Elmo says "Happy Birthday"

This is another backdated entry...as usual I am slow at posting entries, so dun grumble at me T_T

Last week we celebrated 2 of our colleagues/frens' birthdays (both December BABIES). We ordered this lovely Elmo cake from POLAR for them.


Isn't Elmo CUTE??!!! ^^

They actually offer a few themes in POLAR which u can choose characters from: Sesame Street, Looney Tunes, Hello Kitty & Powerpuff Girls. All are very cute!!! Perfect for Children but I guess great for adults too.

Anyway, we went to this Middle Eastern restaurant at Arab Street call Amirah's Grill to have our dinner. Food was sumptuous and pretty good. Worth a try if u are open to other flavours: http://www.amirahsgrill.com/default.asp


Mixed Kebab Set


Mushroom Fish Set


Grilled?? Chicken Set (actually I forgot the name of this dish :P )

Wat I find most interesting is the tea set which they serve their mint tea in...real nice...look!


After dinner, we left the restaurant and ended up at some hawker center to cut and eat the Elmo cake....WITHOUT A KNIFE!!!! Hahaha, so funny...Helen had to go borrow a butter knife from one of the western stall there. Here's a pic on one of the birthday girl with the cake!



The cake was nice except for the top layer which is made of icing...so it tasted a bit weird. And of coz, we hear screams from Elmo while we cut him apart! Hahaha...so evil!!!

Flu vs Cold??!!!

Well, as I was saying...I visited the doctor and this is wat happened.

I went to the doctor in central rather than the one near my home. Although it costs more and the waiting time is longer, I think the medicine works better on me.

First, I went in and gave my name. The nurse/assistant mumbled "17" while facing her colleague. While I took a seat I was wondering wat tat number was for (she did not explain to me) when I saw a call number display...so 17 is my queue number! Does the nurse think that I am a regular in their clinic such tat I will know abt the queue system! The number was at 12, so I was thinking...maybe not too long a wait. So, then I was just sitting there bored and observing others. A few other patients came in and they were promptly informed by the nurse that the usual Dr Lim was not ard and a Dr Lee was covering (I was NOT told!)...some minded and went out saying that they will come another day...other said it was ok and took a queue number too.

Then, I heard the nurse said to her colleague that she cannot find my medical card. Saw her looking through the cabinets and even went to another room...afterwhich she finally gave up and put a fresh new card for me. I waited for abt 1 hr before my turn to see the doctor...really long waiting time if u ask me. Dr Lee was a young chap, I havent seen him before and the first question he asked was "So, wats wrong with u?". I answered "flu". Then, he asked "Wats ur symptons?" So, I listed the usual "Running nose, blocked nose, sore throat which developed into cough, greenish phlegm but no fever". He then said "That's not flu, its just cold. Many mistook cold for flu. Flu, such as bird flu and other flus, starts with fever and there will not be running or blocked nose. Cold on the other hand does not start with fever, although it might develop into a fever later on." I do appreciate the explanation coz now at least I know the difference between a flu and a cold. Since I have a fresh new medical card...he had to ask abt my medical history, asthma, allergy and blah blah...the routine lah. Then he asked what I felt was a stupid question "So, are u working?" How old does he think I am? Or does he think I am a delinquent who laze ard? I know he just wanted to know if I needed MC but couldnt he just ask "Do u need MC?". Anyway, after seeing him, I waited another long 15 mins before I got my medicines and went home to my lovely bed.

I wonder...why do some clinics torture their patients like tat with their long waiting time? Dun they know tat we are feeling horrible as it is being sick? Only thing I am glad of is...the medicine seems to be working...although not really speedily.

Busy Schedule then Sick!

Been quite some time since I last blogged. Was pretty swarmed by the amount of things to do (both work and personal) lately.

Lets rewind to the previous weekend 9 Dec and 10 Dec...busy weekend! It was a Zoo Trip with my eldest bro and family on tat Sat. Pretty fun but of course tiring...4 adults juggling Charmaine and Ray was still a challenge. Lazy Charmaine kept wanting her parents to carry her, think she was too lazy to walk....haha...reminds me of...ME! I remember that till I was in Kindergarden, I still wanted my mum to carry me :P Well, we took lotsa photos...but I am not too sure if I will get those copies...if I do, I will post it up k!

Then Sun, 10 Dec was a visit to my grandma...pre-birthday celebration. It was...as "cold" as ever. I think most of my relatives, including myself, were there only to show "face". Sad but true. Wonder wat will happen when my grandma pass away...hmmm...think maybe then we probably wouldnt have this kind of family gatherings anymore.

Ok, then to last week. I was pretty much busy at work updating my cases status on the older cases. Apparently the Big Boss wanted to review the 90s cases...so all of us were like rushing like mad! Then the day came for reporting and our Big Boss was on MC!...haiz....not sure when it will be postponed to. And then, only heard last week that one of our colleague was leaving...haiz....pple come and go so much in this dept...guess it cant be helped coz a portion of us are contract staff. So again, there was re-shuffling of cases and wa-lah, I think I got more work to do again! Haiz.....sianz....wonder when is my turn to leave?

Last weekend was a sickly weekend. Worst I have felt for some time. The cold which I tot was cured the previous week came back on Sat, 16 Dec. While I was decorating my home for the Xmas season, I had bolts of sneezing and it started. Running nose, sore throat...and a wedding dinner to attend tat night! No wonder I din really enjoy the night...was practically swallowing my food tat night (not meaning eating fast, but I always eat fast...I meant I was trying to literally swallow the food). Sunday was not any better...spent mostly in bed...then yesterday, the coughing came...wat I dreaded most - phlegm! Phlegm was not just disgusting to me coz they are greenish and sticky...but coz they block my breathing passageway. From past experience, I know coughing can easily lead to a relapse of my asthma...so I decided to be good and visited the doctor. I will post an entry abt the visit to the doctor later.

So today, I am back at work and still sick!

Interpretations

I had this thought last week but din really have time to put it up on blog - how issit that different pple have different interpretations of things happening around them? Its amazing how the human brain works. Our interpretations are dependable on our perception and history which are often affected by wat we have experienced, seen, felt or knew in the past. The key word is PAST.

For example, there is this tea lady (vendor from a stall/cafe near our office) who comes by our office daily around 10 plus to 11 plus in the morning, pushing a cart of food and drinks. Selling coffee, tea, breads, cakes and sometimes bee hoon.

Well, the tea lady does this ritual ringing of bell whenever she walks past. And one day while she was doing her rounds, I suddenly looked at my colleagues and asked "Aaaa, wats tat ringing...chey, its the tea lady." Then KW said, "Haha...I tot it was Santa Claus." Sha added "No lah, I think the ringing sounded more like a Taoist Priest doing his rituals." But guess wat was my reply to them??? I said, "Hmm...at first, I tot it was the ice cream man...."

......................

Santa Claus, Taoist Priest and Ice Cream Man in the Office!!!????

No, we are not crazy! We are just affected by our PAST experiences. Probably KW watched too much children's show or cartoons and so believe that Santa exists, and since it is near Xmas season, its natural she thinks of the kind old man. Sha probably seen some Taoist ritual in progress somewhere, or maybe watch too much chinese zombie shows...hahaha. And ME??? I think I am just craving for ice cream at tat time :P

Happy Feet - Review

Went to watch the movie Happy Feet with my colleagues last Tuesday. Must say tat its a rather good show. At first I was expecting a typical kidish cartoon...something akin to Magdagascar, Ice Age, Monster Inc...but I was pleasantly surprised that it was nothing boring or childish. Although the story is predictable, there are comical scenes and jokes. Here are some of the nicer pics I got...





Now a little bit abt the story. Its abt penguins as u know...like humans, penguins have different species living in different parts of the Artics. So, this specie of penguin live to mate and reproduce, and to do so, they have to sing to attract the opposite sex. However, our little hero, Mumble, CANNOT sing! Although his parents were the best singers in the tribe in their days, Mumble can at best croak (but he does tap dancing actually)! Thus, he was ostracized in his tribe and other penguins looked down on him. In every love story, there is a female lead, which in this case is Gloria who sings beautifully and although she pitied Mumble (and I think she likes him too), she did not accept Mumble coz he cant sing. One day Mumble got lost and there began his adventure.






The adventure soon became a mission for Mumble to find out the cause for shortage of fishes in the Artic areas. The Elders blamed it on Mumble's abnormality and chased him away. In order to return to his tribe, Mumble vowed to find out the cause for the shortage of fishes.

What is most interesting to note abt this movie is that it conveys a strong message to protect nature and wildlife. It reflects on man's behaviour of extracting food sources from nature at the risk of endangering other species of living things. For a movie which is being targeted at mostly children, I wonder if it is appropriate to incorporate such meaning into the show. On the other hand, this might be a good way to communicate such message across to the next generation....pros and cons I guess.