Hello & Goodbye

Spanking New Peep-a-boo-toe Heels from Pazzion = $$69

Sole inserts = $$6

Heel Cushions = $$6 

Total Damage = $$81 

Alas, why oh why do I have such small feet? It is a mammoth task to actually find shoes that fit. It is terrible being a size 2-3 in Singapore. I have tried shopping at the kids’ section but unless I want to be spotted wearing pink, frilly and cartoon-adorned heels, I can only 1) pray that the brand I have tried carries small-er sizes or 2) make it work* with all the tools available. A seemingly cheap pair of shoes will end up slightly more expensive for me with all the other knick-knacks that I’ve got to buy just so I can fill it in. Not to mention how bad it is for my posture when the shoe doesn’t really fit well. 

I have such a weakness for shoes and would be such a shoe-o-holic if not for that two small foot of mine. I like shopping for and trying a-thousand-and-one pairs of shoes but I often end up dejected. I long for the day Nine West and Aldo carry shoes in smaller sizes so that I can finally relish in the pleasure of owning one. I don’t even dare to think of the Jimmy Choos and Christian Louboutin. My only hope lies in the local shoe boutiques. Charles and Keith used to be my one hope, but the small sizes run out rather quickly of late, which explains the recent drought of shoes from there. There is Pink Martina at Tangs (where I found my pumps) but the designs are usually outdated. The quality of shoes from Mondo sucks BIG TIME. And then there is Pazzion which is not exactly fitting but well, beggar can’t be choosers. :) 

If only… the shoe fits. 

* think Tim Gunn on Project Runway

Everytime I hear that song by Lily Allen, it will always remind me of the joys and laughters and the memories of Australia, followed by pangs of guilt that I haven’t taken time to actually sit down and recollect the memories into a proper post.  My bad.

I wonder if anyone else is like me, constantly having random ideas bounce off the inner walls of their mind. When that spark ignites, I often dwell on that brillant-idea-of-the-moment for a few days and get all excited (in my mind) over it. If you are really lucky or one that I really trust (so far, only the BF and one other – you know who you are), I might share the idea(s) with you and get into fruitful discussions on the feasibility and the functionality of the idea(s).
There are times when I chance upon or discover that one of my ideas (or a version of it) has actually materialize, not by me of course. But hey, there are great minds out there too

I have yet to sit down to work on some of those ideas (when I really should) and of late, I have had so many that I feel rather overwhelmed.

So in this mode of randomness, I’ve got myself a little black book – to jot down any random good or bad ideas so that one day when I have the courage to start fueling that spark, I’ll have a bank of ideas to leaf through.

Maybe some day, someone will pick this book up when I pass on and decide to do a ‘Da Vinci”. One can hope, can I?

Really funny campaign video, who said Singaporeans aren’t creative? There is still hope  for us. This cracked me up everytime I see it. It is impressive given that this is a production made by students. There are others in youtube but this is really one of the funniest in my opinion.

Well, it was LSan’s last day and we wanted to celebrate with a bang! A reservation was made for Flutes at the Fort based on the Boss’s recommendation.

Flutes at the Fort is right behind the fire station at City Hall and it is perfect for a romantic date with your love one. Amidst all the lush greenery, the restaurant is housed in an old colonial house, which my colleague mentioned used to belong to the old station master and he used to slide down the pole to reach the fire station, so cool!

Lsan and I was in awed upon sight of the restaurant and for me it was truly love at first sight. I love the staircase leading to the restaurant, it is simply too lovely and very, very romantic. Needless to say, the girls took hell lot of photos on the stairs, with the vines and flowers covered canopy.

 Lsan and I

Enough of the place, on to the review of the food. We had the weekday lunch set - the 2 course meal costs SGD28++ and the 3 course meal costs SGD32++. We all had the set lunch and I can only say the food is as nice as the place. We each had an appetiser (I think I had smoked salmon), main course (snapper) and dessert (I didn’t like it much). They served  us complimentary bread and it was served warm, damn yummy! I’ll definitely go back just for the bread! Oh wait, and also for the excellent service. Well, I ordered fries to go with my main course (being the glutton and big-eater that I am), but it didn’t come with my main course and I was wondering if they forgot but it was because the chef overcooked it and was re-doing it. Woah, impressed wor, and because of that they didn’t charge us for the fries. I was too full to appreciate the fries but I wouldn’t order it again if I have another chance to go back as I wasn’t too impressed and the meal is definitely sufficient (coming from a big-eater). We were so full we had to pack the remaining fries back to the office

Me, Klee, Lsan

My soggy fries!

Flutes at the Fort is one of the better restaurants I’ve been to in recent months and the set lunch is definitely worth it’s price. It does seem that the menu has changed and thats even better because you can keep going back to try new and different dishes!

It was Lsan’s last day and though I shed little tears compared to  Song’s departure, the feelings of lost is still evident and deeply felt. I guess Lsan was so happy with her decision to leave, all I can do is offer my best wishes to her and of course the promise to keep in touch

Benefit of doubt – it is given only for people you wish to believe in. How often do we close our minds and jump to conclusions when it is to the people we absolutely dislike or have no trust in. It is funny how I am justifying this reaction or lack thereof.

Okay, me being the cynical me, used to think to myself whenever I see those people clad in sports wear around the Raffles Place area “Geez, get a life. Running around after work and around Raffles Place even?” 

I became one of them today. I joined the unofficial “running” club in my company after much persuasion from the very enthu and active “chairman” and my inability to say “no”. Well, one other reason is really cause it kind of fits into my new motto, which I shan’t say here.
The running route starts from the Asian Civilization Museum and continues on through to the Esplanade via the underpass, through to the Singapore Flyer and underneath the ECP. The girls usually make a u-turn here while the guys will continue on to the end of Nicoll Highway and even sometimes to Kallang MRT. 

Alas, for one who haven’t been working out since two months ago (does swimming even count as exercise?), it was quite a workout. I would like to blame it on the banana I ate just one hour before the run, the lack of warm-up, the absence of my ipod but seriously, I can only say – my stamina sucks! All I could muster was a fifteen minutes run! Even the fourty-plus year old auntie colleague could run faster and longer than me  

Oh well, I did walk the whole twenty minutes from my u-turn point. Better than nothing, hor?    

So I became one of them today – for half an hour.

P.S 1 The view behind the Singapore Flyer is quite breathtaking – overlooking the Kallang Basin and Marina Barrage. It makes for an ideal place to bring your lover. 

P.S 2 There are quite a lot of healthy and sporty people around because there were so many people in their sports wear doing one kind of exercise or the other – hardcore runners (the sweat-drenched singlet!), the girls in pockets brisk walking, the lone runners/walkers, above said-lovers doing their kind of exercise… I never knew.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

To my Melbourne travel contingent-peeps, WE have been caught speeding in the state of Victoria on 25th June.

We have paid up all we had to pay for the Australia trip in my last two months credit payments - or so I thought. The story goes that as I was checking my credit card bill this month, I was puzzled to see an administrative charge from Thrifty (our rental company) for AUD50.  Then I remembered that I received a letter from Thrifty previously but I’ve never really bothered about  it since I assumed that  it was just a detailed invoice. But boy oh boy was I wrong, it was actually a notification from them to inform that I have been charged an administrative fee of AUD50 from Thrifty as they had to transfer the infringement to me and that I would hear from the relevant authority. (I guess knowing how they are, it may be a while till we hear from them )

So I suppose…. that’s not all that is. First thing I did when I came into the office – check out what the penalties are for speeding in Australia and with the help of Google (what will we do without it?!), this is what I found.

So potentially, we may be slapped with a traffic fine of AUD149 to AUD502 on top of that AUD50 charge.

I got quite a lecture from the SeowDad though, when I stupidly made a comment about getting the fine this morning. He was so worried and concerned, “Girl, why you so innocent go and put your name down. Now, you will have a record.”  

How do I explain that I was the only legal 25 years old with a valid license even though the other two drivers have a combined driving experience of nearly 10 years.

Alas, the detriments of being a lao-char-bo.