhen open your door" and for a second we looked at each other and she opened the door carefully. It was all very slow mo. And Maddie was wondering why I was holding her car. hahaha. Well my fourth finger got better at the end of the night but my pinke was so bruised and there was a blood clot. It’s better now but it was a really painful experience. Now I fully understand the term learning the hard way.

So remember,"DON’T PUT YOUR HANDS THERE!"

It’s just my luck. Just when I thought I could finally sit back wake up late and pig out I find myself sick. Maybe it’s not the luck but rather my nose isn’t used to the sudden surge of fresh air eveyrday versus the 9am-6pm office air full of coffee and cigarettes which the big boss smokes in the room. The smell can realy get to you on a hot stuffy day.(The stale air of cigarettes in the aircon ventilator could serve as a vent leading to a torture chamber full of smokers who want to give up smoking. Anti-smoking campaign would love it. Call 1800-p*h-idunwannasmokeanymore) So maybe now my nose is reacting violently in protest. Maybe my nose is a smoker. And a caffeine addict. Wihtout it, it can’t function!

Sneezing my guts out. You know how it feels like when you sneeze so hard that your eyes feel like they’re popping out? Headache. So here I am free without a care in the world (not waking up at 6.40am rocks) with tissues stuffed into my nose. Great huh? Enjoy my holiday.

Once again I had to say goodbye to a good set of colleagues. I served my two months notice just last Friday. It was a bittersweet moment. While others serve a one month notice, I had to serve 2 months! Magazine’s a bi-monthly publication so all under publication team who have signed the contract in this year had to serve 2 months. While it did give me time to catch up with my colleagues and treasure their company, it was still a rather awkward situation with the bosses. I like my female boss but it’s still a weird situation. I’ll definitely miss my office minah whom I shared so much information with (gossip). I don’t know how to put it into words but I knew I couldn’t stay any longer. Before I made that decision I went on a holiday.

Just before I handed in my resignation letter, I went to Bintan with Maddie, DIana and Mavis. We shared the resort with 4 other friends. Yasi, her gf, and her gf’s two friends. It was a much needed holiday as I felt like I was suffocating at work. I’m not sure if it was a wise decision but I knew it was something I had to do. I even thought of, "What if I don’t return to S’pore and just stayed on in Bintan?" So anyway, the holiday was really fun. It was just us girls, a buggy, swimsuits and the beach.(and the occassional rain that Diana brings with her haha just her luck) It felt so good to be taking things slow. We had weird pick up lines and scary Korean men but still it didn’t deter us from having our fun. The beach at night was so breathtakingly natural. It was surreal. We drove out late at night when all were in their resorts. It was low tide and I could walk on the sea bed. It was totally dark with just the spot light on the shore shining out it looked like a dream. I was so happy to finally get away. When we grew hungry we called for the bus that came all the way to our doorstep. On the way to the market square, we all looked up and were awedby the blanket of stars in the sky that looked as if they were just infront of our eyes because it was so dark nothing else stole the light from the stars. It may sound very drama to you but this is truly how it seemed. Like the stars were just an inch away from our hands. We even went clubbing at the "hottest new club" which was abandoned save for the older seminar attending Koreans. We were like the only young ones dancing away in our little circlular lounge. And one Korean nut head stepped into it. Even though we disuaded him (like ignoring and Mav even lay on the couch, preventing him from sitting on it) it didn’t stop him. Later when we left one followed us and we were freaked out. We drove our buggy so fast the light on the left hand side popped out of its socket (which was dislodged from an accident prior to the night) hanging out like a horror show with someone’s eye popping out. Really funny. We couldnt reverse too fast either. hahaha. Well it was fun and I was energised and ready to think about the work situation.

Well as we all know by now the verdict, I’m trying to enjoy it as long as my money can last me. And try to find the inspiration again. Write again soon.

I haven’t updated this in a long time. A quick update would be i abandoned cheesels since I left my ex company and have moved on. It was a sad break up but I have learnt to live with out it. Ever since I left the company I’ve lost weight! haha Manager Jeremy spoilt us. He drove us everywhere for lunch. Didn’t walk a lot and ate a lot. But those were the days. Nowadays, I’m left with ABC market and a hot walk and cheeky rice uncles.

Conversation goes during lunch:"Where you going to eat?" "ABC Market" "Har always the same" "Ok let’s go Alexander" "Er Ok la ABC Market" hahaha lazy colleagues.I like this set of colleagues in fact have grown attached to them just like Concepts. Leaving won’t be easy. Has been half a year since I left the other previous freelance job.

Let me introduce you to the "Rice Uncles". They’re the nicest people I’ve ever met and they work opposite my building. They manage a rice store house and they carry sacks and sacks of rice everyday. And they’re not young!All very strong. One of them in fact is my fashion consultant. Everytime I see him I greet him with a goodmorning and then he smiles and says "Xiao Jie!" and gives me a thumbs up. hahaha. IF no thumbsup I know my dressing didn’t impress him. So that’s a challenge to get a thumbsup from Rice Uncle number one. Antoher Rice Uncle number 2 is really very very nice. He even gave me a flower from their garden at the back. Our office is moving and I’ll really miss them. They make my mornings. A nice break from the grumpy commuters. First thing I see before I step into the office, are smiley faces. Grinning sun baked toothy Rice Uncle faces. haha.

Ok I’ll end of here. Am on MC today and feeling very lerthargic. Will write soon about other stuff I think.

"XIAO JIE!"THUMBSUP.

I don’t understand how some pple use handphones with ear piece and then still hold their phones and ear piece close to their heads…isnt the ear piece known as hands free…weird. Will miss taking the train to work and seeing the fatty spotty short legged cat along the way. Train rides are quite fun especially with annoying people. As much as you hate them, it gives us something to talk about. One lady yesterday sat down and she put her bag upright<very tall bag> on her lap. Thought it was weird then there was this weird smell emitting from smewhere. Could see a few faces darting around and staring like "who the hell?!??"Then I looked up and saw steam puffing out from the ladywiththetalluprightbag. <like some horror show missing the green lights> stared at her mottified for a moment then realising she brought in those bags with the oxygenated bottle whick things. DAMN smelly. Gave me a headache so i glared at her. Fun. But why bring it with you everywhere? Its not as if it’s gonna help improve the oxygen level in a crowded train especially one where there’s not much ventilation. <Maybe she has bad breath, or maybe she’s highly fetulant and needs to mask her smells.>watever it is no one appreciated the damn thing puffing. So on to others. Like people who rush into the train before you even step out. To them getting in is so tricky. <"If you dont step in quick enough the door will close but when others do it doesnt. Weird huh">Anyway I’m here to not just be sarcastic i’m here to thank my colleagues at Concepts. Hope i don’t miss anyone out.:

Today will be my last day of annoying obnoxious guys annoying the crap out of me. Last day of working at Concepts.:) Much as they love annoying me, and vice versa, I’ll miss them. Lotsa fond memories here.

Let’s pay tribute to a few of them.<warning: its like a star awards thanking speech that goes on and on till a hook intervenes and pulls them out of stage>

Jeremy Koek, very tall, eurasian, Loves his food and wine. My manager. First guy that brought me around when I first came to Concepts.Also the partner in crime with little short hyper Bernard.<from malaysia office> Loves to insult me and vice versa.<he’s the bitchy one i’m the catty one> Yet he took care of me and would like to thank him. The party was great fun and thanks for letting us mess your house. Lovely house with all those candles…niceeee.<also nice alcohol collection> haha
Almark & Frances are these short, philippinos, who love food but now dieting. Speaks most of the time in tagalogue. Nice people with good hearts and they love to karaoke!haha <they brought their portable microphone with tons of songs in them and one ballad memorably titled: "Dont touch my birdie"…its a philippino song . I swear. haha> They love korean shows and they talk 24/7. haha on to M’sian office creatives, Bernard, short hyper chinese with lotsa energy<especially checking chicks out> Gibson, tall lanky chinese, loves playing guitar and is extremely random. Ah Hooi, moderate ht, chinese has very long finger nails<like gonna play guzheng or something> nice guy also.Also likes to tease. "The twins" Ken and Ian, moderate ht, chinese, the brothers we call one evil and the other an angel<respectively>. Don’t look alike but we call them twins. Very close in age. haha. Ken being younger Ian being older. Different like chalk and cheese but both equally good hearted. <even evil is nice sometimes haha> Gene our recept, not so tall not so short philippino. Has one mole in the middle of her forehead which we call her transmitter <infrared> haha Picks up gossip damn fast. sometimes even broadcasts her own. Very motherly<like naggy> haha. Edmund a tall slim chinese who talks really fast. After he talks and walks off just imagine the wind blowing and the person looking dishevelled like some storm just hit. haha Paul, the eurasian who wears black everything<i don’t know whther EVERYthing la but his shirt glasses shoes and pants are black>Smokes a lot and is as evil as me and is my partner in sharing <or rather rubbing it in> our design sorrows.Karma bro karma!haha. Chris, chinese tall guy who talks and blogs a whole lot but is also nice at heart. SJI boy watch out! I love annoying him.<its the same on his part> His kid’s damn cute.<doesnt take his genes mua ah ah ah> Ryan’s his name. Eugene and Minh, the couple, both very nice people. Eugene always accussing pple of being terrorists. And to the rest Darren, Tommy, Ivy, Clive and Eric, its been nice working with you guys. The intern,Jeslyn, hope your time here is memorable.

Thanks to everyone.Hope i didnt miss anyone out.
Diane.

It was Mag’s birthday celebration the other day and we decided to book a table at Gotham. Nice place with REALLY friendly staff!(made our night really nice) We get a bottle with the table so we asked for gin or was it rum?haha anyway i hate hard liquor.It was really entertaining. Thanks to these people. So allow me to pay a tribute to them.:)

Just a table away from us(like one bloody arms length) was this skinny guy that looked slightly off and he just kept screaming and scrrrreaming. And it sounded like , "WooooooooooooOOOOOOooooOOO!". The first thing that came to my mind was " Wha..whats THAT!?..why got police siren…" The i realised the skinny guy a few feet away (still screaming). Really weird. But he reminded me of the guy in police academy the movie?that could mimic stuff? This guy really sounded like a siren(NOT sex siren)But scary thing was, he thought he was. hahaha

It’s not annoying if it’s once or twice but he just kept going!hahaha!We thought it was funny.At first. Then, he’d just get up suddenly with one hand raised and screeeeammmm so loud to the dance floor. Then he starts to dance(he STILL thinks he’s being sexy). HAHAHA Dancing around him and you’ll have to worry about bustin the ear drums. Fella screams damn loud. Weird thing is he has friends around him and they don’t seem to mind. (but there was a gap between his friendS and him..hmmm)

Then you get another guy that dances kinda well.(But looked a bit like Grt Singapore Workout) He does this shuffling of his feet and arms waving about ("do you feel like chicken tonight, chicken tonightttt") With a gleam in the eye, and the determined look,and he slowly gets on stage. And he continues to flap his arms. Felt like it was some workout session with disco lights. At one point it looked like he was getting ready to do standing broad jump.

Anyway back to work. But i really give it to this people. They’ve got guts!(or maybe a lot of alcohol) But whatever it is, YOU made our night!:)

At work.. well at office not at work. Work will commence in a few minutes. heh heh

I’ve had some thoughts these past few days..Random ones. Touchy issue like what the Pope quoted. (which offended many, and I’m sitting on the fence here) THEN!I remembered my annoying niece who loves to ask endless questions,(she’s now 5) asking my mum after Mass what we were discussing(at that time Pope John Paul ii passed away) and so we explained. Then the next question was "Why the Poke die?"….hahahahahahaha. It’s a sad situation, but all of us couldn’t help it. Poke!hahahahahahahaa. I’ll never let her live this down. I never had a younger sibling to bully so here comes my chance! And when she was younger, she’d say Bustdin instead of Dustbin hahahahaha..I remembered when I was young I, too, made many mistakes and noooo! does my family forget?huh.SOoooo it’s my duty to keep this tradition alive.:>

Remember the jingle to Yakult ad? " It’s a healthy life!"or something. I kept singing "It’s a HELPY life!", Poh piah was PORK PIA.. that wasn’t the end I said Army ghost festival instead of Hungry ghost festival…what was I thinking?I don’t know really..Maybe nothing..hmf. When I was a toddler, my siblings said I had an evil streak cause I kept rolling on their feet and giving them a smile. And I admit my parents spoiled me, wouldnt let them scold me. hahaha Then once I rolled so hard I fell out of the balcony. Karma.  I had damn itchy fingers and the only way to stop me from touching stuff was rambutans. haha. Place them anywhere and I’ll not touch it.

Watch out niece, I’m on a mission!hahaha. Evil?nah she’s equally evil for her age.

This morning, I got on the train today and felt ok this morning isnt too bad. Don’t get grumpy! Then station after station we passed, finally chinatown. Not my stop. I had my earphones in my ears, so I didnt know what was going on but I noticed the panic look on many faces and many not getting down..They had this crazed look in their eyes like caged animals..I didnt think much of it till I got out of Outram and people were rushing and pushing and running to the other side to get on the other train that goes backwards. One idiot stepped on my slipper and scrapped my heel which was blistered from yesterdays shoes.:( And i didnt realise I hissed..Like a , hssssss!..didnt know I could hiss out of reflex..sorry stupidmanwhosteppedonmyheelandapologised…it hurt la. Oh ya why they were running? NEL as usual, bung up again. This time the doors didnt open at China Town station.

Ok I have to work, grrrrr….haha BYE!

And god bless the POKE!

Covering issues on death..A topic I don’t like to talk about but this time it’s an exception.

When I heard the news about Steve Irwin’s (croc hunter "CRIKEY MATE" guy) I was really shocked. I really sympathise with the family..2 young kids, it really isn’t easy coping with death at such a young age. Even as adults it’s hard. One moment he’s still on TV shouting CRIKEY and as fast as switching channels, he dies. And of all things ah, Stingray..They said it was rare for people to die from accidents with stingrays and they seldom attack unless one steps on it. The first thought that came to mind was, snake bite ah?…This is truly a freak accident. Maybe he escaped death too many times. He was a good "mate". He did alot for Aussies. Brought awareness to wildlife conservation and also promoted Australian Zoo. Good people die young is how the saying goes. So I guess he’s good. (dying at 44 is young) But maybe the dangling the baby part was abiiiit out of bounds…Now it’s time for him to educate the guys in heaven. Hopefully they don’t get annoyed with him pulling their spiritual tails and his constant "Crikey mate!would you look at the size of this spirit"

From me, "I like you Steve because you loved all living creatures. Any man capable of that is capable of compassion, a beautiful quality rarely found in many. So have a good time riding the spiritual wave."

Now on to cats. If you saw the home papers today some assholes have been killing them. Some were slit at the throat..This is really disgusting behaviour..If they say they’re dirty,ok then how ’bout your spitting in public?Your yucky snort flying off and hitting unfortunate objects? And those that burn paper on the draincovers(like fumagating mosquitoes) in the middle of walkways on seventh month when there are designated bins for them, how’s that less harmful then cats..Cats don’t let our smoke that causes humidity. Cats dont’ litter on purpose like us.On the other hand, we humans have that choice of putting away our yucky body fluids and trash into designated bins. So what makes us better? We took their habitat and they are now forced to live in this concrete jungle. And cats are so much cleaner, they too are embarrassed about their shit lying around.(although some humans are not, and walk off without flushing the damn bowl.) They have the decency to dig holes and then covering them back. So what’s the reason for this killing? They’re noisy? How ’bout those kids in the playground nearby screaming and crying? Or the seventh month stuff where people keep clanging drums and stuff and doing auctions till late at night? Humans are the superior race because of the brain. But obviously some are not using it for the good.

So I just want to know what’s this stupid reason for killing them. They won’t scratch unless you disturb them.(some cats are fiesty just like how some humans are vicious) My point isn’t, "ok so kill the people who do that too" But if we can tolerate such behaviour, why not the innocent who have no choice.

This sucks.

Culling was bad enough, now with people taking it into their own hands is sicker.(don’t know if there’s such a word but SICKER it is) Cull cats? Ok how bout putting a death sentence on people who spit and do yucky stuff in public that causes germs to spread?

This sucks!

Ok I’m back to work. I miss school and I remembered a lecturer who once told us what he said with glee to the year ones, "Goodmorning class, I’m here to stir shhHHITTT into your brains."  *class GASP*And he smiled.:)What’s there not to love.:)

Here’s how we feel:

A few words from Maddie..

I am the Gypsy woman, gypsy ohlordehhhdah says:

i nv see lei

I am the Gypsy woman, gypsy ohlordehhhdah says:

i will no aye am not goona kick down ur beer u stupid fuckface..

I am the Gypsy woman, gypsy ohlordehhhdah says:

then i kick his head

I am the Gypsy woman, gypsy ohlordehhhdah says:

then i go PEACE!

hahahahahha oh and forgot to add in, Din’s bf was really funny when he swayed with the dumb face. It was really funny. All of us were doing it. Here’s how to: Stand with legs apart and knees bent, then just sway at a 45degree angle with only your upper body moving in a half circle motion and then put on the dumb face.

It’s a very grey day. Heavy downpours all. But I enjoy the soft tapping of the rain on the walls and floor. Makes me really sleepy. But I’m sleepy half the time at work anyway..haha

Womad on Saturday was so fun. We bought mats and stuff and prepared for a picnic, we parked at Park Mall<carpark closes at 2> and walked, very long walk!we finally reached Fort Canning, BUT!thanks to my AMAZING navigation skills<NOT because I’m a girl okaaaay!> we couldnt find the spot I sat in last year. hahaha After much calling<called Gen who was already there yes yes since 7 yes yes i was late> I realised we were on the other side hahaha. The main bulding sits between the two sides of womad. One the main stage and the other the smaller stages. Sweaty and all, we kinda got annoyed BUT we finally found a spot and later on at night when the families began to leave, we found an even better spot and raggae music was really good. Enjoyed ourselves so much.

Now on to smelly sour butter smelling red haired people. Ang Moh! Come to S’pore and think they’re freaking king of the world. I,generally, am fine with them..But my initial reaction is to stay guarded and expect the worst then when I find out they’re not the "King of the world" type, I let my guard down. I’m not THAT racist. I like washed out people, jUUUuuuuust not as much as coloured people. Why bring this up? Here comes the bitching,

Din’s boyfriend was leading the way up the very crowded and dark grassy patch and we all followed behind. He accidentally kicked a cup of beer <STRATEGICALLY PLACED BEHIND YOU!DUMBASS ANG MOH! WHERE THERE’S A WALKWAY> the beer spills and i guess unto the smelly dumbassangmoh<doesnt make much of a diff anyway, and maybe it improves the smell of rancid butter>Dumbass angmoh isnt at all happy well we don’t blame him but Din’s bf was really sorry. Din’s Bf gets really apologetic as he is and smiles. The dumbass angmoh says stuff which he obviously mumbled<and they make fun of Chinese speaking english>and then exclaim in the usual annoying american voice " Open your fucking eyes!" I was behind and turned around and he’s grumbling and making Din’s BF feel weird and appear dumb standing there and smiling and saying sorry, I thought what the hell, there’s no need to make Din’s BF appear stupid. And guess,what his stupid gf is a chinese, also laughing along with him. How dumb is that.

This isn’t bad at all ya?But when we walked back second round the idiot said in that very annoying sniggering way,"ahhhhrrreeee yeeewww gonnaaaaa kiiiickk downn anahhhther beeeer? hahahaha"…man i was so pissed. That was really unecessary. Again I turned and glared and said fucking asshole,his gf sees it and could see she was kind of emabarrassed. That’s really not funny. We can take jokes but we can tell when you’re speaking condescendingly. As if we’re not smart enough to get what he’s saying. And Din’s bf smiles still ’cause he feels bad and he’s gd natured. It’s really annoying. Luckily Din wasnt around she’d prob kick the guy in the face. And scream at him. I relish the thought though.

I just cant stand these angmohs who think they’re always right and we’re wrong and we should cower to them. It really sucks that you come to our land and make noise about everthing here. Then why bother coming?What’s that?Work? Find another job that posts you where you like!<an island of SPGs perhaps?>

Don’t get me wrong Ang Mohs in general are fine I have friends and acquaintances who are angmoh or mixed, but i already have a bad impression of them and they don’t make it any better by acting smart assed. Talk too much and act like Kings. Yucks.

Ok la, I’m back to work. And Maddie, remember no perverts, no angmohs and no girls for hubbies. Especially Angmoh.

Bye!!!!:)

Womad was FUN FUN FUN!