Selamat Hari Raya

Aidilfitri!
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Whenever Hari Raya arrives, I'll keep "hearing" this song replaying in my mind..........the song that I was introduced since Primary school....................
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While wishing all muslims friends and community a wonderful Hari Raya Haji, our family and our usual gang will be gathering yet again somewhere for a feast and good time! Want to know where we went, check us back later!

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Time is really

precious especially when you're in a rush to get a lot of task accomplished.
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Tasks like handing over existing responsibilities, things to take note and many other misc transfer of information requirement. Even trying to accomplish household chores is trying..............
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My time is counting down.......
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Happy Birthday

to Mr Chua, as he turns another year wiser at 51 on 15th November 2009.

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On Saturday, the "chin-chang" gang gathered by evening at Mr Chua's place to throw a mini celebration to surprise him. Mr Chua was at work hence he did not expect to see us on Saturday until he returned home.

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Being early birds, we brought dear son to play with his favorite friend while the adults get busy with their own preparation tasks.
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We had sumptuous pizza, curry chicken and other nitty gritty food to fill our tummies before screening "Where got Ghost" on the TV as part of the night's entertainment.
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Everyone had a great time at Mr Chua's place and not until before the clock strikes almost mid-night, then we reluctantly ended the gathering. Till the next gathering that is lined up..................
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The satisfaction of

their child's excitement on Saturday morning is good enough for a parent. Truly.
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After enjoying Astro-Boy at The Cathay, we settled for Japanese lunch before dropping dear son off at the in-laws.

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It was then time for the ANG Mistress to get some rest as she woke up earlier with severe headache and bad throat.

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The rest of the time over the weekend was lousy since the ANG Mistress experienced 'yo-yo' fever.
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The cause of the bouts of fever and bad throat was revealed on the following Monday morning......tonsilitis........the past weekend, is history.

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2012

This is the latest movie I'm very very keen to watch off the big screen.
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Woot.......I'm feeling all excited.........but wait, not before first completing this movie with dear son tomorrow.
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New addiction

starts when the ANG Mistress click "play" on her media player to start the K-drama "Boys Before Flowers".
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"Bloomz"...............and that was it. Addiction kicks in.
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hhhmmm.....it's hard to resist looking at nice things though, especially when one is facing good looking boys and girls cast in the drama. Now I quite understand why the youngsters are all fazed over the characters in this drama and enchanted by the storyline offered by the drama.
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Well, the four main male characters in KBS hit drama “Boys Before Flowers” are definitely tall, handsome, and all of them jaw-droppingly rich. Calling themselves "Flower Boys" or "F4" in the drama, they have definitely captivated the hearts of women of all ages be it a seven-year-old girl or 50-year-old housewives.
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“Boys Before Flowers” is something like the Asian version of America’s huge hits “Gossip Girl” that depict a hyper-luxury lifestyle of teenagers. It is blatantly lavish and dreamlike, easy to just fall into it without bothering to think about whether the plots are realistic or not.
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Ok, enough said and for those who have not watch or are as curious as me over the characters in the drama, details may be available from http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Boys_Before_Flowers
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I'm going back to my media-player.............
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Phew

Can anyone imagine, I was still very happy on Tuesday over getting an afternoon off from work to watch MJ's "This is it" in the theater and probably enjoy a good dinner with the family in the evening.

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Guess what, I was hit with Mr fever in the evening on Tuesday myself after waking from the nap.
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So Wednesday I was entirely down; out of action from the office, lying flat sleeping the afternoon away due to lethargic and tiredness.
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I'm now back on antibiotics for the damn cough that is so long-lived.
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So I'm rushing like mad in the office today, trying to get unaccomplished task accomplished.
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So this is working mum's working life.
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La la la....dee daa

I'm super relaxed and happy today.
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cos this is why I'm so..........happy. Breakaway from the office and some afternoon out with my loved ones.
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I knew

both of them would tied the knot one day when I saw them both walking side-by-side on TV during the September Formula 1 event held here in Singapore.
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And finally, it was reported that Michelle Yeoh married her fiance Jean Todt last week, right after the ex-Ferrari boss succeeded the controversial Max Mosley as president of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
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"The actress had proudly showed off her giant wedding ring to pressmen while attending a function in Paris with her man", some newspaper reported.
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The two was engaged in 2005 after first meeting at a promotional event organized by Ferrari in Shanghai.
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I've personally always liked watching Michelle Yeoh on TV or the big screen and I hope that she has found her happiness in Jean Todt. My heartiest congratulations to the both of them!
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He is

truly one of a sexy pianist indeed.
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Aged 34, this croatian is now one of the most famous and promising pianists in the world. It's quite rare to spot a charming guy playing good piano aside his charismatic good looks!
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Can't get enough of this "Prince of Piano"? Catch him "live" in Singapore performing at the Esplanade Concert Hall, where he will be staging Concert Classique, One on One for two nights only. Hmmmm.......seems like I'm into beautiful and charming stuffs of late!
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Wow

I'm definitely not dreaming here but I'll be in for a treat to myself tomorrow in the afternoon. Hubby will be joining me as well since he's supposed to be on a break himself.
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Have you been treating yourself well too?
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You ought to!
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our 2-day break

has just come to an end..
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Dear son & hubby are both now fast asleep while Mummy took the chance to 'relax' at the couch, geared with the laptop on her laps and relaxing into some soft jazz playing in the background.

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Earlier, we were busy attending a seminar on Saturday morning while dear son was whisked to the in laws'. Since we were downtown Orchard, we popped by the "MEDIACORP SUBARU IMPREZA WRX CHALLENGE ~ THE ASIAN FACE OFF" location at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza to give the contestants some of our 20cents support.
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By late afternoon, our phone rang and the bad news came; dear son wants us to bring him home badly. So yes, we detoured to fetch him home for a nap before bringing him back to the in laws' place again (at his request.......duh......).

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When we woke up on Sunday, we first checked out dear son before bringing him to the Macs for breakfast. Dear son was the most happy when we arrived at the Macs. It happened to be an event morning there, there were balloons and even Mr Ronald MacDonalds made an appearance (in awe of many other happy kids).

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When we arrived home, we cleared up the household chores quickly to catch lunch time at Mr Chua's place. Ms Wong had whipped up yummy congee lunch for our family as well as Mr & Mrs How.
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We ate our lunch late and tucked dear son for his delayed afternoon nap.
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The rest were chit-chatting the afternoon away while the cable TV was running some Asian Food Channel (afc) varieties.
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Dinner is churned in a short while again by Ms Wong. Hiaz, we were too hungry to remember taking any pictures that afternoon and by the time our memory returns, we've reached our house!
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So before welcoming Monday later, this Mistress ANG is getting ready to leave the comfy couch and start her household chores part II - laundering and ironing! Sigh, that's the life of a higher class domestic worker. ;-)
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Yes, I admit

that I'm into a new indulgence recently.
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Admiring pretty girl and a few handsome hunks at the same time;
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I'm watching a latest Taiwanese drama - Momo Love (桃花小妹), what were you thinking?
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What are the possibilities

of us mostly working overseas in the future?

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VERY HIGH I believe.
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Just like what many of our Malaysian neighbors did. Most of them are traveling to & fro Singapore every day to work and return at the end of the day back to Johor Bahru. Such arrangement is a daily affair for them and for the sake of livelihood, they have accepted this as their way of life.
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What about Singaporeans? Are we as adaptable as our Malaysian neighbors? Will we be able to survive when we have to move out of our comfort zone to work in an all foreign land?
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I've given this topic enough thoughts whenever I commute to and fro work everyday and am convinced that "THE DAY" will come eventually, as Singapore loses her growth within her island and we needed growth to keep us in a job. I'm certain if not me and hubby, our offspring will hop on to work overseas eventually.
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The opening of ASEAN via a common rail link and especially linking to China (the next BIG BROTHER) through the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link (SKRL) 泛亚铁路 which was first proposed by Asean in 1995 is firm affirmation of ease of transfer.
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Reports on the rail link project have quoted:
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The SKRL is a flagship project of the ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Cooperation (AMBDC). This regional railway line, spanning some 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) from Singapore to the Chinese city of Kunming, would be a very efficient and most economical mode of cross-border cargo transportation. However, the project has been hindered by a lack of funds and other technical issues in connecting the rail to major towns across the region. The project also includes constructing railway stations and related infrastructure, and has been estimated to cost US$15 billion (€12.5 billion). ASEAN hopes the link will be ready by 2015.
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With such a scale of work being done on a national level to join up via the rail link, the railway project is expected to better bind the economies of the region and provide southern China with easier access to ASEAN markets. It is evident for the folks like us too; to provide easier access for us living in the south to go into China.
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Does making changes

to our present home decor makes us live and feel even better?

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I was browsing a few sites recently to draw ideas especially those for decorating a boy's room. I'm so enticed to get it going at home...........except that I'm trying to go for Oriental Style, my favorite all time classic look in a boy's room.....hmmmm....Challenging......
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What are the biggest struggles

faced by everyone?

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I think it's effective communication; the frequency and quality of it, probably is the most important factor in making a relationship work. Communicating each others' needs, fears, hopes, happiness and everything else under the sun, over the sea.
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The real problem is not when you have problems communicating. It's when you don't even feel like communicating at all already, that's the REAL problem.
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Well, it's not as if our household lies with communication problem but there's still many elements of the lack of it towards the other members of the family as the years goes. It'll better be improved than left for natural death.
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Everyone needn't to be a gem to someone; just don't be the dirt instead.
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Someone else once told me that maintaining a good relationship is like the ducks. They look completely calm and unruffled on the surface, but underneath the water, they're paddling furiously to stay afloat.
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I so so seriously agree.
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our past weekend

comes and goes in a wink.

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I remember there I was, on a afternoon half day leave last Friday to meet dear husband up for our afternoon appointment with the spa operator.
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Then the next moment, we are facing Saturday. We met our financial advisor in the morning and took hiatus to recuperate/rest at home the rest of our Saturday (as our family are still nursing our health; some recovering from cough and one from stomach flu)
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On Sunday, we spent the morning at dear son's favorite haunt, the Singapore Zoo. The weather took a turn by late morning and we were forced to leave the place much earlier than anticipated.
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On the journey home, we stopped by McDonald's as dear son had requested to eat hamburger at Mac for lunch. Since we're also nearby the Cold Storage, the adults took the opportunity to buy some grocers at the supermart in preparation for the day's dinner later.
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When we arrive home, we were very surprised to find our dear neighbour hosting their newborn daughter's full month celebration outside at our corridors.
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Gosh, we thought we forgotten about the event but alias, it was our neighbor's intend to notify us on the day of event. Phew! It was really a surprise and fortunately for the adults, we have not taken our lunch hence the buffet spread was just right on the spot.
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While we enjoy our food, we allowed dear son to enjoy and play with the children at our neighbor's place. By late afternoon, most of the guest had left and we had to usher dear son home (at his reluctance) for his delayed afternoon nap. Kiet slept until we woke him for dinner time; while Mummy busied herself in the house with chores and dinner preparation earlier. Sunday evening was rest and to calm ourselves as the new week is about to start tomorrow!
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Did I make the right

choice to place dear son in a full day childcare when he turned 22 months while the maid is ushered back to Indon; and the grandparents were left to while away their time freely?

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The Rewards?................Awww, our household is by far coping well, work and time management wise and we have better adjusted to the daycare routine on top of the changes in our lives but the seniors instead of turning better are wasting towards the senile route.......when it was actually meant good; for them to have it easier in their lifestyle by having more "ME" time in their lifes.

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At most times even till this day, YES, I strongly felt that the daycare decision made at that time was a good one. Our little child needed to be trained about being independent and plus the introduction of routine in a daycare environment, there's more discipline and order hence more good rather than bad (this, is besides the part about falling sick).

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On the other hand, it was sort of a mistake to leave the seniors too FREE to themselves. While they choose not to contribute anymore to the labour force (which over the long run will make them monetarily insecured) , it is more appropriate to keep them agile and alert by leaving them in charge of some 'duties' in order to keep their minds occupied and responsive (this, is besides the part about letting them feel lonely or useless).

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Having despite give thought about all these, it seems that these thoughts are worthless as I'm in no position to make any correction or improvement to it. It's not as easy as using a correction tape to put a stop to certain things; that have already developed to this point and at this stage.

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The personalities in this domestic drama also needed to pick up and move on with life that is meaningful to them. External and people factors cannot help when the seniors themselves had chosen to close their mental door. In fact, who can to be blamed for all this?

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This similarly 100-episode domestic opera is demoralising to continue watching and all that I can comment, is that certain things just needed to BE MANAGED instead of leaving it as it is. By choosing to drop the matter, it's a CHOICE that was made irreversible.

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Nevertheless, I'm super glad little boy has grown tremendously over the years and learnt a lot from the daycare peers and teachers. While for the end note - Save for one, I'll never allow myself to pass my life such as the living seniors did - WASTE IT.

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Caro...opppss no, Coraline

it is.

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I got the opportunity to watch the animated stop-motion movie "Coraline" yesterday while nursing myself at home in the afternoon.

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It was a lovely fantasy film I must say, for someone who have no expection of the film so to speak. I watched it with an open mind and it did work it's purpose for me - entertained.

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I liked the part of the movie about the "Other World" and "Other Parents". I remember also fantasizing for such another world when I was a little girl but of course, as a grown up now, we know it's impossible and probably that's why, as a mother to a 4-year old now, I'll try to give and provide my boy 'the best' - I guess it's to make up for the missing link I experienced when I was a child.

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Well for those movie junkie who likes light-hearted fantasy films, this stop-motion film is a must watch!

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Hmmmm.....my turn

to be rather under the weather.

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It turned out that the cough I'm experiencing since last Wednesday is caused by infection as my family doctor had advised this morning.

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So am going to be confined at home for the next 2 days serving up mostly the cough syrup, flu and anti-botic tablets.

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Hopefully I get well soon so I can be kicking this coming weekend!

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