The Last Day

Today is the last day @ work for me. The project has not ended but I have completed the original contract and an extension and the agreement I had with my boss is that I want to take time off when the contract extension ends on 30th June, 2007.

Therefore, here I am today, clearing up my things and leaving instructions to the project team on the things to do and follow up when I am not around. It seems kinda surreal to do that; I never thought that this day will come. The project didn't kill me - I survived!

There is an offer for a permanent position on the table but I am not so sure if I want to take it. I may take it in the end jus to come back to help out my boss during the upcoming budget cycle however, I am hoping not to stay on too long simply coz the company is paying me what I am asking for (and trust me, what I am asking for is NOT a lot!). I know I know that money is not everything there is to a job, but if people come and tell you that money is not important, don't you ever believe them!

Anyway, my boss treated me to a nice dinner at Mezza9 @ Hyatt. The last time I was there was five years ago. We shared a seafood platter and a dessert platter - very nice! Yum yum! We had quite a good time gossiping about the folks in the office. Hee...

Come back again for updates on what I am up to during this "cho-boh" period. :)

I am worried

I have been getting migraine attacks recently; sometimes as frequent as daily. And there were attacks where I had the throbbing pain the whole day, I went to sleep and when I wake up the next morning, the pain is still there!!

I try not to take painkillers as it is very bad for the liver. I grit my teeth and bear with the pain to pass the day. Somedays are soooo bad that I just pack up my stuff and go home to sleep. I don't know what's wrong and I am getting worried. It never used to be this bad. And it is not as if I am very stressed @ work or anything.

Sigh. I just made an appointment to see a highly recommended Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) physician today. She is based at the Paragon Medical Centre. Her earliest timeslot is end of July, so I am meeting her in early August. Hopefully, I am still alive then.

Central @ Clarke Quay

Central @ Clarke Quay is one of the newest shopping mall in town. I was quite happie to check it out twice in the same week - once with my two close girl frens for dinner and once with The Hubby for lunch.

The 3 of us. Clarke Quay is in the background across the Singapore River

The picture does not do justice to how good the food tasted!

The beef was very good!

Highlight of the meal! Mocha ice cream with red beans

Green tea tiramisu - Yummy!

Japanese Jelly with fruit cocktail. Drooooooool.....

The Hubby and I went to check out this popular ramen restaurant at the same shopping mall. This is their menu - that's all they serve. Ramen and only ramen....

My spicy ramen with slice of pork and egg. The slice of pork went to The Hubby. The ramen was very very nice! The broth was very good. In fact, I am still thinking about the ramen now as I write! Yummmmmmmm!! I will definitely go back there again!

Jakarta Trip

I was still feeling woozy and fuzzy when I boarded the plane for Jakarta; and it does not make me feel any better to do that on a Sunday afternoon. It was a full flight - how come there are so many people flying in between Singapore and Jakarta??!?! Must be those rich Indonesian tai-tais who come to Singapore to shop for their branded clothes and bags!

When I arrived on Sunday, I met up with my good friend Elvia and her family. Finally get to meet her hubby and 2 cute kids! Tisha, the elder girl is soo pretty and Alaric the younger boy is sooooo adorable!

I didn't go out at all during the training days; was trying to rest as much as possible in an attempt to recover fully from my flu. I met up with Elvia again on my last evening in Jakarta and we went out for dinner and shopping.

Elvia & Mi

2 things stood out about Jakarta from this trip:
1. Jakarta has Krispy Kreme! I have not tasted them before but have heard so much about them! There was a promotion going on where a purchase of one dozen will get us another two dozens free! So Elvia was sweet enough to buy us the three dozens and let me carry two dozens back to Singapore.

In my perception, Jakarta has upped its own hip quotient by having Krispy Kreme! We don't even have it in Singapore!

2. When Elvia and I went out for dinner on my last evening, she came to pick me up with her driver. Having a driver to drive you around is apparently quite common in Jakarta. When we arrived at our destination, Elvia would tell her driver to pick us up from the same location where he dropped us off. When we are done and are ready to be picked up, we go to the pick-up point where there is like a counter for the guy to page for the driver! The paging can be heard throughout the shopping mall and the carpark. So the driver, upon hearing his name would then drive to come and pick us up. This is how they get around the issue of the driver not having a mobile to be contactable. We do not have this in Singapore as only the super-rich here can afford to hire a driver!

All in all, the trip did not turn out as bad as I thought it would be. The saving grace was that I had a lot of fun hanging out with Elvia. :)

I am sick

Went to the doctor during lunch yesterday and came home after that.

These two days have passed by in a blur - the cough mixture and flu medication makes me so drowsy and woozy that I cannot even think straight. They also make your body feel weak and achy. I just spent my time sleeping and sleeping.

Alright - back to the bed........zzzzzz.........

He hates going to the fur-dresser!

Coffee sulked for three whole days without smiling when he went for his grooming recently. He really hates having his fur cut short. He didn't even want to eat!!

From this:

To this:

See his unsmiling face in the last two pics. He just refused to smile!

Do Dogs Feel Love?

I came across this article on the Internet while I was in Bangkok for work. I have been away from home for the past 13 days and I really miss Coffee a lot while I was reading the article. I totally agree with this article.

"We feel tremendous love for our dogs, and our dogs sure seem to love us. But is a dog really capable of emotions? Or are we just projecting our feelings onto our dogs?

Scientists avoid the subject because part of what sets humans apart from the animals is our ability to experience feelings. To say that animals actually have feelings, in the same way we do, would change everything – perhaps disrupt our entire position and standing in the animal kingdom.

However, any dog owner knows that dogs love completely and have a greater capacity for love than most people. If one were to describe the main characteristics of a dog, they would have to be:

1. strong affection
2. warm attachment
3. unselfish loyalty and benevolent concern for others

Wait a minute – those are the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definitions of love. Probably why the author of Dogs Never Lie About Love, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson writes, “dogs are love.” So there isn’t a question of whether dogs love, the mystery is how they have such an enormous capacity for it. Dogs who are neglected or abused still show love for their human and wag their tails in hope of a little affection.

Dogs taken from abusive situations hold no grudges toward the human race. A half an ounce of kindness from a new person results in an abundance of affection from the formerly mistreated dog. Humans rarely have the capacity to so completely forgive and love under those circumstances.

Probably the biggest reason the dog has become man’s best friend is because we know that when it comes to love, a dog can always outdo us. The highest form of love, agape love, which is completely unconditional, is something that people often have to work at or grow into. Agape love seems to come naturally between parent and child, but it’s more difficult between husband and wife, and harder still between friends. To love someone regardless of what wrongs they have done you is very difficult for humans.

A dog, however, is born with an endless capacity for agape love, and doesn’t even have to work at it. You can be a complete grouch, ignore your dog, and refuse him your love. When you decide you’re ready to be sociable again, your dog doesn’t pay you back by ignoring you too. He’s just happy you’re there. More amazing still, is that the love that dogs and owners feel for each other lasts a lifetime. This is the ideal love humans strive for, but often fail at.

As Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson so beautifully writes in Dogs Never Lie About Love, “Learning to know somebody intimately is often the beginnings of dislike, sometimes even of contempt. Among humans, love often does not survive a growing acquaintance, but in a dog, love seems to grow with acquaintance, to get stronger, deeper. Even when fully acquainted with all our weaknesses, our treachery, our unkindness, the dog seems to love strongly – and this love is returned by most dog-loving humans. We, too, seem to love our dogs the more we get to know them. The bond grows between us and our dogs.”

This is why we need dogs. They do something for us that rarely a human companion can do. No matter how much you mess up your life, or how much wrong you do, no matter how many mistakes you make or how often you make them, regardless of your looks, income or social standing, your dog never judges you. He always thinks you are wonderful and loves you with all his heart. "

Sawadee-ka!

From one week in Orlando, I went straight to 5 days in Bangkok, Thailand without going home. I miss home! I was in Bangkok to conduct a training session for the Financial Controllers in the IndoChina (Thailand, Vietnam & Cambodia) region. I didn't get the opportunity to do much shopping on this trip due to the training preparations work and the intensive training session.

View of the Chao Praya River from my hotel room

Financial Controllers from various hotels in IndoChina region

Khun Sawalak and me

With colleagues on the shuttle boat provided by the hotel to bring us to the subway station

This is the hotel. Picture was taken from the shuttle boat on Chao Praya River.