a lazy afternoon at Arab St

Had a nice afternoon tea one of the weekdays at the rustic Arab Street area. Think the kopi tiam was called Arab St Cafe. Just across the street was a CD shop and they were blasting pretty nice music.

Took a shot of the environment while my fren went to get coffee. The street in front was Bussorah St. Nice weather too. The area oozes character, and the hip quotient is high, especially down Haji Lane. My fren thot he saw Lee Sin Jie, the actress pass by in a car. There were tourists, backpackers and locals of races.

Isetan Fashion Wk Spring 07

Spring launch starts from 30th Mar. Should expect more new arrivals in the spring colours and trend items.. The joint event wit T.aFF at Isetan Orchard Level 1, "Singapore Fashion Rules", (which has a fashion show date on 1st April for the SFF event), with some of the local brands should be very interesting. Not sure how it will be, have to pop down to see.... it was my last half done project...thks to fellow ex-colleague who had to follow it thru..hehe.

* picture extracted from www.isetan.com.sg

Great Lunch!

I had a great lunch at SWA Garden Restaurant. Traditional Teochew Fare. I'm sure it will be popular, especially among the older folks and if they are Teochew.

It was a lunch treat! So lucky of me again. Good company too... As usual, kan cheong to eat, forgot to take picture from dish no. 1 again.

* Vegetarian dish. Very tasty... Some kind of beancurd skin, mushroom, fa1 cai4... Never a vegetarian fan, but its good!

* This duck does not have the "smell of the duck". you know wat i mean? And its tender.

* Fried guo tiao, and siew mai. All teochew style.

* Close up of the guo tiao. It has a chewy feel, slightly burnt taste, but its one of the nicest guo tiao I ever had.
* OMG, this "orh ni", yam paste is one of the best. The taste is light and not oily and heavy like the usual. MUST TRY. Take it from a non yam paste lover.

Airport Send-off 26 Mar 2007

Sending off Chiba-san and Maya-san at the airport. Never the most pleasant occasion to send people off. Just to say thank you and good luck to both of them... Take care and keep in touch.


* Chiba-san

* me, Chiba-san & Joey
* Maya-san giving farewell speech (my camera was too slow, so couldnt catch a nicer pose.. =P)

FAMILY

Someone sent me an email today, and I thought its food for thought.


F A M I L Y
I ran into a stranger as he passed by,
"Oh excuse me please" was my reply.

He said, "Please excuse me too;
I wasn't watching for you."

We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
Move out of the way," I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,
God's still small voice came to me and said,

"While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,
but the family you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."

By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
"Wake up, little one, wake up," I said.

"Are these the flowers you picked for me?"
He smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree.

I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue."

I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."

He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay. I love you anyway."
I said, "Son, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."

FAMILY
Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think? So what is behind the story?

Do you know what the word FAMILY means? FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

Do you know?

Have you tried to keep track of your financial situation and if calculate if you are prepared for your retirement? Its tedious though, but it's good for anyone who is concerned about their own future...

http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/Members/Retire-Plan-Games/Retire-Planner-Games.htm

Maya-san's official farewell party 22 Mar 07

All good things have to come to an end. But friendships are there forever (as quoted by Maya-san). We do not know what the future holds for us, but we should always look forward and make the best out of it. Every new experience adds to the excitement and colour to life.

All the best to Maya-san and Chiba-san. Please keep in touch! The farewell party was very successful with a huge turnout. Thanks for inviting me, great to meet up with everyone. I'm half-Isetan staff...


* Maya-san and me. (pardon my oily face. Yeeks!)

* Chiba-san (argh, blur photo)

* Ladies Young Division 2004 - Feb 2007

* Maya-san, Hiroka-san, Rikako-san =)

Thoughts for the Day

Facing rejection isn't one of my favourite moments, but it is inevitable. It's how quickly I can pick up myself when dealing with it rather than avoiding it. But dealing with friends who suddenly become suspicious due to occupational change, its really unpleasant to deal with.

Well, Life Goes On. My new friend reminded me "life is always full of pitfalls....n knocks most impt is nv lose heart". Jiayou. "Tomorrow will always be a better day!".

Your Brain is Blue

Of all the brain types, yours is the most mellow.You tend to be in a meditative state most of the time. You don't try to think away your troubles.Your thoughts are realistic, fresh, and honest. You truly see things as how they are. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about your friends, your surroundings, and your life.

What Color Is Your Brain?

Singapore Fashion Festival

For those who are interested. Check out the show schedules, some can book in advance...

http://www.singaporefashionfestival.com.sg/booktickets.asp

Hall 12 Appreciation

Its great to get myself immersed in the camaradie of hall life again. Well, its a short but reminiscing evening at Suntec@Olio. Good to see the ex-hall mates once in a while. Could be strange sometimes and lose touch with them, but feel happy to be part of the family. Well one day I could get too old for all these, but isn't it interesting to see how we would have changed over the years? Great that Hall 12 finally seems to have formed its own culture and get more involvement from the residents...

Isetan Private Sale

For the first time in 2 and a half years, I was at the private sale as a customer. I was there as well 2 days before the sale, and I could find that the department is operating very well on its own. Thank goodness the suppliers are all very seasoned and professional about doing the sales as much as its a tedious event!! I know, I know.. not really everyone likes it, except the customers! Actually, I'm glad that I'm out of the event, no fail to fall sick after the event. Highly stressful and tedious.

Dear frenz, for those who are not in retail, do respect the retail people, for the blood, sweat and time put into delivering the goods and putting it on the shelves. A top is not just another top, time, effort and thought has been put into delivering that one design you see. The true blue designers have been there and done it. Really applaud those who are in the trade for so many years, and I feel honoured to have been able to learn and work together with these brilliant talents.

Ironically, although its the first time I had time to shop as a customer, din get a single item! How could it be, I ask myself, since nothing could stop me for spending for such events. I tell you, its never ending while working as a buyer, its impossible not to buy when you look at so many nice stuff every day!

Looking forward to Singapore Fashion Festival. Singapore Fashion Rules! There is a special event at Isetan Orchard (Wisma) at level 1 promo area, a the tie-up event with Taff on the fashion show event on 1st April. I'll remind again!! Please go take a look, local labels ought to get more recognition than they have now. Dates to be posted again.

I'm sure all of you have seen the press ads, flyers and tv ads for SFF already. Publicity should be further upped closer to the event. Stay tuned!

Newest Hello Kitty to collection

A very sweet friend of mine got this little lamp for me while on holiday. Well, it's really something that I really liked, but never got for myself. Guess friends can really tell what I would like... So nice right? The thing that you want just falls into your hands, isn't that a nice surprise?

Finally!

Boy, I am glad, that finally I can log into my blog after 2 whole weeks!! Well, there had been so much activities but well, I couldn't update it.

Had been meeting up with friends whom have been out of touch for awhile with my newfound freedom. Well, my previous job was really interesting, but it really took up alot of my time as well. Hardly had time to contact friends whom I really would have liked to meet up with.

Seems that everyone is moving on, and I think it indicates that the market is getting much better than ever. Good luck to all!

Had a party last Friday evening at Swissotel Stamford. It was pretty flattering to be invited to the small gathering. Was a nice and cosy evening, with great company, good food and drinks.

Check out the pix.

* my favourite baby boy Koji. Guess why he is smiling? He's jumping on the famous Westin bed. while chanting "jump, jump, jump, jump,....."

* And little Ai-chan has kinda lost some weight. The cute little girl recognises that it is picture time, and she stops crawling on the bed to do a pose for the camera.

* Can you beat this cute little combination!!! Kawaii kid plus kawaii dog! This fearless little girl coolly stared at the 6 mth old Chihuahua, aptly named "LV", who is carried around in an LV bag. Her dressing was very chi-chi, like Paris Hilton! Her owner however, was not quite pleased that LV was to be Paris Hilton because it was related to being bimbo. Wahaha! Don't worry, we very much mean that the puppy is stylish.

Well, I was pretty frightened by the hyper active little dog until much later when she cooled down. Ai-chan was indifferent to the puppy though, and even smacked the dog at one point in time, for being "irritating". So cool right?!

* Koji and John was much more scared of the puppy unlike the baby girl. Well, think Koji was more pretending to be scared rather than really scared. He really wanted to play, while also apprehensive of the dog. John, was really scared of the dog. But being quite young at 4 years old, he was really a small kid who looks older than his age.

Think I drank more than I have ever tried to, and also the most in terms of variety in an evening, but surprisingly, I was not drunk. Wow! That means probably it will really take me quite abit before I reach my limit. Guess dad did pass on some of his "drinking genes".

I'm back !

New posts coming up. Stay tuned...

The Hello Kitty Desk

Gonna miss having a desk to deco! My kitty collection mostly made up of gifts! So sweet of my colleagues, suppliers and friends... =)

* The full view. Check out the file and mousepad and the "Snow Kitty" from 05 christmas.

* On the left. My cute iS bear wearing a kitty necklace.

* On the right, a complete set of tiny vintage kitty sits on the ledge.

* Mini figurines on the CPU.

* More figurines.

* 7-11 magnets

More pix of treats and presents ... =)

Dear Colleagues, suppliers and friends, thanks for everything. Those that are not pictured included! =) Just to share what I've got!

** Ichiban Boshi treat by Ms Sally Koh. Black pepper grilled salmon set. Nice! That was my last lunch as a buyer on the 28th.

*Burgundy wine, from a group of Scotts promoters. So sweet! And the pretty card.

* From my sales side - Sales managers, supervisors and Isetan staff. Oh yes, they know I like Agnes B. alot. A pretty cardholder. And yes, I will put my namecards and go back to distribute!!

* A set if pretty Hello Kitty stackable cups - From Ms Cat Goh!

* Pink Bank book - By Xinyi dear. So cute, its like a mock up of a real bank book. To write down my cash asset and update it.

* inside of the Pink Bank book.

* A good luck Ang Bao from my supplier.

* Hello Kitty hang tag (with mirror) and innocent Kitty in uniform accessory -

by Joey and Joann.

Farewell Lunch - Snapshots

Some of the pictures of the farewell lunch. - finally!


* group photo

* The sales team

* DMs and Managers

* Arh good frenz!

* before the lunch starts