And when I found out about him, his family and himself are already DEAD, in a car accident. Well..at least that was what his ‘personal attorney’ said.

My ‘relative’, Pitts Thian worked with a Steel Company in the UK. According his ‘solicitor,
“On the 21st of April 2002, my client,his wife and their only daughter were involved in a car accident along sagbama express road. All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost there lives.

After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name over the Internet,to locate any member of his family hence I contacted you. (Smart move! I am sure a ‘unique’ surname like mine…is quite hard to come by huh..)

I have contacted you to assist in repartrating the fund valued at GBP 1.1 million left behind by my client before it gets confisicate or declared unserviceable by the the Finance Company where this huge amount was deposited. The said Finance company has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have the account confisicate within the next fourteen official working days.

For the fact that I have been unsuccesfull in locating the relatives for over 4 years now, I seek your consent to be presented as the next of kin to the deceased, since you have the same last name with my client, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you. “

Suddenly I am going to be 1.1 million richer, oh wait..SGD 3 millions…JUST because of my surname. Ah…so nice…

Posted under Random ramblings | [6] Comments 

Correction: I don’t like durian. But this ‘durian’ is by far, the best place I have ever been in Singapore. It is much more exciting and interesting than orchard road!

One of my favourite weekend getaways is to visit the esplanade. There is always so much to see. Inspiring art exhibitions, enchanting performances, savoury cuisine and lots more. Whenever I receive its monthly newsletter, I know I will be ‘broke’ again. I always end up marking more events and performances on my diary than I expected.

The theatre stage

The Romeo and Juliet ballet…

The management is very smart. Now and then, they have FREE performances ranging from symphony orchestra to lunchtime band performances open to public. If I work near to esplanade, I will surely pack my lunchbox there.

After my church service this afternoon, I spontaneously traveled to esplanade alone for a free Chinese orchestra performance – Songs of Spring. It is my first time attending a free performance at esplanade so I was quite excited about it.

As I looked around the audience, I noticed many of them wore shorts and slippers. Suddenly it struck me if I was overdressed (I wore a black top with pashmina and a pair of working pants). And again, FREE performance doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve the same respect and courtesy like other pricey one right?

The magnificient concert hall..

It started exactly at 3pm, which I like. The musicians were all dressed up smartly and I can’t tell how excited I was! Just as it started for less than a minute, a young lady next to me kept sniffing for every 2 seconds. Through her sniffs, I could almost feel that her mucus was about to flow out from her nostrils if she stopped sniffing for 2 seconds. It was THAT intense!

Durian at night..

When a music piece was ended, I reached for my tissue and pass it to her. She looked at me in her most shocking look. I tried my best to give her my ‘warmest’ smile but I think I have scared the poor little girl.

The funniest thing was, they let the latecomers entered the hall between the pieces…which was fine but the latecomers took so long to settle down. Even after they started playing the pieces, I still saw people walking slowly looking for seats right IN FRONT OF THE STAGE! I wasn’t sure if I should laugh out loud or what.

After 15 minutes, I started to smell something fishy. I looked around to search for the foul smell. And guess what I have found. The young lady beside me took off her shoes and placed her foot on the seat. Her bare foot was facing right beside my face. Man…That was what I needed to endure for the rest of the performance. Luckily it was shorter than it should be (less than 1 hour). Otherwise I would have gone into coma.

As the title was the songs of spring, the last song they played was one of the old Chinese spring (new year) song. The audience started to giggle and I didn’t know what it was so hilarious about. It wasn’t like the gong xi fa cai songs that we heard over and over again during Chinese new year. It was a soothing and traditional piece!

Nonetheless, it was still a very enjoyable and great performance.

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I have the best birthday since my 21st birthday! SO MUCH food and laughters. Thank you all for your lovely messages, wishes and presents. It couldn’t be better!

I had an anxiety attack one week before my birthday, but it didn’t turn out so bad. I thought I would faint while blowing the big 24 candles but I didn’t. My friend was kind enough to put only ONE candle.

I started celebrating my birthday on Saturday. A friend treated me and my mom a birthday dinner at my favourite Japanese restaurant at Suntec – Kuishinbo. The buffet was fantastic! Just by looking at the queue, you’ll know that you can’t dine in without reservation.

And guess who I bumped into? When I was looking for snow crabs, someone exclaimed loudly right in front of my face:”CHER!!!” My brain didn’t recognize and process the “cher” for awhile until I saw my student’s face few inches away. I am just not used to be called “cher” outside the classroom.

Of course the first question he asked was ”why are you here?” then followed by “who are you with?” and “are you with your boy friend?”. The most unexpected question was “How come you gave me a C for my animation?” (with a big grin) I am not sure if he was expecting for more or lesser. Mm..

I had more FOOD on Sunday evening. Went to the Weiner’s for German Pork Knuckles. The oxtail soup was great, as well. That’s it! More swimming this week…

Posted under Glorious food! , Life documentaries , Me! Me! | [9] Comments 

try coughing next time. The vibration of your body will distract you from the pain.

Guess how I found this WONDERFUL tip?

There was an orientation camp at Pulau Ubin and there were about 100 students there. My colleagues and I went there with the students. One of them fell down from her bike and she had abrasions here and there so we had to take her to the clinic.

By the way, Pulau Ubin is a VERY beautiful island. The main activitiy to do there is to cycle. Lovely scenery.

The boat uncle. Not sure why he decided to turn his head out of the sudden. May be he knew I was taking his picture…Mm..

A beautiful quarry

Tips: If you are to cycle around Pulau Ubin, mosquito repellant and sunscreen are the 2 things you MUST HAVE. My students were bitten by mozzies all over their legs. Poor thing.

And look at my sunburn..

And yup…that was all I have had. I wore a thin jumper (note: thin) and jeans. Pretty smart even though it was a “little” warm. But hey, even if you cycle topless, you will feel warm and sweaty anyway. My jumper and jeans saved me from mosquito bites and sunburn! (actually my jeans were mainly for protecting my skin from abrasion if I fall from my bike.)

A campside. Reminded me of my “scouting and guiding” days back in high school. I miss camping..

Pulau Ubin is a very quiet and peaceful island. The locals are friendly and very lay-back. They stay in wooden houses amidst the forest.

A convenient store at Marina country club and resort.

Ok. I digressed. Where was I? Oh…the student and clinic.

So, I accompanied her to the doctor.
Doctor (to my student): Your sister??
Student: Er..no. She is my lecturer..
Doctor (in his most shocking look): Ooh…really? Lecturer??!! So young!!
Me (sheepishly): Haha…thank you!

The poor girl was seriously injured. The doctor took about 45 minutes to dress her wounds. She was screaming when he cleaned her wounds. Honestly, I think I have aged 6 months after seeing her open wounds.

She needed a tetanus shot and she was already in great pain. So, when the doctor was going to inject her, he asked her to cough so that it would distract her from the pain. And so my student did. In the split second when she coughed, he poked the syringe and pumped it real quick. I was astonished! She did the same when he cut her dead skin from her wound. She told me that the coughing really worked!

So, you know what to do next time huh..:)

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My body is aching since this morning. Thanks to the hip-hop dance workshop yesterday. Miss ene and I signed up for a “90 minutes hip-hop for beginner” class at Esplanade. Our instructor, Yenny was a super energetic small lady (miss ene said she was 29). She looked nothing like 29 and she can really move and groove. Plus, she is also one of the finalists in Dance Floor competition.

We had our workshop at a dance studio (obviously it was only for the dancers). To get there, the “authorized personnel” had to take us to through several doors and lift. The security was pretty tight because we were at the backstage where equipments and costumes for The Phantom of the Opera were carefully stored. We were both hoo-haaing along the backstage. If it wasn’t the “authorized personnel”, we were sure carried away by exploring each individual wardrobe they had.

The dance studio was huge! It was lighted with natural sunlight and was facing the sea. (Do’h! Otherwise they won’t call the Esplanade the “Theatres on the Bay”). There were huge mirrors on 3 sides of the studio and holding bars (for ballet I guess). If my sister was there, we will be screaming and skipping across the studio!

Yo, wassup?

Our instructor said hip-hop was all about feeling the groove. I guess we were quite gifted because we both had the natural ‘groove’. Once the music was on, the groove just “swirled” on our hips and body.

The routine was very strenuous but FUN! Guess what we did for warming up? We moved our arms like wave from right to left (so cool!), and also moved our stomachs and hips like snake (sexy!). Miss end and I thought it was easy but when the actual dance routine started, oh boy…it was tough! We did plenty of fast moves which required jumping and squatting. Ouch..that explains why my muscles are aching.

We had great fun and I was thinking of signing up more dancing classes. I just LOOOVE dancing.

Posted under Events | [3] Comments