21 January 2012

This is not right

 It's not quite right when I couldn't contact my dad for days.
I thought he's just too busy to return my calls.

It's not quite right when I managed to get him yesterday afternoon, only to know he has just been discharged from the hospital.
He was hospitalised for the past 10 days and had an operation.

It's not quite right that my sisters did not tell me about it.
Because Dad told them not to.

It's not quite right that they all agree not to tell me.
Because Dad knows pre-CNY is TFL's busiest period.
And I would be running about like a mad hatter.
Barely just meeting delivery schedules and launch dates, with bedtimes being the waking times of normal people.
What he didn't know was a photoshoot messed up and there was no launch this week.
Leaving me with only half the workload of usual.

The only thing that feels right was I had bought hospitalisation insurance for him.
Girls, if you can afford, get full hospitalisation insurance for your parents.
If not, at least partial is better than nothing.
Get a rider, apart from the basic plan.
More comprehensive coverage.
Life insurance does not suffice.
Hospitalisation stays are not something we can forsee.
I know of very few people who didn't have to stay in hospital for a period or so, when they get old.
Dad's 10-day hospital stay & operation came up to S$7K+.
In 2005, he was hospitalised and had an op done too. Total bill was S$9K.

Imagine S$16K+ hospitalisation expense in less than 7 years.
Not something I can claim from life insurance, because it was not a critical illness.
And we don't know what lies ahead.

It's really not right that my work is taking up so much of my time.
That I seem to have none left for anything else.
Or anyone else.
This got to change in 2012.




Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

20 January 2012

“扎西德勒”

This is classic.

From my fellow Dharma sister, a humourous lady in her fifties.

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陳傳芳師姐說:

一歲 ── 出場亮相。

十歲 ── 學業至上。

二十歲 ── 春心蕩漾。

三十歲 ── 職場逛盪。

四十歲 ── 稍微發胖。

五十歲 ── 老當益壯。

六十歲 ── 血壓向上。

七十歲 ── 時常健忘。

八十歲 ── 搖搖逛逛。

九十歲 ── 迷失方向。

一百歲 ── 掛在牆上。

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很多人讀了﹑聼了會會心一笑。

活到這年齡,漸悟到人生真的就是如此。

對於人生,許多人都在財﹑色﹑名﹑食﹑睡裏打滾。
沒多少人會去想做人更深一層的意義。
 
我經常會想到,卻總是沒做到。
為添芬藍忙了多年,很多該做的功課都沒做好。
這幾年,我不但沒進步還退步了。
慚愧﹑慚愧。
遺憾﹑遺憾。

我不願我的生命只為世俗的俗務忙碌到老。
這樣的人生太空洞了。
我的夢想也不只一個。




新的一年裏,願我能夠智慧增長﹑修行更上一層樓。

  བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས།
藏文: “扎西德勒”
 祝願大家日吉祥﹑夜吉祥﹑時時都吉祥如意!



Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

18 January 2012

My Cinderella Pumpkin

 A guy friend of mine does not have a driving license.
He has no intention of getting one.
He does not read car magazines.
Neither is he into F1.

That does not explain why everytime we spot a sportscar in some carpark, he must stop & marvel at it.
He has zero knowledge of cars and their mechanics.
It got quite sickening for me, because that means we have to stand and try to follow his Ooohs and Aaaahs for about 10 minutes, before he will reluctantly hop onto our car.
All the while still waxing lyricals about sportcars.
And if I disagree with him about the cars, he will say I'm a frog in a well.
#$%&*@!

I really don't understand this.
Are sportcars or expensive cars appealing to you?
Apart from the status thing?
I've gotten rides on expensive cars.
Yes, they are very well-made (aka petrol guzzlers) and vastly different from the usual Toyotas, Hyundais and all.
In a league of their own totally.

But the thing I dislike about most sedans and sportscars is getting out of the car, when I'm in a skirt.
Very short skirts.
Or very long dresses, for that matter.
I can't get out of the car in the most elegant fashion.
I mean, sure I can pretend to be some gracious mermaid, swishing out.
But that is so not me.

Some of the cars are built so low that it's very uncomfortable sitting in them.
Yes, I know it's for speed and all.
But I don't fancy cramping myself in such tiny space.

Thankfully the Husband has zero love for cars.
He sees it as a tool for getting from point A to point B.
Period.

Since that's the case, maybe for his next car, I can coax him to get this.


Source: Google images

Barbie's Jeep, anyone?



Source: Google images

Source: Google images

The Husband can't fathom my fascination with Jeep Wranglers.
He found it very rugged and manly.
Says it isn't a girl's car.
*Groan* Men and their stereotypes.
This is like the girls-should-have-long-hair mindset some guys have.

It's going to be a breeze getting out from the car, since it's like stepping down from Cinderella's Pumpkin!
Easier to step down from a higher-rise car than pull yourself up and out from a low-rise sportscar, right?
Notice why Fairy Godmother didn't give Cinderella a low-rise Pumpkin Carriage?
It's just not so elegant!

I have been in love with Jeep Wranglers since I was 21.
Especially those with a spade behind and oooh at those humongous wheels!
Mad cute!
But must have doors lah.
I don't want to be eating sand when in the moving car.


Source: Google images

I don't mind settling for Suzuki Jimny too.
Cos the Husband says Jeeps are quite costly.
Have been seeing them often on the road nowadays.
Must be a sign.
I wish there's one in my estate's carpark.
Then everyday, I can go ogle at it.



Source: Google images

If I have a child, this will be his/her toy car.
Even if I have to ship it in from USA.
No silly Barbie dolls for my girl.
Mummy drives big Wrangler, Baby drives baby Wrangler.
Woohoo!





Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

17 January 2012

Bummer & Supper

 So. I didn't get to launch in this very crucial week just before CNY.
Sigh.
To think I was so proud of myself for pushing out launch after launch every week from Dec till now.
It's not a simple feat, because just when I'm done with posting all the parcels for the current launch, I'm back to the laptop to edit new photos.
That means no time for everything else.
E.g. boiling fresh water.
Sometimes I even forget to charge my mobile phone, till I need it to access Internet Banking services.
The Husband & I are water guzzlers.
When I'm so busy with work (which is all the time), nothing gets done around the house.
No fresh laundry, no changing of bedsheets, no sweeping of the floor, no ironing.
My house comes to a standstill.
But all these are small problems, compared to totally empty water jugs.
Not even a drop of water in the thermos.
That will get me scrambling up to do some housechores in Speedy Gonzales' timing.

Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that things screwed up at the last photoshoot, leaving me and the piggies with nothing to launch.
Never been caught so offguard before.
Talk about a first for everything.
Last year this time, I was so busy with TFL work that I didn't have time to buy any CNY clothing, save for a cheongsam I got in July.
This year?
Well, I've just spent S$102 at Love Bonito and another S$60 at Catwalkclose.
Since no new launch means less business, then I shalt give some business to others.
Hahaha!

2 Saturdays ago, the Husband was helping me to pack the new stock arrivals.
We sorted and arranged everything from 1030pm to 4am.
Triggered my old back injury.
He broke a nail real bad (cuts into nail bed) and got all whiny about it.
Said he never saw me so gungho and manly before.
I mean, how to be soft and gentle when moving big cartons that are half my height???
Nothing gets done!
I don't even bother keeping my nails long!

When done, the Husband was like, "Gawwwwd, why are there so many bags in my house??"
I even told him, "Don't worry, more than half will be gone before CNY. The rest are for after CNY launch. Not that bad right?"
-____-

At least some time to rest my tired body.
*self-consolation mode* 



Taken at the lobby of Amara Hotel.
If I have a big house, I would love to have this in my living room during CNY.




Hawker food fare at the Lobby Cafe, Amara Hotel
Prices are like S$15 for 1 plate of fried prawn noodles or cod fish bee hoon in soup.
Almost half the price than Conrad's Oscars & Carlton's Mosaic Cafe.
All 24-hour hotel cafes alike.
Ambience is not as great.
But at least it's quiet.
Late-night drives, quiet suppers.
That's all I need after a day of heavy work.



Beautiful Peranakan crockery are a sight to behold.
Wish I can buy the ba kua-shaped plate and that big noodle bowl.
It's melamine but so vibrant & cheery!
They allowed yellow noodles to be mixed with the bee hoon soup.
Love hotels for their flexibility in customer service.
Psst, check out the big chunks of cod fish!

I like their Yong Tau Foo noodle soup too, but they stop selling that after 1030pm.
Why, Amara? =(

That day, at Hougang Mall's Soup Restaurant, I was buying dinner takeaway.
Someone at home was having real bad toothache & fever and I asked the young waitress if the kitchen can shred the Samsui Chicken.
Guess what the waitress, Ms Yang said?
She said the kitchen doesn't do that and the chicken is already pre-prepared.
And she added: "你回家自己拿刀子切咯。"

我也懂,還用你教嗎?

There were only 3 tables occupied in the whole restaurant.
No time to shred the chicken? Can't be.

The point of buying takeaway was to save time & effort at home.
If not, why would I buy tomato egg from Soup Restaurant when it's a quick & easy-to-cook dish?
And obviously, I'm trying to save time too by requesting for shredded chicken.
Who cares about what presentation in a plastic box?

If it's the old me, I would have said something real mean.
I used to be very good at being sarcastic with a smile.
學佛后,才比較懂得收斂。

But my face still darkened instantly at her last sentence.
She probably sensed it because right after that, Ms Yang was especially polite than usual.
(I buy takeaway from that branch a few times a week.)
Offering me a seat after ordering (1st time ever) and greeting me with a lot of warmth, even welcoming me to be back again.
Sorry, niceties don't work on me when you are being thoughtless.

You should learn some manners from Madam Lee, a bespectacled lady in her fifties working at Compass Point's Soup Restaurant.
Polite, patient and gives service with warmth.




Some yummy cookies with hot Milo to 消消氣 .
My favourite is the rectangular cookie.
There's oatmeal in it!
 Wish they sell in smaller quantites, like 50g.
100g is a bit too much for me.




Another beautiful plate, just because I ordered cookies! =)
Peranakan stuff are so enchanting.




Watermelon, papaya, rockmelon, mango, 2 strawberries and a dash of blueberries.
Portion is good for 2.
Or for one, if that's all you are having.
For S$11 at a hotel cafe with pretty crockery, great for chasing away the stress.
Would have been prefect if served on a large beautiful Peranakan plate, don't you think so?




Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

15 January 2012

Pre-CNY delivery

 Since Dec, my weekends have been very hectic and filled to the brim with activities.
Mainly TFL-related.
Festive shopping means festive working.
Receiving new stock arrivals, stock packing, preparing Monday's parcels, and pulling all-nighters to do up photos for next launch.
Pretty much burned weekend. 
Looking forward to the CNY week break.

Though I have mastered several soups ever since I have my own place, my parents have never tried my cooking before.
Only my mum who had a taste of my Lotus Root soup and tomato fried rice.
She said it's such a huge blessing that she's going to buy 4D.
Mum is ever so good at sarcasm.




The Husband spent 3 hours cleaning our fridge.
He took out every single tray to wash.
Looks like new, doesn't it?
It was disgusting-ly full.
He cleared 3 bags of expired food and rubbish.
 I know, I'm a lousy housewife.
It's all TFL's fault. *point finger*

Discovered the fridge was not its usual form 2 weeks ago. 
We thought putting it through deep cleansing & exfoliation will whip the fridge back to shape.
The Husband even scrubbed the dust off the wiring getup at the back of the fridge.
But alas, it's still not cold.
Think we need to get someone in. =(
Told my mum about this and she said she had never had her fridge of 11 years broken down before.
What did I do wrong??

Found time to cook ABC soup for yesterday's dinner.
Brought some to 娘家 after I was done with TFL work.
Reached about 10pm, with only 10% battery left.
But nothing beats seeing my 娘家. 



Fried rice from the neighbourhood coffee shop.
It's so easy to find good food at old residential areas like Tiong Bahru.
Even at unearthly hours like 3am.
When I was living at Woodlands, finding nice food especially late at night is like mission impossible!





The amount of CNY goodies we delivered to my family.
花菇﹑發菜﹑魚漂﹑魚膠﹑ 白木耳﹑干貝﹑無酒臘腸 and dried mussels.
Lovely springrolls with pork floss, love letters from Bengawan Solo (the nicest I ever have!) and a carton of mandarin oranges the Husband hand-picked at NTUC.
 
Plus a bottle of home-made pineapple rolls.
 My mother-in-law used to make them every year but having a full-time job now means I gonna order them elsewhere.
Got them from Auntie Susan after reading Peggy's blog.
I ordered 9 bottles last week, but her Premium Pineapple Rolls are sold out.
Have to settle for the Crispy Pineapple Rolls at S$18 per bottle.
Topped up S$10 for delivery.
I haven't tried them yet, but I'm sure homemade versions are always better than the factory ones!
Plus, the fillings are from fresh pineapples!
That's not easy, you know!



裕發海味補品行 Joo Huat Trading
349 Rochor Road #B1-23, #B1-31
Fu Lu Shou Complex
Singapore 188425
Tel: 63383118, 63383575


Forget about 正中平 (ZTP) or 福華 (Hock Hwa)!
I say this might be even better than Eu Yan Sheng.
Babes, this is the best place to buy all your CNY goodies!
For yourself, your parents, grandparents or (potential) in-laws!
Better priced & super value for money!
They have very fresh and reasonably priced 海味 + yummy nuts like cashew nuts, pistachios, macadamia + Chinese herbs + Chinese sausages + super delicious mini spring rolls with pork floss!

Pre-CNY, their red dates come in jumbo size, almost the height of my thumb!
Super sweet and makes the seed extraction a breeze.
You must buy their dried longans too!
That plus the red dates, you will have a potent Longan + Red Date tea for Lunar New Year!
Best in your neighbourhood! Hahaha!

You know it's really good when there are always tons of aunties there!
Especially over the weekends.
The Husband drove down to buy the goodies after work and had to scramble for the shopkeepers' attention because the aunties behind will always be cutting his queue.
I wasn't there, but I can imagine how squashed the Husband was.
Hahaha!
A taste of how difficult it is to be a housewife, dear!

I've been buying there for at least 5 years and every year, my family and in-laws will tell me how fresh their products are.
Score points!

Though their packaging are not as fancy as others, I think it's more important that the food items are really great.
You might be able to bluff with beautiful packaging, but it's the food quality that will impress the elders.

The variety of CNY goodies the Husband buys for my family is the same as what I buy for my in-laws yearly.
I've been doing that ever since we got together.
Mum always says as a daughter-in-law, buying gifts for the Husband's parents is a must.
The in-laws have 3 kids, with the Husband being the eldest.
So you can imagine the amount of CNY goodies they receive every year from the other halves of their children.
It's really A LOT!
Can fill the whole long dining table for 8!



The I-find-it-tasteless-yet-every-year-I-still-buy abalone.
For the families.
Can't believe Joo Huat sells it at S$34, when Cold Storage was peddling it at S$42.80 during a 3-day discount promotion.

So much indulgent feasting going to happen.
I must teach Mum proper on how to chant 往生咒.
Did I mention before that she finally took refuge, aka officially become a Buddhist, last Nov?
I was over the moon! =)




 Happy that Mum likes her pre-CNY bag. =)
She always have a penchant for nude/white coloured bags.




Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

11 January 2012

My Monopoly dream



 When I was growing up, I had a grand dream of being a landlord lady.
You know, something like Monopoly.
Buy a house, rent it out, live on the rental and have the freedom of pursuing whatever my heart desires.
I reckon owning about 2 properties should be good enough.
The idea is I'm too free-spirited to be bounded by a job for years.
I didn't want my life to be just reporting for work from Mon-Fri.
At every stage of my life, I want to be doing something different.
I want to give my all to learning about Life.
Not just being an employee.

I'm not even contented with just being a boss, though my business is flourishing & there are so many loyal & supportive customers.
I don't like the idea of being stagnant or living a cookie-cutter life.
There is more to life than making money.
And how many of us only have 1 dream in our entire lives?

What we think and what happened in reality are often polarities apart.
So here I am, writing on a blog, mostly read by my beloved customers.

I once even harboured the dream of buying a condo unit for my parents.
They have went through a lot of ups and downs in their lives.
And I used to think that if I make it to being a university graduate, I will have the means to give my parents a better life.
But there were school loans, wedding, house reno and then Tian Fen Lan.
All of which used up most of my savings.

The past few months, I have been seeing a lot of condo flyers around my estate.
The one I was really keen in was Greenwich at Seletar Hills.
I even got the Husband to drive past it a couple of times.
Even my geomancer says I can go for it.
Yes, if I have the moolah.

One of my girl pals was telling me she used to think that after graduating, she will be able to get a good-paying job easily, and not long after be able to shop at high-end labels like Gucci and the likes.
But despite graduating with first class honours, she took a year before she could find a stable job.
Even with that, her dreams of shopping at Gucci only realised after she turned 30.
And even then, it was probably once or twice a year.
Definitely not every other weekend.

I almost bought a condo unit at Tiong Bahru 7-8 years ago.
Those were the days when condo units are selling at half of current prices.
But I was silly enought to give up the idea, because I was only in my mid-twenties and the idea of owning a property then overwhelms me.
Coward.
I could have afforded it with a decent housing loan.
It was something I regretted.

I never fancy buying branded bags, because I don't see much value in them and also, I avoid using leather whenever possible.
Have you ever watched that Youtube video where cows & calves get de-skinned?
It was horrid.

Apart from my fashion dream and pursuing Buddhist studies, the other thing that I ever wanted was my Monopoly dream.
I know some of my ex-colleagues already own at least 1 or 2 rental properties.
But that would mean I have to fly longer to achieve that.
Doesn't sound appealing either.

Still it was with a slight tinge of sadness when I saw the Greenwich flyer on the windscreen of the Husband's car.
I wonder when I will ever be able to give my parents a better life.

Oh, c'mon, grow Tian Fen Lan, grow!




Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

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