The "I did not think I would ever ..." Sat

My colleague wanted to donate blood and asked me if I would go with her. After what happened the last time, I did not think I would ever want to go donate blood ever again. It was just a little too scary the last time and I keep thinking it could have been worse ... I could have knocked a few teeth out and/or the scar that I am left with would be a lot more obvious.

But the I have had previous good experiences with donating so I decided to just give it a try and see how it goes.

I met D at 11am at Outram MRT. We crossed the road to the blood bank where we went to sign up. Everything went well, I wasn't overcome by nerves .. it was a good sign. We had to go in the doctor's room and when she saw that I had checked the "have u fainted ..." she asked me when. I told her sheepishly that it happened the last time I donated blood. No other questions was asked :P

I have to say everything went as per normal, excluding my last time :P D joined me a few mins later in the donor room and was laying down on the bed beside me. Unfortunately that was as far as it went for her .... the nurses was not able to find a thick enough vein on either of her arms :( The nurses told her to lift more weights to train her arm muscles and come back in a year.

D went out to wait while I continued with my blood donation and it went well :) After resting for awhile, it was the moment of truth ..... I got up ... and walked .... There was no blackout, no dizziness.

I MADE IT!!!

The red spot at the bottom is blood transfer from the wound. I guess I took the bandage out too early.

After resting for awhile and taking the snack that was provided, we made our way to J's hse to see his newborn. D has not seen her since her birth thus wanted to go visit her.

Unfortunately the bb was asleep when we got there and remained asleep even as we got up to leave :( I was not able to take pics of the sleeping bb as I was told I couldn't. Something about superstitions and stuff.

After leaving J's hse, I made my way home from Katib. Previously, my way home would be a short train ride to AMK, then walk to the interchange, wait 15-20mins for the bus, then a 35-45mins jerky bus ride home. However .....

The Circle Line just opened!!!

Serangoon Station is the next stop from Bishan.

This was the Bishan station.

Serangoon Station ... walking to the NE line.

With the Circle line opened , I took the NS train to Bishan, then switched to the CC line to Serangoon and switched to the NE line to Kovan. It might be more switches that some might have liked but the total journey from Katib to Kovan took me about 35mins WITHOUT the headache I would get taking the bus.

I reached home and then took a short nap b4 I headed out again .... where to?

Aaron Kwok concert!!!

Hahaha ... those who knew me well must be wondering what the hell am I doing going to the Aaron Kwok concert since I am not one who listens to mandarin songs. Well, let me tell u the story of the tics ...

It was Fri (yup, the day b4 the concert) I met my sis after work and she casually told me that our mom asked if she wanted to go to the AK concert as she had a free tics. Immediately I thought of Jacq. Her love for AK first came up in our conversation when I met her the first time to pass her the LTS that her BF (now fiance) asked me to help get for her.

After calling my mom and telling her not to give her tics away, it then occured to me that if Jacq was such a die hard fan, she prob already had tics to it. But then, I was thinking that if my mom had tics, don't give it to anyone, I have more than enough friends that listen to mandarin pop that I would have no trouble finding someone to go.

However, I did not think I would have to go :P But my mom was quite adamant about it as it was tics given to her RC and she said it would not be nice if both tics was given to others and not used by her.

I checked with Jacq and surprisingly she was not going as the tics were too exp ... she then went ahead to tell me how close she was sitting during the Hong Kong concert that she went to and my heart kinda sank .... haha, my tics were definitely not that great.

I told her about my "not so great" but FREE tics and asked if she would be interested to go with a non fan. I would have gladly given both tics to her but not with my mom breathing down my neck and trying to convince my sis that she should go! I did not want to piss my mom off ...

Guess u can guess what Jacq's answer was :D

We were supposed to take a cab there but Daniel came back and drove us there instead ... so nice. Wish I could have had another tic .... but then my mom would have definitely made my sis go then. I did not bring my camera but Jacq did and took quite a lot of pics!

Surprisingly I had a nice time. Sure, I did not know most of the songs but AK is a great performer and everything was live. There was also the unbelievable stage .... u guys got to check out the pics at Jacq's blog. The only down part of the concert was when I was interrupted by a phone call .... work problem :(

The concert lasted for 3hrs and he did a double encore! We gals had to make our own way home and after a long walk away from the indoor stadium and the crowd, we finally managed to flag down a cab.

Fun nite...

Dinner @ Chomp Chomp

Its the weekend again and this time we headed to Chomp Chomp for dinner .. Ben's suggestion. Guess he misses local food.

Funny thing was that when I mention Chomp Chomp to a supplier, his answer was "Gardens?" Haha .. only ppl living near Serangoon Gardens call it "Gardens", or so I thought. Well, he said that his friend lives near there, and thus they go to Gardens often. So ... do EVERYONE call it "Gardens"? Or am I in my own little bubble? :P

Luckily it wasn't too busy at work and thus I was able to leave at about 7.15pm. I was supposed to meet Huiyi @ Serangoon MRT @ 7.45pm but was about 15mins late. We took a bus to Gardens where my sis and Ben were already waiting.

Evon joined us soon after but we still had to wait awhile b4 a table was available. After we finally got seated, we ordered our food ...

Three GINORMOUS glasses of sugar cane water. Us 4 gals shared 2 glasses and Ben had 1 on his own.

We had wings, carrot cake, hokkien mee, clams, stingray and oyster omelet. YUM!

After dinner, we headed to Liquid Kitchen where KL and his friend joined us later on.

Wonder which drink is mine ... :D

Waffle with Ice Cream and Cajun Fries. The fries were a ripoff ... cajun fries my ass!

Group pic b4 KL showed up with his friend.

KL and his friend Eusri came and at first it was weird, we were still talking among ourselves and he just sat there but after we dragged him into our conversations and he started showing us his toy collection and pics on Facebook ... haha, he went on and on.

I have to say I am quite impressed at what he has accomplished for someone so young. U can tell that he was very proud of what he has done ... who wouldn't be? Sigh, too bad I don't have that ambition .....

We left the place at about 1+am as Ben had a family breakfast and Evon had to go to work the next morning.

Ben's back from Beijing

Its Ben's quarterly trip back from Beijing and so we met up for dinner. The restaurant was chosen by Huiyi and it was really good.

Its called The Ship and its located @ Shaw Centre.

We all got the set dinner which included a soup, choice of ice cream or mango pudding, and coffee or tea.

Ben, TY and I shared a jug of beer ;)

Bread ... don't think it was free flow :P

Escargots ... the taste prob belong together with the family of shellfish. It was yummy!

Soft Shell Crab. Hot, crispy and delicious.

Seafood basket. There was calamari, shrimp and some small whole fish.

Evon's Spring Chicken.

KL's Fish and Chips.

TY's Beef? and Chicken.

Christine's Pasta ... not sure what pasta :P

Huiyi's Chicken ??? That long fried thingy is a banana!

Ben's another Chicken something ... why does everyone go for chicken?

My Three Little Lamb! I loved my dish :)

There was also a complimentary fruit platter.

The gang.

After dinner, the parents had to go back home with grumpy and tired Adela as they had been out shopping all day and she had not had her nap. The rest of us went to Coffee Club for round 2!

Our drinks .. as usual, my drink of choice was a Latte.

We did not stay out that late as it was a Sunday and most of us had to be back at work the next day :(

Busy weekend ....

*FRIDAY*

My boss, Nick, and colleague, Tony, were in town over the weekend so most of the weekend were with them, entertaining them. On Fri, we met up with Nick (Tony arrived on Sat) for dinner. J and I were stuck in the office working .. mainly cos I screwed up big time on one enquiry. It was such a newbie mistake that I could have just killed myself! Luckily with help from suppliers, I was able to rectify without any lost of money. I breathed a huge sigh of relief ...

We made it to Vivo close to 8pm where the 2 bosses were waiting for us .... its like, whatever, we had to work, they could have waited all nite for all I cared. Dinner was not peaceful as there was an ongoing enquiry that I was working on. Worst part was that when they first called me, I did not hear my phone ring and thus they called my boss. And then he did sent out the enquiry but only to FOUR suppliers .... haha, FOUR? If I were to tell the head office I had sent it out to only FOUR, I would never hear the end of it.

Dinner was ok, I'm not into entertaining especially when I know how they really feel about me. But nothing could have beat the fact that Nick recognized my Chloe bag!!

ARGH!!

Hahaha ... his exact words were "That's a really nice Chloe bag u have there.." I could have fainted right then and there. OMG, I could not believe he, a guy, would even recognize my bag. He said that his fiance has that bag too but in a different color ... haha, guess she is the one that educated him on branded bags as u have to admit that Chloe is not one of the more popular brands, yes, even though my Paddington is an "it" bag .. or so they say :P

Anyway, he tried to get me to say how much the bag would have cost here but I kept mum. Come on! Everyone sitted at the table are higher ranked than me ... if I would to tell them how much I am willing to spent on a bag ... haha, NO!

Luckily dinner ended pretty early and I was able to make it back in time for Survivor :)

*SATURDAY*

Sat was another long day ... I was supposed to meet up with them all, including Tony for dinner but I had already made plans to celebrate Mother's Day and so I told my boss I could not make it.

My sis and I caught 2 movies that day, X-Men:Wolverine and Star Trek :D I had already bought tics to X-Men (in the afternoon) but since we were free later in the nite, we decided to catch Star Trek too .... hmm, guess not too many know I'm somewhat of a Trekkie ;) But pls don't ask me to quote phrases or explain warp speed, black holes, prime directive, etc. That is better left to my bro, the genuine Trekkie who actually owns a Star Trek uniform ... no kidding!

The whole family, minus my bro and sis, went out for dinner to celebrate mother's day. Nothing fancy .... haha

*SUNDAY*

I was woken early in the morning by J telling me that we have to take Nick and Tony out for lunch. Sigh, I thought we didn't have to anymore. Luckily J said that he would be able to pick me up from the station near my hse because I had no idea how to get to Tiong Bahru Market from ym hse.

He picked me up at 11.30am and we went to pick the guys up at their hotel. We then introduced local food to them. We ordered Carrot Cake, Oyster Omelette, Siew Mai, Chicken and Char Siew Pau, Roast Pork/Duck, Char Siew, Jiu Kway, Lor Mai Gai ....

The guys did not seem to eat much .... not sure if it was because they weren't really hungry or that local food wasn't to their taste. Oh well, they were the ones that wanted local cuisine.

After lunch, we dropped them back at their hotel as they were leaving to BKK in the evening. J dropped me home and it was a "bum around" the rest of the day for me :)

Next weekend .... Ben's back from China!

Lunch before they pop :P

LC wanted to meet up with TJ b4 they both gave birth and a small gathering of us 3 gals became a group thing when both brought their hubbies so I asked Huiyi and Evon to come along too!

We decided to try out Swiss Cafe at Swissotel as there is a credit card 1 for 1 promo for their semi-buffet. Evon could only confirm at the last min and since it we became an odd number, I dragged my sis along.

Unfortunately Evon sms at about the time we were supposed to meet to say she overslept and would only be able to meet us later! My sis an I were already at City Hall mrt .... I tried to sent my sis home but she started crying ... haha, nah, she didn't and I wasn't that mean. We would just split the bill evenly.

Huiyi, my sis and I sat and waited for the 2 couples to show up .... we were starving by the time the arrived!

The appetizers and dessert were buffet style.

And then each gets 1 main course. This is LC's Cheesy Pasta.

GX and Huiyi's pathetic Grilled Sea Bass. They could have at least given more mashed potatoes!

My sis's Beef.

My Fish and Chips ... at least my piece of fish was decent.

TJ and hubby's Pork ... haha, 3 slices? Guess ppl are afraid to eat pork so they can afford to give more.

Assortment of desserts.

LC, GX, Huiyi, TJ and Hubby, Me, my sis.

The food wasn't that great but we found out that there was another credit card promo that was 50% off the total bill, thus it was perfect since we were odd numbered. Each person came out to S$22 so it wasn't that bad. I definitely would not have paid S$44 for it!

After lunch we went to do a little shopping. TJ and her hubby had to leave as they had a movie to catch. The rest of us went to Coffee Club.

Our drinks ....

Evon met us there and then we just sat and chatted .... it has been awhile since we have met up with LC and GX.

The day ended quite early most of them had plans. No complains here as it was a pretty late nite last nite and I was kinda glad to be heading home and going to bed :P

Beer Fest Asia 2009!

In the afternoon, I went to J's bb's 1st mth celebration. Did not stay long as I went alone and had already made plans for later that nite.

Left around 4pm and then headed down to Orchard to meet my sis. We window shopped a little and then made our way down to the Singapore Flyer to meet Jacq at about 7pm. It was an adventure trying to get there :P

By the time we got there, Jacq was in the queue to buy tics. There was a discount if a Citi bank card was used. If I had known that we would be going, we could have bought the tics earlier and saved about S$10 each!

By the way, this was supposed to be a Miu Miu meet up but Jacq has the pics showing off our bags ;)

As u can tell, not too much $$ was put into the "grand entrance"

The tics were also printed out via, most likely, a home office.

We had to buy Beer Fest dollars ... very easily duplicated if one wanted to :P

We needed some food b4 we started drinking so we shared some Fish and Chips + Salad. Yes, the fish and chips is under all that lettuce.

This bucket of 5 beers cost S$30.

The beers we tried.

Still sober :P

More beers ...

Ya ... I don't take good pics when I'm wasted :P

We met a few guys there and they bought us a few beers ... it was a fun nite! It was my sis's first time really drinking and ... *cough* let's just say at least she made it to a drain :D

I was drunk but at least I was still conscious of everything going on around me. Jacq called her bf Dan to pick us up and we were constantly chatting on the drive home while he was awfully quiet :P Hahaha .. I think I have been a bad influence on Jacq :P

Hehe ... we now have plans to go to Oktoberfest 2009!! I'm slowly finding drinking buddies. Can't wait for it!!!

My souvenir!