Full Term!

The waiting game has now begun. The baby can officially decide to come out anytime now =)

I got pi to take side photo of me... Wah it seems like my tummy is not big at all ya... Even my colleagues who's due more than 1 month after me, have bigger tummy :(  I wonder why... Though I've eaten lots of "junk" food that I like (such as cakes, cheese, and other fattening things), but it seems like my tummy is not growing that much.. In the last scan, the baby weighs 2.7kg. I hope by the time she's born, she'll weigh closer to 3kg!

[caption id="attachment_2111" align="aligncenter" width="146" caption="@ 37 Weeks"][/caption]

Unlike the previous pregnancy, this time round I have quite bad pain in my upper thigh whenever I move or walk :(  So even going from bedroom to living room is a chore for me. Not to mention going to work, which is very far faaaaaaarrr away and require lots of walking.

So today, I asked my boss whether I can start my maternity leave from tomorrow (2 working days earlier than planned).. then after further discussion, he suggested why not I work from home and start the maternity leave only after I deliver? (He knows that I got no much things to do now, I only need to test something this coming Monday and maybe helps to answer colleague's queries and that's about it). He actually said that he didn't care what I do at home, as long as I'm contactable (to answer the colleague's queries) and do the testing on Monday, then considered as working liao.. wow.. Isn't he so NICE?? Feel so touched to have a boss that's so thoughtful.. :)

So.. yayyy.. tomorrow onwards I don't need to drag my legs to office liao... :D

Remembering The Good Old Times

A few weeks back, I had a dinner gathering with ex-colleagues from Integro, to celebrate a birthday. It was real nice, meeting them all again. It's so rare that so many turn up at the same time in a gathering! I felt like we're back to where we were 4-5 years back, when most of us were working in Integro. Most of us have now already "moved on". Can you imagine out of so many people turning up, only 1 still currently working in Integro? Haha!

[caption id="attachment_1721" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="(Mostly) ex-Integroians"][/caption]

It's kinda amazing how at the present, we're still close to each other. 3 years have passed and some of us still having regular meeting, regular chatting over the msn, etc. No doubt working times in Integro was the best of all times. I don't think I'll ever experience such enjoyable times in work anymore (unless we all work in 1 company again!)

Most of us are from the same age group, maybe that's why. I still remember times when we purposely OT (can you imagine me OT-ing??), well not for work, but for making someone's wedding gift. Or farewell gift.

Or when we purposely come to office early, all to learn and make baloons with nice shape (poodle shape, bear shape, etc), and make many of them to surprise the birthday boy/girl, so that when he/she came in, he/she will be shocked at how nicely decorated their seats are.

Or when we have very frequent prolonged tea-break in the meeting room or nearby Starbucks/Coffee Bean and play UNO! Oh I love that game! And we can't stop screaming during the game.. Haha..

The good old times.. Really missed those times now..

Europe - Duisburg (Part II)

- Wed, 12 May 2010 -

Work has been no other than b.o.r.i.n.g.  99% of the time spent in office is for w-a-i-t-i-n-g for defects to be reported. Luckily, there's no defect reported so far. (which is good, of course!)

Yesterday afternoon the weather was very cold, and some of my colleague are very busy, so they didn't want to go out. So in the end only me and a phillipino colleague who went out and help the others dabao. We didn't know what we wanna eat. On the way to Forum mall, we saw this stall selling German-style hot-dog. You know, the bratswurst (German style long sausage). So we decided to have that for lunch.

[caption id="attachment_1243" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Yummy Stall"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1244" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Rostbratwurst & Mayo pommes"][/caption]

I had the roasted one (it was yummy!) on bread, with mustard sauce. We also bought fries (with mayonnaise) and share it. In total, per person was only 1.8 euro! Wow, that's so cheap, don't you think? ;)

Since it was only a stall, there was no table and chair. So we sat on the bench outside, and goodness! It was freeeeeezing!! Oh yeah, there were lots and lots of doves. And apparently the doves here isn't afraid of people. They don't runaway when people are approaching, and they love to eat bread. Luckily there were many doves, they kinda help me to finish my bread, as I want to finish it fast fast (so can faster go to a warmer place) haha..

From the office, I can see something that look like a castle. Well, you know, classical type of building (that I just love). So yesterday after work, I decided to try finding that building. It seems to be quite near the office, although it's on different direction from the hotel.

The weather was very cold, and it was a biiiiiiittt drizzling. I tried to open my umbrella, but whuzzzzzz.. The wind kept blowing it off. Yeah, the wind was soooo strong that I can't use umbrella! So finally I just proceed without using umbrella.

[caption id="attachment_1245" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Along the way....."][/caption]

I tried to walk and walk and walk.. look left and right, but the "castle" was nowhere to be found. I also went to a small road but still, the "castle" is not there. Finally I gave up, and decided to head back to the hotel. While walking back, I turn my head to the left (while crossing the road), and there it is!! In the end of the small road, there lies the "castle". I wonder why I missed it before, I've went thru the same road but I didn't see it earlier.

[caption id="attachment_1246" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="I see you!!"][/caption]

Apparently the "castle" was a church. The building is veryyy niceeeee.. I didn't regret spending so much time just to find it. The name was Pfarrkirche St Ludger. I guess it means "St Luke"? Not sure though.. I'm just guessing.. haha..

[caption id="attachment_1247" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Artistic shot of St Ludger"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1248" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="St Ludger - Inside View"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1249" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I've gotta be in the photo too!"][/caption]

After taking photos and admiring the building, I head back to the hotel, and went to Forum mall for dinner and window-shopping.

Oh, so last night I had Schnitzel (chicken cutlet), which was baked with cheese in Swiss style. They have Italiano, Hawaiian, and Swiss. I just anyhow pointed to the Swiss one. Apparently, Swiss style is...... lots of spinach and baked cheese on top of the schnitzel.. aiyooo.. I should've opt for Italiano instead... LOL.. And oh, did I mention that the portion was HUGEEEE?

-----------------------------

- Thurs, 13 May 2010 -

Today is supposed to be a public holiday in Europe. But sadly, with the few serious problems occurring in production (not my part!), we were required to go to work as normal. And today, I reaaaallly 100% got nothing to do at all. I think my application are not tested today, or the person in charge is not coming in to work. So actually, whether I come or not to work doesn't really make a difference. *sigh* Oh yeah, it does actually. If only today I don't need to report to work, I can go to Amsterdam! LOL..

Oh yeah.. 2 of my female colleagues have decided to extend their stay in Europe until Sunday. So we've decided to go together to Amsterdam on Saturday. And that means that I'll need to forego my hotel booking in Cologne and Frankfurt (as Fri night I'll stay in my colleague's room, and Sat night we'll stay in a hotel in Cologne). Sadly, it was quite late to cancel my hotel booking in Cologne for Fri night. So I need to pay 47 euros for the cancellation fee. Well, that's ok. That's still a bit cheaper than having to pay the full price of the hotel per night. So in the end, I can still save a bit.. hehe.. But I also need to pay 15 euros for train ticket cancellation fee :(  But since I really wanted to go Amsterdam, so.. nvm.. Really regret that I didn't plan this earlier.. hahaa..

After work, I can't continue with my shopping, as it's public holiday, hence all shops closed. So I decided to find another church in Duisburg that I haven't been to. Following the map, I can reach the church! It's called Pfrarrkirche St Joseph. Yay.. I think I'm getting better at reading maps now.. LOL..

[caption id="attachment_1251" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="St Joseph - Duisburg"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1252" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Nice surroundings around the church"][/caption]

And for tonight's dinner, I had Currywurst from The Curry Bar. It was not bad. It's something like a sausage with some sauce (I think it's tomato sauce), topped with curry powder.

[caption id="attachment_1253" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Currywurst"][/caption]

So cooolllldddd..

Bbbrrrr... It's sooooo cold in here... I feel that each day, it's only getting colder and colder.. Yesterday afternoon and this morning is the coldest ever (for me). I can hardly feel my hand coz it's too cold, and when trying to speak, the face muscles feel stiff. Hmm.. I think I need to thicker jacket.. LOL..

Anyway... now I'm sitting in the office again, just for standby and waiting for problems to come (which hopefully, wouldn't happen). Sometimes feel a bit bad coz some others are super busy, but I can't help at all, as we're doing totally different things.. Hehee..

Just for fun (and wasting time), here's some small little interesting things that I found about Germany so far:

• The churches and buildings are beauuutifullll..


• Food come in huge portion, and by huge, i mean HUGEEEE.. There's no way I can finish 1 portion by myself, I think it's more suited for 2 ladies portion.


• The bread here is also hugeee.. And talking about bread, croissant here is very nice. It's crispy on the outside and soft in the inside.. yummyyyy.. and blackforest cake (which apparently originates from German) tastes differently! It's so soft and light, and nice!


• Sun is not something you can see everyday (even in spring time, nearing summer)


• People are friendlier compared to Singaporeans. When they go to the lift/go out of the lift, they'll say "Hello" and "Bye" (in German) to strangers too.


• Tax (GST) here is 19%. Wow... 19%!!! Tsk tsk tsk.. I should try to shop in Tax-Free places (for tourists)


• People here like to eat ice cream even when the weather is so cold (maybe it's not considered cold for them?)


• People here likes dogs. Quite a lot of them bringing their dogs for shopping in shopping centers.


• Pedestrian way are all covered in tiles, and not-even-one of the tiles is missing/spoiled.


• In spring, the days are long. At 4:30am it's already bright, and at 8:30pm, it's still bright!


• Authentic german food is only served in Brauhaus (something like a pub?). That explains why I haven't tried it yet so far. Haha!


• Unexpectedly, things here aren't as expensive as  I thought. Some is even cheaper than Singapore. Clothes, hat, scarf, etc etc is not so expensive.


• German people love sweet things (something like doughnuts plus sugar), and they also love very salty things (the pizza are very salty.. and so does the sausage. But the sausages are nice!)


• All shops (and most restaurants) are closed on Sunday. And on weekdays, they closed at 8pm sharp.


• There's no "chilli sauce" in German. When buying something with fries, the option are either "Mayo or Ketchup?" instead of "Chilli or Ketchup?"

Hmm.. I think that's about it so far. I'll post the stories of my little "adventure" in another post next time. Must wait until I can upload the photos to my laptop. Sadly this laptop is tooooo old until it can't detect my camera.. Tsk tsk tsk..

Europe - Duisburg (Part I)

Wooohooo.. finally it's time to fly to Europe!

My flight was SQ326 to Frankfurt, it flew from 2 pm Singapore time for 12 hours, so reach Frankfurt at 2 am Singapore time (or 8 pm Frankfurt time).  For the first time ever, I tried to check-in online 1 day before. Lucky I did that! Almost all of the good seats have been taken.. wow.. I didn't expect the flight to be full house. I thought only few people will be taking the flight..

If I remember correctly, SQ chair used to be very comfortable and spacious. Hmmm... but somehow in the plane I took, the chair was not comfortable (the headrest is too "intimidating".. It's kinda too thick so can't sit back comfortably. And the aisle was quite squeezy too. I wonder whether the last SQ flight I took (few years back, when the plane tickets were still cheap) was also like that?

And 12 hours really feel loooooooooong... I watched Nodame Cantabile The Movie I (Japanese movie) and Woo-Chi (Korean movie), and also tried to sleep in the plane (I think I slept around 1 hours). The Korean movie was unexpectedly nice!

Reaching Frankfurt, at 8 pm it was still so bright, just like 5-6 pm in Singapore.. Hmmm... maybe because of that, they have the daylight saving thing? :p  Anyway, after collecting our baggage, me and another 3 colleagues went to the long distance train station (still in the airport itself) to buy tickets to go to Duisburg (the city that we're supposed to work in). The train tickets in Europe is very expensive, it costs 76 Euros for 1 way! Tsk tsk tsk..

We took the fast intercity train (I think it's called ICE). The journey was about 1 hour 40 minutes. (btw no photos so far, because I was with my colleagues.. paiseh to take photos.. hahahaha)  The train was quite nice, the seat was much bigger and more comfy than plane seats! We managed to find empty seats (even without reserving seats). Oh yeah, an amazing thing that I just found out about Europe train: when boarding the train, it's very important to board the correct cabin.. Because somewhere along the line, the train might break and different cabin will go to different place! So even if you're taking the correct train but wrong cabin, you may end up somewhere else.. LOL..

We reached Duisburg around 10:30 pm. Our hotel (Mercure Duisburg City) was within walking distance to the train station. After checking in, we went to our room to sleep. Btw, I can't really sleep.. I slept at 12am, and woke up at 4am and can't sleep anymore.. Not sure is it because I'm too excited or because of jetlag?

By 5 am, it was already bright, just like 8 am in Singapore. Wow, spring time is really nice to go Europe, because the days are longer and the weather are so nice! By 6:30 am, I finished bathing, and start to go out to look around the hotel.

[caption id="attachment_1230" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Somewhere near the hotel"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1231" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Nice building, hor?"][/caption]

The weather was quite cold, I guess it should be around 10 degrees (or colder). My hands were cold (and when I tried to speak, my face feel stiff). I think the weather was about as cold as when I went to Alishan (Taiwan) during winter time.

Duisburg is apparently nicer than what I expected. I thought it will be more of modern building everywhere.. But apparently, it still looks like other parts of Europe pictures.. There are some old classical type of building.

Luckily I borrowed a mini tripod from Yeniffer, I used it a lot! (Well, mostly because it was a Sunday early morning. All shops are closed on Sunday, btw. And at that time, no one seems to pass by).

[caption id="attachment_1232" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Konigstrasse at Duisburg"][/caption]

I walked around the hotel, apparently there are 2 shopping centres nearby (which was closed, again, coz it was a Sunday). I so can't wait to see all the shops open! Hahaa.. I like the warmth feeling I felt while walking around. It just feel so different with Singapore! Can really feel that I'm in a different part of the world! Different kind of environment, different kind of people.. And btw, unlike Asia, all the pedestrian walkway (and even some roads for vehicle) are covered with tiles. It's a different kind from the ones used in Asia. Somehow in Europe, it looks sooooo tidy (all the tiles are aligned nicely, not even 1 is spoiled), whereas in Asia, in a pedestrian walkway, there must be at least 1 or 2 tiles that are spoiled.

 I didn't really spent much time, coz it was quite cold (and I forgot to bring my hand warmer). So I went back to the hotel, had my breakfast, and go back to sleep for 1 more hour.

By 11 am, we were at the office already, ready to support for production cutover (yes, it's a Sunday, the cutover is on Sunday). Actually my part of the project will be rolled over only in the wee hours on early Monday morning (about 1-2 am that kind). So I only stayed in the office for 2-3 hours, then go back to hotel to rest, because I  need to return to office on 10 pm that night to support the production cut-over.

But as you can guess, how can I stay in hotel when there's so much to see? LOL... After changing, I went out again to go around Duisburg. This time I went to Altdstadt (Old Town) area. I like to see old classical type of building. It just look amazing to me!

[caption id="attachment_1233" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Rathaus @ Duisburg from afar"][/caption]

I love the Rathaus (Town Hall) in Duisburg.. Ahem, somehow at first, I thought it was part of the big Salvatorkirche church, as they lie next to each other. Both of these buildings are very nice. Each part of the building is crafted with details. Too bad I can't get in the church. Have wanted to see how does it look in the inside. When I wanna go inside, the door was locked :(

[caption id="attachment_1234" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Me Me Me! (in front of Rathaus)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1235" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Salvatorkirche (Cathedral in Duisburg)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1236" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Back view of the Rathaus"][/caption]

Just beside the church is the Carmellite monastery. I didn't dare to go in, scared that I might disturb someone.. hehe..

And when I walk further down, I saw.... a market!! There's a market open on Sunday!! Oh I was so happy.. It was just beside the river (or harbour?). There are quite a lot of stalls, many are selling flowers, fruits, accessories, some decoration stuff.

[caption id="attachment_1237" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Marina Sunday Market"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1238" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="German Street Snack"][/caption]

I bought a few souvenirs over there, and also tried a snack that I'm not sure what it's called. The lady selling it can't speak english, and she mentioned a long german sentence that I don't understand at all.. Hahaa.. Anyway, the snack wasn't that nice apparently..

By the time I finished walking around the market, it was already 5 pm. I decided to start going back to the hotel, passing by a nice big building.

[caption id="attachment_1239" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I'm guessing that this is a post office?"][/caption]

Since the shops are closed on Sundays, the locals were just hanging around, sitting in the bench on the roadside. And btw, I saw quite a lot are peeking inside the closed shops (from outside, of course).

Reaching the hotel, I slept for 3 hours before finally head back to office.. And here I am now, typing this entry while waiting for my applications to be rolled-over. I hope there's no problem at all!! And I'm so sleepy now.. Yawn..

Something to look forward to ^^

Well, I've always get excited when planning on itinerary, how to go there, what's there to see, etc.. And now.. it's 8 more days to go to Europe!! Hehehee.. I'm soo excited and sooo can't wait :)

So happy that I finally get a chance to be sent there.. Must thank my team lead who specifically asked the PM whether I need to go there for the project deployment too or not. I hope there's no problem with the visa.. It took more than 10 working days to process Germany visa application for Indonesian passport holder.. And I also hope that there's no change again to the deployment date, or else my visa will need to be reapplied again..

Somewhere last week, I muster the courage to ask the PM whether I can extend for 2 days or not (the return flight was scheduled to be on Fri night, so I want to change it to Sunday night instead), and she said can!! Oh I'm so happy.. Ahem, actually most ideal case is if I can take 1 week leave, then pi & I can tour round Europe together.. But I can't take long leave during this period.. Because the sytem will just go live by then, so we all need to be on standby..

So I decided to go on my own for 2 days... Hmm.. Modal nekat aja deh :p

Initially I wanted to go Paris, because 1 of my friend stays there, and I really wanna go there. But.... just so happen that during that weekend, she'll be going somewhere else for holiday.. And I thought, since it was only 2 days travel anyway, and Paris is quite far, I might as well just travel around Germany. Not to waste anytime on the way, lor..

So.. I've booked hotels for my 2 days extension. I'll be staying 1 night in Cologne, and 1 night in Frankfurt (because it's where the airport is). The hotels I booked is considered quite cheap range.. LOL... Well I'll be only sleeping for a while, not going to stay in the room for long. So I chose the hotels that I surely can see once get down from train station (so that I won't get lost), and cheap, and also with breakfast! Hehehee.. so far the hotel that I've booked is Hotel Domspatz in Cologne, and Hotel Excelsior in Frankfurt.

Out of this 2 cities, I'm more excited about Cologne! It's one of the oldest city in Germany, and houses lots of beautiful old churches and many old Roman type buildings. The cathedral there is also verrryy hugeeee and grand, it takes 600 years to finish building it.. Wow, can't wait to see it! (and btw, the hotel I booked is very near to the cathedral) haha.. Oh yeah, Cologne also have Chocolate museum that's located in a bridge on top of Rhein river... Hm, no, I don't think I'll go in the museum, but I wanna go to the cafeeee! They have a cafe that serves cakes and various types of chocolate drinks.. and we can sit in the cafe, while enjoying the view in Rhine river.. woooooo.. I so can't wait!!

Will I goooo...?

Oh oh oh... I've been asked to apply for visa to go to German!!! Yeah!! I hope I can get it in time... The plane tix is tentatively booked for 23 April.. And the visa processing time is about 10 working days.. Aiks... And the earliest I can apply is this coming monday (12 april).. oh no.... doesn't seem to have enough time for the visa... :'(

I reaaaaaaallly really really hope that the visa can come out on time, and I can go!! If this time round I can't go because of visa problem AGAIN, I dunno what to say liao... :'(   I also wonder why they must wait until the time is really short then ask me to apply... *sigh* should've informed me from last week, then there'll be enough time for the visa...

Another Chance Flying Away.....

Am feeling soooooo down now.... :(

I was just informed that I would need to go to German next week for some urgent connectivity test. I was soooo happy to hear that. (And confused at the same time too, as my sister will come to SG next week). But anyway, I have to go, as I'm the only one who know the system well. And apparently the customer can't have any delay, as the system should go live on end of April. Hahaa! Don't you want to laugh to hear that? Going live end of April, and now we're still discussing about connectivity test! The user can't even start testing yet! Tsk tsk tsk..

Anyway, apparently because I'm holding Indonesian passport, the processing for Visa to go europe is..... 10 days.. Yeah you read it right.. 10 days only to apply for Visa?? And the sad thing is, for most other countries, only need 4 days. Only Indonesians, Filipinos, and few other countries need 10 days.

Arrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... soooooooooooo so so so so sad.............. So since the customer can't wait, my team lead will go there again (even though he doesn't know what to do also) and I won't go.......... :'(  There goes my last chance.......... :(

So sad so sad... why so unfair.. Indonesian passport need 10 days while most other countries are only 4 days.. :(

*sigh*

Let's Celebrate!

One day after work, a colleague and I was discussing about our 2009 bonus that will be paid on March. And just thinking about it kept both of us all smiley all the way home. And our home is very far from office, btw. Can you imagine 2 ladies keep smiling for 1 hour in MRT? Lol..

And finally it was time for the bonus pay-out! We were quite satisfied with the result (not that the bonus is very big, or something.. it's just that our expectation was low.. hahaaa). So we decided to go for a celebration! (Actually regardless of whether the bonus is good or not, we've planned to go for a celebration anyway).  And since we felt like eating western food, we finally went to Jack's Place @ United Square.

[caption id="attachment_1133" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Our Soup & Garlic Bread"][/caption]

We ordered set lunch, which came with main course, soup, dessert of the day, and drink. For the soup, the soup was the day was cream of cauliflower and chicken. The taste was so-so. Not so bad but not so nice too. But with a happy mood, maybe almost anything will taste nice? LOL.

[caption id="attachment_1132" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Annie & Her T-Bone Steak"][/caption]

Wow look at that steak.. the serving's so generous, don't you think? ;)

[caption id="attachment_1134" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Me & My Rib-eye Steak"][/caption]

As far as I can remember, the baked potato in Jack's Place is the best that I've ever eaten! And my memory is actually right. It really does taste heavenly.. Let me show you a more closed up...

[caption id="attachment_1135" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Rib-eye Steak"][/caption]

Just look at the baked potato!! Sluuuuurrrppp... It came with sour cream and bacon bits, and the overall taste was just peeeerrfeeecccttt... I wonder why other restaurant doesn't serve this side dish? Mostly they will serve the potato as either fries or wedges or mashed potato. Only Jack's Place and Delifrance serve baked one (with this style). But of course, Delifrance's one can't be compared with this one. I love the one at Jack's Place so much! :)

Oh ya.. dessert of the day was some assortment of fruits served with nata-de-coco.

Oh oh baked potato... when can I eat you again... LOL..

A Blessing in a Bad Day

I won't deny that I hateeeeeee hate hate supporting one of a system at work. Sadly, I'm the only one supporting that system and all the problems will come to me. The system was soooo utterly very very poorly developed, and the database design is really cannot make it.. I've never seen a system so badly developed as that one. I think not even in my university time I'd develop something that bad. I'm not exaggerating here.. If you need to support the system, you'd know what I meant. The processing and all was actually supposed to be simple, but the developer made it such a way that it's complicated, and even so troublesome and time-spending to maintain.

And last friday, the big boss requested to change some of the figure in the report. And with this so-called "great" system, it's not just a matter of changing the value in db, and "poof!" the report is changed. Well, I think a system should behave that way! Sadly, this system design makes things difficult since it copies the data from one table to another table, and from the other table to some other table etc etc etc.. so I need to trace the code to see which data need to tweak and which process need to be re-run... And instantly, on Friday I was such in a baaaaaad mood!

To lighten my mood, on 11am, I decided to go for Laines make&take session. (Laines is a local scrapbook store in SG). Well, initially I didn't intend to join it, as the thing to make isn't that interesting. But hey, going to a scrapbook shop will certainly brighten my day, won't it? ;)

So finally I went to join the make&take, we made a Valentine's door hanger. Not bad, at least I can hang it on my door! haha.. And the thing I love about make&take is... having a discount voucher for shopping! That day the promo was 4 item for 40% off. And so I grab 4 items that I like, and I see this 1 paper that I like! But that makes it as 5 items, right? So the additional 1 paper would need to be paid as a normal priced item.

When I went to the cashier to pay, the conversation goes like this. FYI, I frequent the shop so often (most of the time to see see and oh-ah only, and sometime to buy something small), until almost all the shopkeeper know my face liao :">

Cashier: You own a VIP card, right?
Me: Umm.. No, I'm a privilege cardholder
Cashier: Waaattt? You've been coming here for so long, how come still holding privilege cardholder? Currently we have a promo: spend min $50 and you'll get upgraded to VIP (normally must spend a LOTTT to be a VIP member, that explains why I'm not a VIP yet hahaaa)
Me: Oh.. I think my items are less than that... No need la..
Cashier: Hmm.. tell you what.. I'll give 15% discount for the normal-price item (that's the VIP discount), and issue you a VIP card.

Waaaaaaahh.. I was so happy! The cashier girl was so nice to me! I got Laines VIP card now... (15% off normal priced items) kekekekee... At least I got something happy in the blue day :)

Sayonara to an Old Companion

After accompanying me in office for the last 1.5 years, my very old and slow computer finally decided to rest peacefully forever. In the morning, when I just arrived to office and decided that I should use the new LCD my office assigned to me, I tried to start up the computer as per normal. But then, it refused to on! It just hang there..... and when the IT guy came to check, he pronounced that the motherboard has reached its end of life...

So then, I had to use the new computer that I haven't got time to configure, and sadly, I also haven't got the chance to backup any data from my old pc. I plan to do it after the Purchase Request for a new keyboard&mouse for the new PC is approved. Yeah, the new PC is not actually new, it once belonged to an ex-colleague which has left the company for 2 months now. Since his computer is considered quite high-specs, I requested for his PC. Little did I know, people was already stealing the keyboard & mouse of this computer! Can you imagine!! So I had to raise a request to buy the keyboard & mouse, and there was sooo many layer for approval. But since my old one was already pronounced dead, my boss started chasing after people to approve the PR. Soooo today I can buy the keyboard & mouse!

Since I got nothing to do at office without a computer, my boss said that I can go and buy the keyboard & mouse. So off I went to Popular at Toa Payoh Central. I reached at 11am sharp, only to find there were already so many people waiting outside the gate, and I was wondering why.... Apparently, the door was stucked!! Popular is supposed to open at 11am, but today there was some kind of a electricity fault such that the gate can't be opened. After 15 mins of waiting, finally Popular employees managed to open the gate slowly, manually...

Heheee.. sooo.. now I started using my new pc.. let's hope that this one will be much faster than my previous one. The previous one was just.. can't make it! :p

Krrrrrrrriiiiinnnggggg!!!

This morning, when we're all working (or pretending to work), the fire alarm rings "Krrrrriiiiiiingggggg!!" loudly. And everybody was....... sitting calmly in their own chair, still continuing with the work (and for my case, still continuing my chatting session.. LOL)

After sometime, some people start to stand up and look around, still doing it calmly. Asking to one another: "Is there any fire drill today?" And apparently there really is a fire drill today! So... we went down the emergency exit stairs slowly, chattering happily.

Honestly, I think if the fire alarm rings for the real thing, we'd all trapped inside the fire.

Well, mainly because we don't take it seriously. Hmm.. with so many fire drills happening throughout the year, and sometimes without letting us know about it in advance, even if the fire alarm rings during a real fire, we'd all think it's "just another fire drill"

The chance that I've been waiting for

Yesterday my boss was asking me (for the 2nd time, btw) whether I can travel to Europe for 6 months or not.. Europe!!! It's my dream to go Europe!! I've always wanted to go there.. but 6 months.. is quite long.. of course he said can come back in between, but still..

The first time he asked, my answer was: "Can.. if I bring my baby along.." hahahaa.. The 2nd time round, I started to do more thinking.... and the more I think, the more I feel I want to go. This is the chance that I've been waiting for for years. And I think this kind of chance won't come twice.

But quite in a dilemma... I don't want to miss Vio's cute everyday moments too.. But of course impossible for me to bring him there... who will take care of him when I'm working?

So confused now.. But now the travel arrangement is not out yet... I hope it will be a good one.. like maybe... can go back every month for 1-2 weeks? If like that then I'll consider going... Then in between the 6 months, pi can visit me there for few weeks (bringing Vio along)... oh oh.. isn't it so wonderful? But then, it's still a dreaaaaam.. dream dream dream...

Yawn..

What a sleepy sleepy day.. *yaaaaaawnnn...* Yeah last night Vio kept turning left and right, left and right, left and right, starting from around 2am in the morning! He even "woke up" and move his buttock up for few times(into crawling position, but only his buttock. His body is still in sleeping position) and keep chanting "ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta" all this with his eyes closed! How cute is that.. haha.. It might be coz he played and laughed too much during the day with his Ku-Nai2 that he loves very much!

So now I'm feeling suuuuper sleepy.. How am I going to self-read on MQ... Aiyo.. MQ and Webservices... 2 things that I don't like in programming.. But now I need to do MQ... followed by Webservices.. lol.. Anybody out there can help me?? :p

Well.. at least tonight I'm meeting my ex-colleagues from Integro for dinner at Marche Vivocity! Keekekekeke... I wanna try their crepes.. Seems like lots of raves on it in the internet.. :D Now waiting for 6pm.... but now is only... 11am... haiz...