Yeah, today is here!

TODAY IS HERE!

finally after 5 dreadfully long, hectic nights.
6 hours more n i'm outta here for the next few days.

we're headed for KL tonight.
NeuNeu's gramps, mom, aunt, uncle-in-law n 3 cousins have arrived safely earlier yesterday night according to Wynn.
boy, has she got a handful this weekend coz we've got 10 people waiting to be pampered n served!

meanwhile, Wynn n i have already got "Grand Plans" for the boys over the weekend.
*hiak hiak*

the plan for the next 24 hours:
0700 knock off
0830 arrive home
1400 final packing
1700 dinner
1800 prepare sandwiches n snacks
2030 depart from home
2130 meet NeuNeu at Boon Lay when he knocks off
2200 bring his PC to friend's place (Bukit Panjang)
2230 customs
2300 supper at Taman Sentosa
0000 headed for KL
0500 arrive at Wynn's
0700 dim sum breakfast with everyone!

on a different note altogether..
'twas Masaaki's last night on shift.
he's moving on to IM role from today onwards.
congrats!
i suppose that also means a visit to Singapore again soon, eh. =P


i'll be missed for the next few days
(at least that's what i'd like to believe),
so here's a picture to compensate for my absence.

have fun, kiddos!

Night Chat

random chats tonight include:

1) Dan giving me a free trip to Bangkok in December coz he's getting the two-month bonus
(pity i don't have spare leave for the month plus i'm headed for Perak with NeuNeu n my family)

2) How Nick almost broke (or was it already broken) his girlfriend's legs in their recent Hong Kong trip over the weekend while looking for his toys & PSP
(give me a complimentary trip to Hong Kong n i'll let u break mine too :P)

3) Which bouquet of flower to pick for Qing's anniversary n whether it's better to send it to home or office.. Not forgetting where we're supposed to meet in KL this weekend
(i hope Carmen's not reading otherwise the surprise would be ruined..)

4) Whether it's worthwhile to visit MNG with Joanne during the Malaysia Megasale coz they usually sell the Godzilla-sized past-season stuff
(no conclusion for this yet. i guess we'll just pop by n take a peek at the stock..)

5) Whether "E" should burn the frayed ends of her newly-acquired bag n risk turning it into ashes then we decided to switch brainstorm on the topic of:

"are breakfasts are meant for people who've slept the night before"
(...anyone has answers?)

Night Shift

1st day of the 2nd week of night shift.
i never fail to have trouble catching up on my sleep.

in case, u're pondering over my disappearance for the past week.
since it's been a while, i may have gotten some dates mixed up..

21.11.2007 (Wednesday)
Grocery purchase - JB Carrefour / JB Giant
Shopping in JB City Square
Supper from JB City Square
Car Wash back at Bukit Batok

24.11.2007 (Saturday)
Prayers at Waterloo Street
Shopping at OG Albert / Bugis Junction / Village
Frog's Leg Porridge at Tampines

25.11.2007 (Sunday)
Packing up
Work

i've been catching up on my sleep, packing up my room, making coffee for a certain "someone" taking his exams these 2 weeks.
u've been throwing ur weight around n having things ur way, eh.
u'll know when wait till ur exam ends tomorrow..


anyways, am looking forward to our road trip on Friday..
far from spectacular, but still excited coz it'll be our first drive to KL.

the trip's brought forward coz NeuNeu's gramps, mom, aunt n family decided to head out this month so we'll join them instead
(which means i prob can catch Qing one of the days over a drink)
coincidentally, my family have to travel back to Ipoh/Perak next month so we'll do a second drive in then
(with the help of Ming Tat for the obvious reason that i can never recognize the way back)


been feeling stressed of late.

falling sick once every few weeks, the recurring insomnia just makes things worse.
perhaps it's time for a really good long break with little or no traveling, simple chores, regular eating n sleeping hours.
i could use the balance of my leave for this year, but i gotta wait till February/March next year for the slots.

sigh.

Tuzki

have u noticed the Motorola advertisement on the right column of my blog?
it's my favorite bunny Tuzki!


words can't describe how much i love love love love love this wacky wabbit.

so here's one of my favorite expressions.
(yes, the one which i always make my Melody dolls mimick)

do check out the Motorola page for some fabulous downloads.
MSN emoticons, PC & mobile screensavers, wallpapers, MMS, animation etc etc..

My Ultimate

my bad mood has escalated to the ultimate level.
i just wanna grab n punch someone.

hand me that stuffed teddy now!!!

JB Jusco & Asia Pacific Food Expo

yesterday was the day for our weekly trip to JB.
brunch-ed at "The Chicken Rice Shop" in Jusco.

plain as the food looked, they tasted surprisingly good.
for the set NeuNeu ordered, the bean sprouts were crisp n not "raw", whilst the chicken was cooked till tender n drizzled with honey sauce.

my order of shredded chicken noodle was very nicely done too.
wanton noodles cooked with the usual veggies, shredded chicken n preserved veggies.
when undercooked the wanton noodles will turn out tough n "springy". but theirs wasn't under / overcooked n the soup complimented it well.

NeuNeu's set consisted of:
1 bowl of soup
1 plate of chicken
1 plate of bean sprouts
2 pai tee
1 dessert
1 drink

mine was made up of:
1 bowl of shredded chicken noodle
2 pai tee
1 dessert
1 drink

what's more, each set only cost us RM10.99

we decided that the restaurant should really be named,
"The Surprisingly Good Chicken Rice Shop".

after our routine visits to Carrefour n Giant, we returned to Singapore.
hopped by his place to fetch his mom n Glenneth, then to mine to fetch my mom.
we were all headed for the Asia Pacific Food Expo.

we bought individually-packed mini bah-kwa (肉乾 dried pork), sachets of nuts, dried cod-fish n eel, bah-chang (肉棕 rice dumplings), tang yuan (湯圓 glutinous rice dumplings) just to name a few...
Mommy never fails to lug bags of goodies home from these food fairs.
pity though, coz i didn't see the mini-eclair which we bought from the previous fair.

all busted n tired, we had a quick dinner at Bedok 85 n headed back to my place.

NeuNeu tried to scare Glenneth with talks of a scary crocodile kept in my house. while we were chatting in the living room, he checked out my room n was greeted by...

my kookoo-dile :)
he does look quite cuckoo with the silly smile on his face, doesn't he?

Changi T3 & NEWater Plant Tour

i died thrice today. almost.

we woke up early this morning to visit the new airport terminal 3.

'twas gorgeous.

admission fee into the transit hall:
SGD1 per person (unguided)
SGD3 per person (guided)

we took the unguided one, but shamelessly eavesdropped while walking behind the group anyway :P

the building was well-lit though we found it suspiciously similar to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport which we visited earlier this year, except that in view of promoting the Garden City reputation, T3's got more "green's" in it.

pity though coz half the time i was drooling over the ah-peks' DSLRs.

that was where i had my first close call with Shinigami (Grim Reaper in Japanese)

i almost stepped, slipped, fell n died, on the amount of slobber i was dribbling.

DearDear i want to buy one!



the terminal was seriously huge.
which led to the second brush with the God of Death.
even my middle-age marathon-running mommy also thought that amount walking was quite tedious.
my feet were badly blistered from the all the walking.
so much for abandoning my trusty birks for some pretty looking URS sandals.

so painful can!
(more pix to be up later...)

we hopped over to tour at the NEWater plant in between.

now we know how the Household-Use Water (indecorously known as Toilet-Water) is filtered, sterilized n processed into potable water.

NeuNeu still refuses to drink it,
(despite knowing it's already added to our daily drinking supply without us knowing anyway).

denial.


back for late lunch at Changi T2.
the food at the canteen sucks.
i totally died there.

DO NOT...
i repeat, DO NOT ever try the Japanese food there.
not the Chicken Katsu Don at least.
it's most likely frozen chicken cutlets put into microwave without even being defrosted properly.


tomorrow we're going to JB again.

night shift is coming,
i'm gonna stock up on my twiggies!

Misc Rambling

woo~
i've got one more reason to shop now...
NeuNeu got a month's free parking in Capitaland Malls.
i.e. Bugis Junction, Bukit Panjang Plaza, Clarke Quay, Funan DigitaLife Mall, IMM, Junction 8, Jurong Entertainment Centre, Lot One, Plaza Singapura, Tampines Mall.


i've got 4 off days in a row this week n the best way to start it is...
a warm cozy bed,
a nice rainy weather,
plus...

DRILLING NEXT DOOR!!!

Rated "G"

so u think only movies have ratings?
i chanced upon this site that generates ratings for blogs.

my blog's rated "G" - General Audiences!

have a blog?
give this site a try n see what's its rating.

Late Night, Early Morning

finally feeling much better from the flu.

ruined my 1st rest day.
only managed to go to the new Sheng Siong in Bedok with Mom & NeuNeu, then spent the rest of the day crouching in bed.

on the 2nd rest day (yesterday), i managed to meet up Aileen n Anjan at Chatterbox in the evening.
but coz i've already taken dinner so i only had Coconut Ice Cream while Aileen had the renowned Chicken Rice.

been sometime since i last saw them.
like 6 months?!
gosh, time really flies...

oh, the only picture i took when i was there.
Coconut Ice Cream.
the presentation was really pretty n my picture really doesn't do justice to it :P

left around 10pm after some chitter-n-chatter.
NeuNeu came by n fetched me for some KTV with his classmates, Charles n Jason.

yea, i was still sick but i can never resist a KTV session.
i'm incorrigible.
herhrr.

we ended the session around 2AM,
dropped Charles at his place in Taman Jurong n arrived home no earlier than 2.30AM.

which means i only slept 3hours n now i'm at work...

*yawn*

Bloggers Choice Awards 2008

So, it’s approaching that time of year again – Blog Awards!

I have been nominated for the Bloggers Choice Awards 2008 – for Best Blog Design! It be great if you could spend a few minutes voting for me! And, you can get to see some other cool blogs out there as well.

I must say, for a website about blogs, Bloggers Choice Awards website is a bit confusing, but if you follow these simple steps —

1) Go to http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com

2) Create an account - you do have to fill in everything, except the “choose a picture”, and you do have to give a real e-mail address.

A message will appear telling you to check your e-mail for a confirmation message. Mine arrived in less than thirty seconds, and you click on the link in the message.

3) On the right hand side of the screen is a “search” box. Type in the word “Catherine”.

A list of entries will appear, and you can run a search for “Catherines-crib.Blogspot.com” - and mine will appear.

4) Click on the drop down menu called “Choose a Category to View this Blog” and you will see a list of all the different categories I have been nominated for.

5) It will load up a little profile of my website, and there will be a yellow “vote” button. Hit the vote button! It will turn to a set of question marks, and then you can nominate me for other categories as well, then vote for me in those categories.

THANKS SO MUCH! (I love you guys!)

Gluttony

since our trip to Vietnam in July, i've been searching high n low for the recipe to this yummy dish. it was love at first bite n we ate it EVERYDAY at Benh Tanh Market when we were there.

priced at about VND10000 (approx SGD 1), this bowl is packed with a punch!
it's consists of thick yellow noodles, pork slivers, spring onion, peanuts, bean sprouts, Chinese mushrooms, shrimp, mortadella, stripped morning glory (kang kong), saw-tooth herb, minced pork balls, chicken stock.

served with fresh-squeezed lime juice, rice cracker, chopped hot pepper goop n tastes a tad like our local rojak with the nutty-tangy taste.
variations include use of thin slices of roast pork (not the cut with the orange outer coating, just plain pork roast.)


it was an impossible mission... why?
that's because i don't even know the name to it!

that was until today...

it's called Mi Quang
"Mi" = Noodle
"Quang" = Major ethnic group that lives in Central Vietnam

the answer came all the way from down under, thanks a million Justin!
gluttony has driven me mad, mad enough to e-mail for help from our new Vietnamese colleague in Sydney for help. i thought i'd never know the answer since Xuan left us a couple of months back (before i could ask him, obviously).

though he refused to get courier a yummy portion to Singapore, he was kind (or unkind) enough to arrange a customer service training (and cooking) session in Sydney so that i could go get a tip or two from his mom (not forgetting i'm supposed to cook for everyone in the Sydney office).



ok, all these talk has got me hungry n craving for it even more now.

wonder if we'll be having a nice Viet lunch at Holland V later?

meanwhile, here's some pix for u (so that u can better understand my undying crave)!

The Day

still feeling tired from the long day,
pictures to tell the story...










1000AM
donuts to start the day






























1200NN
lunch at Jusco, Tebrau City


followed by...
shopping,
shopping,
shopping!

1900PM
dinner at Bukit Batok

lastly, pixie of My Melody from NeuNeu :)
isn't she sweet...?