Went out with my mom and sis on Thur. My mom wanted to go to the grocery store and so we decided to go grab an early lunch before going shopping. We went to Changi Village for Bak Chor Mee (minced pork noodles) It was really yummy ... put lots of chilli in mine!

We then headed to Giant and while my mom did her shopping, my sis and I went to IKEA that was across the street. We wanted to get additional containers. As we were walking out the store, we saw this .....

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Have always heard that the hot dogs here are good and cheap but have never tried them. Gave my sis the "want to try it?" look and we went to get one to share. We were still pretty full from our noodles.

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Ketchup..

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Mustard! It was pretty good for the price, not too salty, will prob be back for seconds the next time ard.

As we were heading out the store for the second time, I noticed some kids eating ice cream! I turned to my sis and again :) We headed back to get some ice cream ....

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Ice cream is more exp than the hot dog! But it was good, much better than the ones at McDonald's ... yes, u can get 2 cones at Mc for that price but I believe in quality over quantity.

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Our cone .. love the waffle cone.

We finally made it out on our third try, no other distractions :)

Went to look for my mom and as usual, she bought enough to feed an army cos my dad is coming back..... looks like the kitchen is going to be back in business!

Blood Donation

Went to donate blood on Fri. Wanted to bring my sis along for her first donation but she started having the sniffles in the morning that didn't seem to go away. Therefore I told her to do it another day and to just watch me.

We reached the blood donor center at Outram and was helped right away. There wasn't that many ppl on a Fri eve. When I went in to have my blood pressure taken, I was told that I just made it. Hmm, guess I should have skipped on my coffee.

It was then to the iron testing area. They dropped a drop of my blood into some blue liquid and the blood was supposed to fall slowly to the bottom of the beaker. It started off well but then my drop of blood decided to stop halfway. The nurse took more blood to spin it in a more advance testing equipment and that was when my blood in the beaker decided to continue it's descend. However, I was still told to wait for the results of the spin. A min later, the nurse told me I was good to go. Guess my iron was borderline but I just made it. Damn, I need to drink more water and eat more iron!

Anyway, I went into the room and told them that my sis was interested in looking at the whole donation process. After prepping me, they called my sis and the nurse then proceeded to tell my sis what she was doing .. giving anesthesia, inserting the needle for the blood ... That was when my sis turned green. I told her I could not feel a thing and that it was not painful .... greener!

Haha, the nurse took pity on my sis and told her she could wait for me outside :) I was done pretty quick and then we went to find my dad's name on the wall of donors. My dad has been a regular donor for the longest time. Took us awhile to scan thru all the names but we finally found him.

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There's my dad's name. Notice that my dad's surname is "Low" instead of "Loh"? Well, he has 2 last names as my grandparents, who did not know how to spell, registered the wrong surname when he was born. "Loh" is now is alias.

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He got the Ruby Award in 2002 ... wow, he has had more than 75 donations! I'm really impressed. Me? Sigh, I was on my 8th :( But I did have some when I was in the USA! Right, Lizzy? Anyway, it looks like it is going to be a long time b4 I receive anything.

My sis and I were discussing why the gals get a discount. Well, we think it's because of our monthly visits and pregnancy. Make sense?

My next donation is 15 Feb 2008. Can I interest anyone? :)

It was Thanksgiving and I knew the whole Scheffler gang was going to be at Yuchien and Jeff's so I logged on at about 5am S'pore time. Yes, I was still awake ....

Thought it would cheer me up but I think it depressed me even more. I wish I was there. I miss them so much, the kids, the company, the food, the hugs, the kisses. I was chatting with the kids with everyone else jumping in once in awhile.

I don't know, I just can't get into the Xmas mood over here. It's hard when it is 100 degrees! I miss the family aspect of Xmas and thanksgiving. Guess for that to happen, u must have a family that u actually want to spend time with. I just seem to feel that there is more bickering than love when it comes to my family, extended inclusive. I miss the warmth of home gatherings, the enjoying of a bottle of wine (fine .... a half dozen?) with the rest of my alcoholic friends.

Don't get me wrong, I love my friends here but its so much easier being the loner/hermit when all of my friends have family, work and LIVES! I try to make myself get out of the hse but usually just end up on the computer doing useless stuff. Want to get a job but then it goes back to the million dollar question .. what the hell do I want to do? Or rather, the question should be what the hell am I CAPABLE of doing?

Sigh .....

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the USA!

Will be back to update tmr ... sorry!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Went to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Esplanade with my sis on Thurs. The tics have been bought a few mth back. This was my sis's first musical so it was pretty exciting.

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One shot for the road ...

We left the hse early so we could get dinner b4 the show. We decided to go to Sushi Tei .. yes, AGAIN! We went to the outlet at Raffles City which was one that we have not been to b4 .. and I have to say that all the Sushi Teis are NOT consistent!

At least this time we were given a table and not seated at the counter. However, I think it was time they clean their fabric seats .. it was a tad disgusting!

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Miso soup. Not too bad.

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Sashimi Salad ... disappointment ... very small pieces of sashimi. Think the one at Vivo gave the most. If u scroll down and see the pic from Christine's bday at Paragon's Sushi Tei, u can see a HUGE difference!

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Umm.... cooked salmon sushi or something ...

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Scallop .... not as much as the other time either.

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My fish roe sushi. No complains here :)

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Smoked Eel with rice. According to my sis this was much better here than at Paragon. Loved it! Gave alot of eel ... YUM!

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Softshell Crab Handroll. These were huge! Made up a little for the pathetic salad we were given ... a little.

After dinner, we made our way to the esplanade. Thought they had the car displayed outside but nope. We went to the roof to take a few pics b4 heading into the theater.

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The musical was really really good. We were seated on the fourth row from the from, slightly lower that the stage level. However, because alot of the scenes were played out at the front of the stage, it was perfect.

I recognized most of the songs, think there might be only 1 new song as compared to the movie. The story was changed slightly from the movie, never read the book, so maybe they were following the book instead. The car was a blast and it actually FLEW!! The mechanics of it were hidden so well that we could hardly see it. U really had to concentrate to notice it. The car also leaned back and front to the point where it was almost vertical. Think it was real cool.

Sometimes it was hard to understand what the actors were singing but 'cos I knew what the story was, it wasn't such a big deal to me. Thought that the lead actor looked a little old for the lead actress but then I think I might be bias towards the movie version.

Overall it was a fun musical. My sis enjoyed it a whole lot and so did I. Think I enjoyed it better than The King & I.

What's next? Rumors of Cinderella coming next year with Lea Selonga .... Über EXCITING!!

P.S. "Über" is my new favourite word! It means super/very. Click here for a better explanation!

Sunday High Tea

Met up with the gang on Sun which felt very weird as we usually meet on Fri or Sat. We went to Fish and Co located at the Glass Hse. We met up at 2.30pm ... Ben picked the time ... yes, it is a little late for lunch.

Only Huiyi, Ben and I ate as KL wasn't hungry and Yvonne had a dinner to go to and did not want to spoil her appetite.

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Salad with fried garlic and anchovies. When it first came it looked as if it wasn't very fresh but it was actually not too bad. I think it is the dressing that made the greens looked a little brown.

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Seafood Chowder. Damn, I miss Grandma Mary's chowders! Not too bad.

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Fish and Chips. Quite good, love the fries! They were seasoned with some sort of paprika salt mixture. The fish reminded me of the fish I used to have at that Irish place .....

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Seafood platter. Hmm, ok, I guess. Would have preferred fried calamari. Loved the tartar sauce though :)

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After that, KL had to go back to his office and Yvonne made her way to her other appointment. The rest of us made our way to Isetan, Scotts as Ben needed to do some bday shopping. As he had to go home for dinner, we did not have part 2 like we usually do.

I told Ben to drop me off at Plaza Singapura as I did not feel like going home. Plus I wanted to visit the cd shop to get something. I sms KL and found out that he was having dinner nearby. I told him that if he wanted to meet up to let me know. He joined me about 1/2 later and we went to do some music shopping and I got my my my new Carrie Underwood cd :) Tried to look for more country albums but unfortunately they did not have what I wanted. I love going to Sembawang Music at PS as the ppl there are always very friendly ... yes, I do feel guilty downloading songs online and so I do buy cds.

We then headed to Starbucks for coffee .... chatted till about 10+ b4 making my way home.

Sigh .. Ben is going to India, Yvonne is going to Vietnam, KL is über busy .. wonder when we will get another meetup.

Anyway ... countdown to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on Thurs!!

So pissed/annoyed!

My mom asked me to send an email to my dad asking him to call her later in the even and this was what I got in reply ...

Guessed I used "mUmmy" instead of "mOmmy" and my dad decided to give me a English lesson. And the irony is that he said ...

"What happened to YOU spelling?"

U know what? It has never occurred to be that they are different when it relates to calling your mother and I was RIGHT!

According to Dictionary.com, mummy can be used for calling your mother too!

Its one of those u spell "realiSe", I spell "realiZe", u spell "coloUr", I spell "color".

Of cos I did not tell my dad, I just ignored the whole thing .... but I just had to rant here. There is really no point in arguing with my dad. Did not know that emailing my dad can be such a stressful thing. I guess the next time I better check my grammar, punctuation and no more short forms too!

Fun with Wii

After lunch on Sat, my sis and I stayed at my bro's place after the cake was cut. We played with his new toy, the Wii that we got for him for his bday. The controller has a sensor and u swing/move it around to play the games. Here we are playing Wii Sports.

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My bro and sis are playing tennis.

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Here I am trying out the tennis game. I've never been a good video gamer ...

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My sis trying out the boxing.

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Me boxing .... it is a real good anger management tool ... guess who I had in mind while punching? Haha :) Yes, I changed my top as I was perspiring and a T-shirt was more comfy. However, after looking at this clip, all I think think of is "DAMN, I look so FAT!!"

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THE FUNNIEST!! MUST WATCH!



And lastly, here's my bro bowling ... OMG, it's so funny, can't stop laughing every time I see it ... hope I won't get in trouble if he becomes infamous for this clip :) You can hear me giggling in the background ....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!

My mom's bday is Nov 4, so we decided to go out to eat on Sat as they only had the buffet on sat and not sun.

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My sis and I photo whoring while waiting for my mom who was on her way from picking up my bro and Ash.

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We went to Tung Lok at East Coast which had a Lunch Ala Carte Dim Sum buffet. It was $18.80++ which was a pretty good deal. They had the more exp $28.80 one that includes sashimi and ??, something else that I don't remember.

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My mom with her present from my bro and ash. It is a limited edition DKNY Calf Hair bag. They got it when they were in HK. Supposedly they only brought in one to sell in S'pore and there were only 2 in HK. Don't know how much it cost but I have a feeling that it's a lot!

On to lunch!!

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Century Egg Porridge. Yum, not enough century egg but then it was a tiny bowl.

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Chicken Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf. Not too bad ...

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On the left is Pork Ribs and on the right, the ever familiar Chicken Feet! Yes, come on, everyone in the US .. DROOL!! :) Loved the pork ribs, think we ordered like 5 of those!

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Umm... Shrimp Chee Chong Fun .... umm, rice something?

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Shrimp Dumplings.

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Siew Mai ... These and the shrimp dumplings were ok, but I think I have tasted better ones ...

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Fried Tofu Skin with Shrimp. Yum .... the vinegar on the side made it taste even better!

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Fried Calamari! This was great, always came out hot and crispy. A tad too salty but still a favourite.

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Fried Shrimp Paste Covered Chicken Wings. I remember eating these a few mths back at another place and thought it just tasted like chicken wings. These? These u could taste the shrimp coating. Another thumbs up!

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Char Siew (Roast Pork), Roast Duck and Chicken. The fave was the duck but we were only allowed to order the combination.

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Sweet and Sour Chicken. Never a real fan of the sweet and sour family .... took a piece, tender meat, can't complain.

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Umm, Salmon Fish Head something .... Don't really like it, maybe cos I just had salmon soup for the past few days ...

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BBQ Pork Bun. My mom wanted to order these and sneak them into her bag but my bro forbid her to do it. My mom loves to "takeaway" when she goes for buffets just so she will get her $ worth. Anyway, we ate it, refused to let her get thrown in jail on her bday .. haha

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Ok, remember how I told u we were not allowed to order just the duck alone? Well, my mom being the AUNTIE of all aunties found one waiter that took her order. But when it didn't come after awhile, she hunted down EVERYONE working there for it, whom then proceed to tell her that it's not allowed .... well, of cos she said "There, that guy said I could!" Great, there goes that poor guy's job.

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Stir Fried Cabbage.

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Last but not least ... my sis's fave dish - Spinach with Fried Garlic. Just spinach blanched in chicken broth but the broth was yummy and the veggies just seemed to melt in our mouths. Guess how many my sis had??

We order 2 which basically everyone shared, then my sis proceeded to order TWO more!!!

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Here's her on her 2nd PERSONAL plate of veggies ... this is after we had eaten everything u see before (there were many repeat orders in case u guys were wondering) Really full, cannot take it anymore, however, she she was a fighter and managed to finish ALL the veggies u see left but just could not stomach the broth...

GOOD JOB! Haha :)

On to dessert!

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Red Bean Soup. Too sweet for me but my sis and mom loved it.

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Lotus Bean bun with Salted Egg Yolk.

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On the left was Ice Cream Puff and on the right, Black Sesame Glutinous Rice Balls.

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Egg Tart.

OMG, we were SO STUFFED!! We decided to go do a little grocery shopping, walk off a little of our meals b4 part 2 of our celebration. It was a surprise for our mom .....

We had ordered a cake from Coffee Bean. My sis told my mom that she had to meet someone to collect something ... which was ... TADA!

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Her Coffee Cheesecake! Well, it is actually Cappuccino Cheesecake. It was really good, u can taste the coffee and it was moist. Don't remember Coffee Bean's cheesecake ever tasting this moist. It might have to do that we always get slices which have been exposed in the fridge for god knows how long ....

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My mom making her wish ... pls strike 4D .... serious!

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My sis and mom.

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My bro and I with Mom :)

And wouldn't u know? My mom DID strike 4D that night ... $30 only thought. My mom was saying that she should have wished to have strike 1st prize! Sigh ... don't think it would have turn out that way if that was her wish ...

Don't be too greedy ....

BTW, in case anyone is interested, my mom was head to toe GRAY today :)