Woo hoo~~ i'm on leave, i'm on leave

Finally~~I'm on leave!!

Woo Hoo~~
For Ten days straight

And the best part? Im going to Krabi for 6days 5night!
i could hardly wait.

Funny people - part1

Hehe..i'm gonna start a compilation of short true, real life encounters of "funny people" i meet in my everyday life...
Beware, People out there!! Muahahahaha

===================================================

I was helping this gentleman to look for space to stow his cabin bag. Managed to spotted one overhead compartment with just a labtop bag inside. Since the laptop was laying flat, i explained to the lady i need to put her lappy bag upright just so we had more space for people to put their hand-carry bags

Me: "Excuse me, Mdm. Is that your laptop bag" (pointing to the bag in the overhead compartment)
Lady "Yes, that's mine"
Me: "Is it alright if i shifted it upright so we'll have space to stow this gentleman's bag?"
Lady "But it's a laptop. It's not suppose to be stow upright!"

I almost choked on my saliva...
HELLOOOOO~~ what do u mean by u can't put it upright?
like DUH~~~ it doesnt matter....

So mdm, may i ask how do u carry your laptop bag around?
You carry it upright on the handles?
Not like you use both hands to hold it around in a horizontal manner..

Funny people...

and when i mentioned to Tom about it, he made this comment about "Women and technology==> don't mix"...

of which i kicked his butt of course.

Lord of the "Ring"

I received a ring from Tom for Christmas last year. And no, Its not an Engagement Ring! (not yet..haha)
I guess i better mentioned its one of the many other christmas present i got from him as well. Not like me, as he mentioned countless time, who only gave him a watch for Christmas.
Hey, you said it's the best watch you ever have!! *poke poke*

It's a simple and elegant ring.
Not those flashy one big carat diamond ring, with flawless clarity, Grade A, colour D or E or F, with GIA or AGS cut and blah blah blah...To me, its doesnt really matter.
Whats matters is that it comes from the heart.

I have been wearing it on my finger ever since, whether im working, showering, sleeping etc

Two days ago, in the hotel bus to Zurich airport, i was fiddling with my ring when i felt something sharp rubbing against my finger.


That's weird.
Taking a closer look! I REALISED==========>>> MY RING BROKE!!!!


My reaction was probably similar to Gollum from LOTR
"My preciousss~~"


"Broken ring, Broken promise" ?
"Bruten ring, Brutet löfte"?


Why does this kind of stuff always happen to me? *SNIFF SNIFF*
I protest!

Oh what a day!

I HATE to be put on Standby...GRRRRRRR

You have absolutely no idea when you will be activated for flight.
My record so far ===> making it from Holland V to Changi airport in a record time of 1 hour flat (include painting my nails, packing my bag, putting my make up in the taxi)
So here i am, checking the system every hour. And it doesnt help that i'm living so near to the airport. The chances of me not being called up from standby is probably in the rank of striking Toto. 1: 1,000,000??

0000
I was really tired..
I called the system. No messages... Heehee, maybe...just maybe i wouldnt be called up for flight. I took my shower,brushed my teeth...
0030
was abt to hit the sack..hmm, prob should call again..
yes, u guess it, lo and behold, i was activated for a turnaround flight~
so much for miracles do come true..

The first time to do is to call the transport co-ordinator to arrange thepickup time. The phone is engaged (as usual). Alrite, packed my bag first and printed out the crew list...
It doent help that i'm the most junior crew in the list.

0100
called again..still engaged...Darn~
Hmm, called and talk to Tom first....

in the end, i managed to get to the transport coordinator at 1.30am.
Lady" okie, Bedok arh, your pickup time is 6.25am"

finally went to sleep.. at 0300

0500
Cuckoo Coo Coooooo
morning came
drag myself out of bed, prepared and left my house at 0620
waited till 0630..hmm, the cab is not here yet...nevermind give them 5mins more
at 0635, im starting to panic. This is so not good. Decided to called the taxi coo-ordinator and explain the situation
"aiyah", the taxi coo-ordinator exclaimed "there have been some changes to your pickup time. we forgot to inform you"
"WHAT!!!!!" my heart missed a beat
taxi coordinator "Could you come by yourself?"
"you gotto be kidding me, its 0640, i need to report at 0655 and you are telling me there's some confusion in my transport...omg~~ "

Plan A - "Book a cab"
Question 1 : Could someone explained to me ==>why is it that everytime when you need to book a cab, there's always no cab available"

Plan B - there's no Plan B!!!!!
Alrite, Breath deep...Breath in, Breath out...Phew~ getting myself all panicky doenst solve anything at all.
I shall walk out to the main road and try flagging a cab
I cant believe this is happening!!

At the main road, a guy in his early 30s was waiting for a cab as well....

Question 2==>why is it that everytime when you need a cab desperately, there's always no cab in sight?"
After 5mins of waiting ..miraclously, a vacant cab appeared
"Good, the next one will be for me" i was thinking
Suddenly, the man said to me " you go ahead first, i know you are late. i'll wait for the next one"
Harps playing and Angels sings, and and and ...i cant believe it!!!!!!!

To the kind Samaritan i met this morning...Thank you, Thank you so much... No amount of words could express my appreciation.
i used to think that Singaporeans are a selfish lot but you make me change my view!


Thank you!
TACK!

Patna hate story

This article from The IndianExpress, dated 4th February caught my eyes:

PATNA, FEBRUARY 3: :
Father, family kill son-in-law;daughter critical after assault
Shailendra Mishra, a Patna schoolteacher, was lynched, his head crushed with a stone, and his newly married wife Pushpanjali assulted by a group led by her father. This was their "punishment" for marrying without the family's consent. And belonging to the same gotra (sub-caste) - although they were of the same caste.

You would have thought this had happened in a different era, a different time. But no, its didnt. You are talking about the up and rising India, one of the fastest growing country in the world.

Its sad to read stories like this, especially when Valentine's day is just, what? a week away?

To Ms Pushpanjali's father,

I really couldnt understand what perceived you to react so violently to this matter. You should be happy for your daughter. Yes, its not right for them to eloped and get married without getting your blessing. But they are grown ups. They know how to think for themselves. You cant decide their lives for them anymore. You cant dicate who they are allow or not allow to marry. Violence doesnt solve everything or anything at all(Prob back in stone age mabbe). Have you ever sit down and consider "hey, why did they do it? Why did they run away to get married? Why did they not inform me? Im sure every children want their parents blessing. Things could be work out. There's so many things you could have done? Talk to them. Be happy for them.

Did you even feel anything when you beat your own daughter? your own flesh and blood?
Did you experience a sense of remorse when u saw her laying in a pool of her own blood?
Did you feel anything at all other than anger?

Are you being a good father?

Excuse me, we value our lives!

"All our flights are non-smoking flights. Please do not smoke in the lavatories as this will set off the smoke detector. Thank you for your attention and have a wonderful flight" The safety video could be heard over the PA system.

Nobody bother anyway.

As usual, you could see passengers reading the newspaper, talking to each other, pretending to sleep and blah blah blah...

It was during meal service and I was pushing my cart to the front row. A man came out from the toilet just i was passing by. Immediately, i smell the cigarette smoke.

#%$&?!@!# 讨厌
Some moron just smoked in the lavatory!!!!
Arghhh, i feel like grabbing the moron by his neck and shake him senseless!! or or or.....maybe hit him on his head with my stainless steel tray!!

It's the same as people using their handphone on flight. Yes, i know..so far, there hasnt been any concrete evidence that shows handphones emission will interfere with the navigation system of the airplane. But heck! Better safe than sorry right? 按全第一

DARN~~ i looked at the man walking back to his seat.
Should i confront him? what if it wasnt him? maybe its the person before him?

I stopped my cart and went into the toilet, making sure there's no smoke or fire anywhere. Pull open the trashbin and check to see there's no cigarette butt laying around that might just catches fire.

This is the kind of stuff that really makes my blood boils!! GRRRRRRR.....The person who discarded the cigarette thinks nothing of it as they happily travel on their way. But other people will have to deal with the consequences of what can happen. HELLO!! We are 35,000feet above sea level! what happen if there's really a big fire? Hallelujah, Amen to all of us.

I used to be a smoker myself, .I know how tough it was to endure 15hrs of flight without a smoke.
很心苦,要我的命喔 Its tough, but thats life, man!
im not asking you not to smoke. Its your life and i dun give a Shit!.
But don't jeopardise the hundreds of lives even if you don't value yours.

At the end of the day, ask yourself, is it worth it?
Its 300plus lifes at stake! i still wanna get married, have kids and live to a ripe old age...

SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, i beg you 求求你,
the next time you light up in the plane, think about the consequences

As what mummy says,
"Don't play with Fire"
"Lek inte med elden"

October 27, 1951
Location:
Near Flores, Guatemala
Operator: Military - Guatemalan Air Force
Aboard: 27 (passengers:22 crew:5)
Fatalities: 25 (passengers:20 crew:5)
Ground: 0
Summary:
Crashed and burned in jungle 170 miles north northeast of Guatemala City. It is theorized a passenger may have started a fire in the aircraft's cabin with a cigarette.


July 11, 1973
Location:
Paris, Orly, France
Operator: Varig
Aboard:134 (passengers:117 crew:17)
Fatalities:123 (passengers:116 crew:7)
Ground:0
Summary:
Fire aboard the aircraft in the aft right toilet was reported and an emergency descent made. The plane was heavily damaged by fire before fire fighters could rescue passengers. Most fatalities were due to CO before rescuers could reach passengers. The fire started in the aft right toilet either from an electrical short or discarded cigarette.

December 24, 1982
Location:
Guangzhou, China
Operator: CAAC
Aboard:69 (passengers:58 crew:11)
Fatalities:25 (passengers:25 crew:0)
Ground:0
Summary:
A passenger's cigarette caused a fire in the cabin which led to an oxygen tank exploding

A set of housekeys

Just the other day, i was over at Tom's place when he casually asked whether i want a set of his house keys. My initial reaction was "No. Why would i want your house keys?"

Big mistake here.
You could practically see the wounded look in his eyes
(hahaha, i know...just exaggerating abit here)

Immediately, i regreted what i said.
Time for repair job
"Of cos, i'll love to have a set of house keys"
Too late now....
Prob his pride or ego got bruised and he changed his mind about giving me the house keys. GUYS!!!!!

Thinking back, i guess my first reaction was "i dun need the keys. Its not like im gonna go over if you are not around"
But i didnt realise the importance of the question.

I had never ever keep a set of my ex-boyfriends' housekeys.
They didnt offered and i didnt ask.
Maybe its because they are still living with their parents? or Maybe its a matter of trust? or maybe??

Its a very significant thing to me i.e if someone gives u their housekeys. Its like they have alot of trust in you. So when Tom offered his keys to me:
Does it mean that he's bringing our relationship to a new level?
or is it just for convenience i.e like when he's not home when i go over, i could just open the door and let myself in? Probably both, i guess...

i guess im still pretty overwhelmed. Its a great feeling to have someone trusting you so much. I wonder did he put alot of thoughts into it before he asked or it's just something that he does with all his ex-girlfriends.
a) Like to all his ex-girlfriends "oh yeah, here's a set of my housekeys. Help yourself to anything in the fridge! treat it like your home" he said in a nonchalent manner
OR
b) Omigod, im gonna offer her my housekey, everything just feel so right with her..will she reject it? will she think its too soon? will she think im weird? will she be put off? will she....will she.....*toss and turn in bed* worrying for zillion nights

Maybe its not such a big deal to him! so why am i making such a big deal about it? Well, Because...because....its a big deal to me!

So maybe, Tom...just maybe..one of these days, i might just pop over to your place when you are not around and have a surprise for you when you come home! haha..who knows?

Swedish : Jag heter Jasmine
English : I am Jasmine

Drama mama spoilt my chinese new year!!

Its been a long time.... being away for 7days.

Everyone was happy its the last leg of the flight (eventhough the flight was full full full)
Everyone was looking forward to going back to Singapore and celebrating Chinese New year with family and loved one.
Everyone was so bloody tired due to lack of sleep

Then the drama began:

It happened during the boarding of passengers:

Mr A was standing and looking at his boarding pass. Since i was in charge of the aisle, I went over and asked him whether everything was okay. He showed me his boarding pass and explained that someone was sitting in his seat. I looked at the pass, 45D, turned around..and true enough, there's an old lady occupying his seat...

Moi: Excuse mdm, may i take a look at your boarding pass?
old lady: mumble mumble mumble (speaking in a foreign language)
Moi: i need to see your boarding pass
old lady: mumble mumble

This is going to be tough....

then, the old guy seating at the G seat spoke up

Old guy: we changed our seats. Our original seat are 45E, 45G and 45H
(for those who are not familiar with the seat plan ===>45D,E,G are 3 connected seats,followed by the aisle then 45H,J,K)
We changed our seats because we are friends and we want to be seated together.
Moi: Sir, i'm sorry but the seat has been assigned to Mr A. Please go back to your allocated seat.
Old guy: we are friends and we want to sit together
Moi: Well, if thats the case, maybe you would like to ask Mr A whether he wants to take your seat at 45H then.

Old guy talked to Mr A and Mr A, being the nice and considerate man agreed to take the seat 45H

Problem solved? Not yet...
May i now present to you====> the Drama mama

Walked over to Seat 45H..Woo hoo, lo and behold...there's a lady a.k.a Drama mama seated at 45H...

Hmm...something is not right here

Moi: Excuse me,mdm. Is this your original seat?
Drama mama: No, my original seat is 45J.
Moi: Well, if thats the case, would you like to go back to your original seat because the gentleman behind me is taking this seat
Drama mama: No, i'm not going back to my original seat. I requested for an aisle seat but i dunno why it was not given to me. I cant sit in the middle. I have xxxxphobia. I can't sit there. I will be vomitting throughout the flight if i sit in the middle and blah blah blah blah blah blah..

Before i could respond, the old man seated at 45G stood up and shouted at her

Old man: You go back to your seat!! Thats not your seat!!!
Drama mama shouted: I SAID I CANT SIT IN THE MIDDLE. I WILL BE SICK THROUGHOUT THE FLIGHT
Old man: NO! YOU CANT SIT THERE!! THATS MY SEAT AND THE MAN IS GOING TO SIT THERE. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TAKE MY SEAT!!! GO BACK!!!

World War III just erupted in the cabin.
Lotsa shouting, lotsa hand gestures...all the passengers are looking at the 2 of them screaming at each other. The funny thing was, Drama mama's husband seated at 45K didnt even intervene.

After 5 mins of verbal exchange ====>
Drama mama: ALRIGHT! I WILL GO BACK TO MY SEAT!! FINE...I WILL BE FEELING SICK AND VOMITTING THROUGHOUT THE FLIGHT AND MAKING LIFE MISERABLE FOR ALL OF YOU!!!!!
she flung the blanket on to the floor and walked away (prob to the toilet)

I looked at Mr A and thinking "Poor guy, I dun want him to be involved in this feud.
It's the first day of Chinese New Year!!

I told him to wait a few minutes while i'll look around for another seat for him. Thank goodness we found another aisle seat at the back. Peace at last!
PHEW~

So much for Chinese New Year, man!



just saw my cousin and she mentioned that i looked like i put on weight!! Darn~~
No more Bak kua (my favourite!!!) sobz

Swedish word : att banta
English : to diet

My LV cabin bag - SCRATCHED!!!

DARN.... And its the first time i'm using it!!!!

Tom was nagging that i wasted $1500 on a bag that i don't need(Not to mention the infamous $300 strap). Heck! i bought it for a couple of months and it's still in its paperbag collecting dust.


So finally, i decided to use it on one of my flight. In the arrival hall, moi was happily pulling my trolley with thoughts of going home, taking a nice shower, laying in bed when my colleague called out to me.......

Colleague: Hey, u better take care of your bag lah, See!! its slanted to one side of the trolley and half of your bag is rubbing the floor.

"Thanks, babe!! Have a good rest" Moi started to adjust it when i
realised THIS!!!!






==============>>>>

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH

Apparently, the leather got stuck to the wheels of my trolley. Thus, while moi was pulling it, the wheel was happily rubbing against the leather causing wear and tear. End result? A scrape of 5inches long and 1inch wide!!!!!!! you can even see the inner lining!!!!!!!

and its due to my clutziness!!! 好伤心

Another twist: when i mentioned to Tom that im finally going to use my bag for flight, he lamented that im gonna break it...True enough, i actually made such a big scrap!!!!

Sighz~

不公平!!! Moi protest!!!

Poor one-eyed blackie

Aiyah, one of my goldfishes is sick!

I was away in Athens for 7days. When i came back yesterday, Mr Blackie was floating on his STOMACH!!!
好可怜喔！
My mom was telling me he had been in this state for the last couple of days.

Poor Blackie~~

I must say my goldfishes have quite a hard life....
when i first started out, i had 9 goldfishes in a 2feet tank.. Yupz, Squeezy as hell..they are always bumping into each other.. imagine it as 9pple living in a one room flat....

See how nice it was back then...I decorated it with stones, pebbles, and plants

That was two years ago..Slowly, the plants died, the stones removed (Do u know how tiring and tedious it was to scrub every stone with a toothbrush!!)

This is my fish tank now...plain and simple...
ermmm, actually 小红, the one with the red cap on its head, died a month ago...but thats another story..heehee

I like to think that my goldfishes went to fish heaven due to old age and sickness AND NOT, I REPEAT, and not due to my negligence*

*Special note for Tom and mom

Now i have 3 goldfishes left (provided Mr Blackie survived). I sure hope they are happier now ....No more jostling with the rest for food, no more bumping into each other...heck, its like upgrading to a 5room flat with their own little corner..

Which reminds me, i need to change their water else mom starts complaining again..

Sighz, why did i keep goldfishes as pet?


Swedish word: Guldfisk
English word: Goldfish!

Btw, Mr Blackie is now being quarantined in Ward A.
Vistors and family----> Please visit during office hours

My 台湾 muah chee and 台湾 jelly

Chinese New Year is just 3 weeks away. You can hear shops blasting "tong tong tong qiang, tong tong tong qiang", supermarkets stocked with a wide varieties of Chinese New Year goodies. Everywhere you go, you just see "Red Red Red"

I stumbled upon this neighbouring makeshift store selling 台湾 muah chee (soft chewy sweets made from flour with stuffing like green tea, chocolate, sesame etc inside) and 台湾 jelly. I had eaten it a few times before, usually offered by my friend, Darren (he's a sucker...ermmm i mean lover for 台湾 muah chee) The bright colours and huge varieties of muah chee stopped me in my track.
WOW! I need to get some of these!!

The muah chees and jellies are going for $1.80 per 100g and you get like 100g free for every KG purchased.

Well, if you think about it, $1.80 for every 100g doesnt sound excessive...its like "how many grams can a lil muah chee be right?

So moi happily started selecting the colourful muah chees and stuffing it into my clear plastic bag. If you look at the picture closely, you'll notice that the plastic wrapped packaging are muah chees while the paper wrapped rectangle packaging are actually Jellies! (i didnt know it was jelly till i opened one later)

As i wanted to just take a few to try, i took like one of each from the baskets.
When i passed it to the 老板 (Boss) to weight, he was like "Aiyah, not enough lah...come, I shall help you choose the nice ones" Before i know it, he was stuffing my plastic bag with more muah chees and jellies. My small little bag becomes a big bag!
He put its on the weighting machine and told me it's S$!18
I was Flabbergasted!! 杀人放火
(small lil bag of muah chee)

"What!! 老板, I'm just buying a couple of muah chee to sample!!"

Thank god i only took out my coin pouch so there's like just a few dollar notes and coins. I told him i don't have enough $$ to pay for it and showed him that i got just $10 in my coin pouch. He relented and finally gave me, in his own words, "a special price for a special lady" 700g for $10 (which i think its still abit too excessive)

In fact, the jelly itself weights like 50g per piece. So if i had choose all jellies, im paying 14 jellies for $10.

Since then, I have walk passed the store on a few occasions and it never fail to be covered with people choosing and buying their muah chees. Those suckers! Maybe it just me who thinks its a tad too expensive. I gotto admit that its really tasty though...but still.......Darn~

hopefully, the prices will go down after Chinese New Year!!

Or Darren...buy more muah chees for me to sample leh!!
heeheehee

Ode to my family...my family portrait

1st Jan 2006 Sunday
New Year's Day
新年快乐
I just did a flight this morning (YESHHH... On New Year Day!!!...while the rest of u lucky people could sleep till the cows come home, moi had to wake up at 5.30AM this morning to report for flight!)

I was being assigned to work in Business class today. During the commencement of passenger boarding, I had this lady being wheeled onboard the flight. She's probably in her late 30s and was being acompanied by her husband. You could tell from the look on her face that's she in extreme pain and discomfort. Throughout the flight the husband was seem taking care of her, stoking her face, whispering soft words into her ears. Being the kaypoh crew we are, one of my colleague managed to fish out some information from the husband. Apparently, the woman is suffering from cancer and is on her way to the hosiptal for medical treatment. My heart goes out to her! Geez, on New year day!! People start the New Year merrily with countdowns, laughter, partying, with happy wishes to last the whole year! The headlines in the newspaper are about celebrations all over the world and "The first baby to be born in the year 2006". Not to be sick in the hosiptal! It's just not right! Unfair...Grrrrrr

I guess I really feel for them. They must be quite well-to-do to be able to travel in Business class. But all the money in the world can't buy something called Health. 健康

So for this coming new year, i wish for good health, to my loved ones, my family, Tom, my 3 goldfishes, and all of my friends

My wish this year is to appreciate my family members, especially my mom and dad...

To my Mother,
who wakes up early to go to the market to buy breakfast for her family,
who wakes up and buttered my bread and made me a cup of coffee whenever i have to report for morning flight (like 4am!!)
who goes to NTUC, Shop&save, Giant just to compare prices and save a few cents for the family
I'm sorry for making a fuss abt the half boiled egg this morning eventhough you woke up at 5am just to make it for me (BUT it was really too raw!!)
I wish you will grow old gracefully, be in good health and live to a ripe old age! You will always be the mother that i love so much. I wanna thank you for doing so much for the family.

To my Dad,
who goes to work at 5am everyday
who's coming to 61years old this year but still work so hard just to provide for the family. The only leisure you have is just staying at home and watching TV...
im wish i could talk to you as much as i would love too. I know u are not open minded about lotsa stuff (like why can't you find a chinese boyfriend???), Im 27years old this year, Dad...Please trust me and have faith in my judgement.

Like mum, i wish you will live to a ripe old age, live and enjoy life a little, be more open-minded about things and hopefully, you can stop working so hard once all of us starts working

To my Sis
Thanks for being there for me....always
for helping me to change my bedsheets,
for making my bed (yesh, im a firm believer that if you are going to sleep in the same bed later on at night, whats the point for making the bed every single morning?)
for wrapping up all my presents cause i find it so such a boring chore,
for accompanying me to see the doctor,
for putting up with all my nonsense,
I must learn to appreciate you more and i hope u'll find a job, get yourself attached, get married and have a wonderful life..

To my Bro
you know how i always make fun about you being gay because u have been single all your life...
how i coloured ur hair cos i want u to look tready and you ended up being the butt of jokes because it wasnt....Erm hmm...alright, it didnt turn out the way i expected! Blame the hair dye!!
and forcing u to wear contact lens just so u could attract more gals
BUT thats because i care about you!!(dubious dubious look from Bro)
Like sis, i.....hope u'll find a job, get yourself attached, get married and have a wonderful life (copy and paste from sister portion..hahaha)
Oh yah, one more thing >>>> STOP spending so much time playing your silly Ragnarok!!! How to find girls like that....

To Tom
I must say it has been a wonderful 3months. And i'm sure we are gonna have a special and wonderful year ahead..and many many years ahead!!! Hahaha
Whatever that you have been harping.......i mean advising me about i.e my princess attitude, taking people and things for granted, spending habits and blab blah blah blah blah blah blab blah blah blah blah blah blab blah blah blah blah blah blab blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blab blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blab blah blah blah blah blah...
Oh yeah, where was I?
Ohhh....what i'm trying to say is----> i'll sure you've seen a VAST IMPROVEMENT in ME..... and i'll continue to change for the better and kick all my bad habits..Likewise, change some of your bad habits too...poke poke poke

And lastly, to the loving couple i met on my flight today
I wish this year will be better for you and i hope you will get well after your medical treatment. Be a fighter against cancer!! Because i'm sure that's what your husband and your loved one wish for

Swedish word: kämpe
English word: Fighter

Cause if it wasn't for all that you tried to do
I wouldn't know just how capable I am to pull through
So I wanna say thank you '
Cause it makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
It makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter
Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
Makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter

My first Christmas in Sweden.....

23th December 2005
Singapore

I could hardly contain my excitment!! I'm going on a flight to Copenhagen, Denmark and Tom will be waiting for me at the hotel when i arrived. This is the first time i'll be celebrating Chirstmas with him and his family in Sweden. In fact, i'm meeting his whole family for the first time... "Meet the parents" session...Oh well, im sure it will not be as bad as in the movie.

24th December 2005
Christmas eve

At the hotel lobby
Tom was late...as usual...
Haha..actually the flight was early.. It's been 10days since he went back to Sweden to spend some time with his family and i missed him alot. I was just taking a bite into my second croissant when he magically appeared infront of me. "LATE LATE LATE" i teased him but i was really glad to see him.

Train station in Copenhagen

Time to take the train to Malmö, the third largest city of Sweden with a population of estimated 270,000. It's not really a long ride through the Øresund Bridge - The bridge that connects Denmark and Sweden. It was opened on July 1, 2000 and is the world's longest single bridge carrying both road and railway traffic. The ride probably took around 20mins? Not that expensive as well.. I can't tell you how much it cost because Tom paid for it...HAHAHA
( train leaving at 4.23pm). .

Fyi, the sun set ard 4pm and rise at 8am during winter. So its like just 8hours of daylight!







They have a really weird train system. There's no barriers or gates to stop people without ticket from boarding the train. What they have are train conductors who conducts regular checks onboard the train. When you first board the train, the train conductors will come round checking the validity of the ticket. At the next train stop (of cos people come and go) the train conductors will make another round of checking the tickets. This happens at every stop! Talk about efficiency!


At Tom's parents place

It's a REAL christmas tree!!!!! Oh boy, with lotsa presents underneath!!! This is so cool!! His family members are really nice. Everyone of them gave me a hug, saying that they are really glad to have me here for Christmas and it makes me feel so welcome.*touched* Why isnt Tom so affectionate as well? *just kidding*
Apparently, they have a "who bought the most presents?" contest going on this year
Tom won because he bought like 20presents and his youngest brother, Dennis got like 17presents.
That's Tom, always wanna be the winner in everything

And this is the Christmas Eve dinner!!!
lutfisk - A christmas dish
Gravlax - thin slices of salmon in salt and sugar
Julskinka - Christmas ham
Inlagd sill - Pickled herring
Yummy yummy....simply delicious!!! droolz~~


25th December 2005
Christmas day

They called this the Christmas breakfast! Personally, i'm wondering how can this be refer to as breakfast when its almost 12.30pm? sounds more like brunch to me.. Oh well, it's a nice breakfast though, with Gravlax(thin slices of salted salmon), roasted beef and my favourite, Köttbullar -swedish meatballs!!!!

His sister drove us around Malmö after Christmas breakfast.
A point to note: If you don't have a driving license, don't complain about someone's driving skill (hint hint).
It's really cold in Malmö, probabaly around 0 to -2degrees. And no matter how much clothes i piled on, i was still freezing my ass off.
Before i started flying, i used to hate the hot and humid weather in Singapore. I kept telling myself that i rather be cold and freezing instead of feeling hot and sweaty all the times. However, once i experience the harsh winter overseas, i learn to appreciate the weather in Singapore.
Give me Singapore weather anytime!!!
The cold wind pierced right throught ur spine, and you'll get cracked lips, painful nosebleed, dry and peeling skin, winter itch. It's so horrible~~ Always Moisturize,Moisturize,Moisturize


And this is Tom's favourite pastry: Chokladboll (chocolate ball)
The chocolate ball is usually the size of a meatball. The recipe consists of oatmeal, sugar, coffee, cocoa, butter which is mixed into a compact mass and then rolled on shredded coconut. I personally finds it a tad too sweet for my taste.

Another kind of candy will be the salmiak. It looks like candy but taste really salty. Salmiak resembles black liquorice in colour and are almost always black or very dark brown. It is extremely popular in all five of the Nordic countries but is lesser known elsewhere in the world. Apparently, Tom's relatives in the States love it so much that they buy tons and tons of the salmiak whenever they are back in Sweden. Tom's dad gave me one to try and i should say it is an acquired taste.

26th December 2005
Boxing day

Woke up to find it's snowing outside. Such a beautiful sight. I just wanna lean out and touch the falling snow. DARN~ why didnt it snow on Chritmas day! we could have a snowball fight..and it will be us against Tom...Muahahaha...

Someone once told me that snow has a very nice taste. I wondered how it taste like? hmm...stick my tongue out ...
fyi, snow doesnt have any taste at all



And that's Tom cooking breakfast for us*..heehee...If only he's so nice everyday! *dodge flying pan*
Oh well, he's a nice person and quite a good cook actually (i shall not complain about his cooking cos begger cant be choosy!)

* actually there's a picture of Tom cooking breakfast. But he asked me *politely* to remove it cos he thinks he look really bad in it

Gonna head back to Copenhagen soon. Sighz, I just cant bear to leave Malmö. Its almost like a christmas holiday with falling snow, christmas presents, christmas tree.

That's my lazy Tom laying in bed while i snap dozens of pictures of him...."wakie wakie, time to head back to Copenhagen!!!"

Our way to Malmö Central train station....
The snows are starting to get heavier.
"Please let there be a snowstorm tonight and my flight will get delayed, Amen"
Wishful thinking, i guess

Back in Copenhagen

Went in search for the famous pølse, Denmark's very famous red sausages!! These hot dog-like sausages are long (around 12 inch long), thin (about the diameter of an index finger) and bright red. They are traditionally served on a small, rectangular paper plate along with a side order of bread (similar to a hot dog bun, but without a slice in it), and a serving of both Ketchup, mustard and roasted onions. The sausage is hand held, dipped into both the ketchup,mustard, roasted onions and eaten. The bread is eaten alternately, also dipped into the ketchup, mustard and roasted onions.

YESH!!! finally found a pølsevogn!!!!! (sausage wagon)
*two freezing idiots made a mad dash for it*

I must say it has been a wonderful christmas and i can't wait to go back next year. I heard its really beautiful during summer as well....Hopefully, someone will sponser my trip to Sweden next year...

Swedish word : GOD JUL
it means "MERRY CHRISTMAS"

Could this get any worse?

Im the type that deserves the "Best employee of the year" award.

I don't complain too much about long working hours,
I don't curse and swear whenever my new roster comes out,
I don't "report sick" just so i could miss the most tedious flight
I don't swop flights with my colleagues just so i could earn more allowances/off days
I don't have any discriplinary records/medical leave records during my one and a half year of flying..

To put it simply...I'm the best employee a company could ever ask for (Bragging?)

That was until earlier this month..It started out with running nose, sore throat, cough and a slight fever. When the day was out, it was full blown "FLU"..not bird flu...just a common flu. I was comtemplating about going to work later in the evening. "Are you insane??" my boyfriend, Tom and my family members exclaimed. So there i was, whisked by Tom to see the company doctor. One look at me..."tsk tsk tsk", the doctor said "You are down with a bad bout of flu, im gonna put you on Medical leave for two days." Three more visits to the doctor and i was put on Medical leave for another 3days. Apparently, my flu had lead to conjunctivitis (an inflammation of the conjunctiva, the clear membrane that covers the white part of the eye and lines the inner surface of the eyelids). As a result, i miss my Los Angeles Flight!!!! (sobz sobz)

While i was still recovering from my flu, i had to get food poisoning in Mumbai. Off to see the doctor again. A jab on the arm to stop the vomitting and some medicines to stop the stomach pain.
2days later, it doesnt seem to get any better. In fact, it got worse! i was running to the toilet 7 times a day and just throwing up everything i ate/drank!! I practically had to dragged myself off the floor to see my family doctor.


Check out the amount of medicines i had to consumed! 7pills!!!! To make myself feel better, i arranged my pills into a smiling face with the tongue sticking out. My mom thought i was too sick in the brain.

When it comes to swallowing pills, i will always start with the biggest pills and then slowly move on to the smaller one. So the "eyes" of my smiling face goes first.. Muahahaha...DIE!!!!

My sister commented that i should probably not take out all the pills first. "It's all in the mind. You should take out one first, swallow and then take out the next pill." I tried and it does makes a difference. Darn~ how come i didnt think of it earlier??!! No more smiling face with tongue sticking out.....

I hate to swallow pills. What i usually do is to them right at the back of the tongue (easier to swallow mah!) and then take big gulps of water to bring it down. That was until i realise the "bitter" taste of the tongue....yupz, u got that right! It's at the back of the tongue!!!. No wonder pills always taste bitter to me. So will it taste sweeter if i put it on the "sweet" taste of the tongue? bites me...

Sighz...it has been two days since i had solid food. The only consolation that i get out of all these misery is that i lost 2kgs. However, its probably just water loss so nothing to celebrate about.

All in all, this December alone, i had seen the doctors six times, was on medical leave for 5days and was sick half of the time.
I hope it will get better after this....sniff sniff.
There goes my "best employee award"


Swedish sentence for the day: Jag är mycket hungrig
It means : I am very hungry

Lost...in a toilet in Japan?

You have to hand it to the Japanese!

It's a well-known fact that they have the cleanest and most advanced, high-tech toilet in Asia, or probably the whole world. It never fail to amaze me how creative they are when it comes to designing a simple thing, The Toilet (toire (トイレ) or toiretto (トイレット) in japanese). Features, such as blow dryer, seat heating, massage options, water jet adjustments, automatic lid opening, flushing after use are commonly found in Japanese toilets. The modern toilet in Japan, is commonly known as Washlet (ウォシュレット) or as warm-water cleaning toilet seat (温水洗浄便座: onsui senjō benza).

My first encounter with the washlet - I was baffled by the colorful array of buttons on the complicated keypad on the washlet (super-high-tech sit-down model with a control panel that looks like the cockpit of a plane). As u can see, on the left hand side, there's three electronic buttons and a dial control. One probably control the bidet, and another would be the spray (what spray?). After my...uh hmmm...business, i realised i didnt have a clue how to flush the toilet. I tried the first button - whoops, bidet! a little plastic thingy at the back of the bowl and began shooting a stream of warm water and getting my t-shirt and floor wet in the process...Geez~ Better to close the lid. Where's the flush button??? #!&*%$?# *tearing my hair out in frustration*
Two minutes later, I found an old-fashioned lever on the right hand side of the wall...duh~
and i ended up, on all fours, wiping the toilet floor dry with a thick wad of toilet paper.....sighz..

















I don't know about you but i find this pretty interesting. In the woman's toilet, there's usually a device called an "Etiquette device" which is either attached to the wall of the toilet, or included in an existing washlet. The device is activated by pressing a button, or by the wave of a hand in front of a motion sensor. After activation, the device creates a loud flushing sound similar to a toilet being flushed. This sound either stops after a preset time or can be halted through a second press on the button. I mean, C'mon does it matter if your neighbour in the next cubicle hears u taking a dump or a pee? Apparently to the Japanese Women! In fact, before the introduction of the Etiquette device, Japanese women used to flush public toilets continuously while using them, wasting a large amount of water in the process. It was estimated that this waste up to 20 liters of water per use. (talk about water conservation!)

And believe it anot! Some of the toilets in the departmental stores even come with a MAP! (picture on the left). It lays out cubicles with squatters, washlet, baby change, baby chair (Yesh! they have baby chair in some cubicles - Very mother friendly!!)

I pray for the day when toilets in Singapore are up there with the Japanese!. A google search shows that a WTO website, http://www.worldtoilet.org/hp/wto_hp.htm, was launched by Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Singapore on 30th June 2001. No, Not That WTO!!!! WORLD TOILET ORGANISATION (in case u're wondering, im not kidding here)
Singapore also launch a "Happy Toilet" campaign that rate public restrooms with a five-star system similar to the one used for hotels. A "Happy Toilet" is one that's rated three stars or more. Happy toilet? sounds abit corny to me...oh well...

So where could u find the cleanliest toilet in Singapore? Its a well-known joke - But Singaporeans always say the cleanliest toilet is probably your home toilet.. The public toilet?? Singaporeans just can't be bothered to keep it clean and dry cos they don't have to clean it up.

Kowtow to the aunties and uncles who clean it up for you after use..they are the one who make the happy toilet "Happy"...

The swedish word today is "toalett"
You guess it! It's toilet in Swedish

New blog, New me?

After much consideration and (poking from my friends as well), i decided to shift my blog out of Friendster..
(My friends: Horray...pop the Champagne!!! no more enduring the irritating emails from friendster)...actually it doesnt make a difference since i update my blog like once a month??..Haha...well, a writer needs inspirations to write wonderful and award winning novels, poems, songs, rap and whatsoever...But as my good friend, Jeremy pointed out>>>a blog is meant to be updated regularly...haha..who cares? Definitely not me

Well, kindly continue to support my new blog.."A simple life" not that my life is simple..in fact its filled with irritating passengers and colleagues, misbehaving children (esp. now it's the school holidays), crying infants, and other stuffs like my overseas adventures, my shopping spree, gossips, juicy news, pictures, good-to-know and blah blah blah..No politics, No discrimination, No racism, No bitchy stuff..so dun hack into my blog please~~
and i promise to update my blog on a regular basis *keep my fingers crossed*

Since i'm learning a new language, Swedish...i decided to teach all my nice and lovely friends some useful swedish words as well...

the first sentence : Du är dumm
Pronounce as : "Do a Dom"
translate into: You are dumb (to be reading my blog) Haha...just kidding

Cheers!!!