断掌

Heard of what having a 断掌 represents?

As explained in http://www.360doc.com/content/09/1205/12/245131_10414136.shtml,

(extracted a portion below)

SO FREAKING, UNBELIEVABLY TRUE for someone we know.

Always the first. First asian to sit in the position. First female to be in that rank. Always the first asian female to sit at the edge of the table with the highest backrest.

Now, I always thought palm lines could tell a story...

So true.

We're going HongKong next June.

Don't say I no share! Tiger Airways only $247 per pax!



那些年

Took awhile for me to finally catch this heartwarming movie that all my friends have been recommending.

It was very touching, very pure and innocent puppy love. I think My Girl slightly topped this movie though.

But the female lead is incredibly sweet and cute!

I also want a 沈佳宜 in my life.

When non-action does more good

You know the old saying that if you only talk or daydream about something ,yet don't take the first step to doing, you will not achieve?

Well, here's an exception of non-action actually doing more good. My friend had all along wanted to open a trading account to buy stocks and invest... he kept saying it for almost a year?

However, procrastination took over but it proved to be the winning solution - he isn't a victim of the global financial crunch. Good for him haha.

And I came to realise that my losses, albeit paper loss, are substantial enough to get me to Emirates Stadium or Yankee Stadium already.

*Sigh*

Ok, it will only pick up.

Eyes that see right through (and inside) you

Apart from the course on dining etiquette, we also attended one on "Leading with Actions" that was held over 2 days.

The content brought us along many realistic everyday examples at work and we were guided on how to apply the skills effectively - for example on giving feedback (positive and negative), how to influence ppl (using Cartesian logic, how interesting), how to engage your staff (one-on-ones) and coach them, and how to read someone's DISC profile in 30 secs (gesture, rate of speech and facial expressions). They were really simple tools that we all already know but are not conscious or diligent enough to apply them at work. Oh, the most interesting one that can be applied on anyone everyone had to be how to discover someone's intrinsic motivational values. Damn cool. We all did a simple exercise and I discovered I have 3 - freedom, experience and goal achievement. Am surprised with the final one actually. And out of the 3, I value freedom the most. Like a true Saggitarian haha.

Anyway, the trainer was a cool dude who boasts extended global and industrial experience. He has received training in subtle expression, advanced micro training expression etc... and he gives me strange vibes. He gives excellent eye contact and attentiveness when speaking one-to-one, but those eyes... the hard, steady vision on you... are almost Terminator/Predator scan-like. They are almost capable of reading you, your character, your hidden meanings, your secrets, your background, frighteningly quick. And accurate. You scrinch, he knows your next word is gonna be a 'no'; you look up when trying to recall something, he knows you're looking a visual memory. And you bet, he asks about your personal stuff and jots them down (what?!) - so he remembers. He is also "paid a bomb" to do counselling, coaching, to help organizations fire employees and other psychological stuff.

He talks to frontline staff and gets free hotel upgrades to suites. I am trying to describe him as a walking crystal ball. Whether you are telling the truth. Or not. What type of person you are. He works with people using their motivational values... Or perhaps he is not that intimidating - it is just a misperception because I know of his accreditations and experience?

Nonetheless, it sure is scary if the other person can read your every action or word.  Not that I have secrets I intentionally hide but it's like, you know, you don't mind telling others the colour of your undies but you don't want them staring at it, you get what I mean?

Haha on the other hand, he is like any other ordinary cool dude, he's married (to Audrey) with a kid (Evan, who is 3) (hahaha applying what I learnt!).

Now, I know I wouldn't want to date someone who is psychologically well-trained. My thoughts and opinions belong only to myself, thank you very much. Even if you read me like a book, I prefer you keep them to yourself.

P/S: He was a really effective and unique trainer and I enjoyed the course.

Random pics - of old school

Had 328 Katong Laksa for lunch. I think my last time there was 8 years ago!

The busy, narrow roads and the laksa reminded me of my teenage years, of which most was spent at Bedok area. My pals and I would take bus 10 or 14 down and stop at Katong area for meals, or the old-school Katong Shopping Complex for Teo Heng! =)

Omgosh, Teo Heng back then was real OLD SCHOOL. Prehistoric as compared to the smart finger-swiping touchscreen console now, back then it really depended very much on manual work. You would choose your songs from the lists filed inside a clear folder. You key in the song serial number and WAIT FOR IT. Backend in his control room, the shopkeeper would receive your feedback and then LOOK FOR, AND INSERT THE CD!!!

Lol. And you can't really skip the songs as you'd wish because that would only make the shopkeeper busy and confused HAHAHA.

____

I used to have a hobby of collecting sentimental items, for example movie ticket stubs. Only a few months ago I started to realise I have been doing that for totally no reason.

Now I need a good reason to continue keeping this stack of stubs.



I took a quick flip and realised one of my oldest is dated 2001 - Lord of the Rings.

Speaking of baseless collections, I also have a piggybank-full of old bus tickets! Haha those silly childhood tales - guillible and innocent, you'd believe whatever your mates say... Like for e.g. you know the peculiar numbers printed on the bus tickets?

If the 4 numbers at the top-right corner added up to 21, you can make a wish with it. On the other hand if they added up to 13, you can use it to curse someone... -_- oh boy.

Dining Etiquette 101

Had a very enriching and practical course on etiquette that comprised of a crash course on Contemporary Dining Etiquette (theory + practical)! Our trainer is Ms Agnes Koh from Etiquette & Image International.

Contemporary means European. The American differs slightly and the trainer explained that we ought to follow the contemporary style since we were once under British rule and some things stay. But within contemporary, there are also deviations for e.g. the italian would dip their bread into vinegar.

Not very much an expert at it yet but I think I should remember some basics to contemporary dining. Here's how the dining table set up should look like:

Generally, bread on the left and drinks on the right. You use your cutlery from outside in. The glasses are arranged in a square with the water goblet at 4 o'clock to facilitate your frequent use of it.

Oh yeah, we even got to choose our main course prior. It is a 4-course dinner and you could choose from sirloin steak, cod fillet or chicken breast.

Special room with tables lined up side by side just for the training. Super longggggg set up complete with chandelier and candles it reminds me of castle and royal blood. There are also rules as to who should sit where, for e.g. apparently the guests and their spouses' are seated on opposite ends of the table.

Ha, so the gentlemen are expected to always offer their help to the ladies - when they move in and out of their chairs, check if they're comfortable etc.

You always enter the chair from the left and exit from the right.

And here comes the food!

Bread is always served first. You pick the bread from the basket with your fingers. Pinch only bite-sized pieces and apply butter onto it with the butter knife. Munch.

1st course: Appetizer

Ok, so we're not supposed to eat anything from inside the head and tail, just the body. It was my first time trying to de-shell a prawn using a fork and knife and it turned out to be super easy and not clumsy at all.

(Oh, and I played cheat, I ate the meat inside the head and the tail =P)

2nd course: Soup

This is lobster bisque btw. For soup, most of you should know that your spoon should scoop from the inside and outwards. There is a historical origination to it and it's too lengthy to share here, but it's actually quite sensible and we bought it (assuming it's true haha).

3rd course: Sirloin steak

Not too many guidelines to this but the general - always cut and eat bite-sized portions so you won't be caught in an awkward situation of talking with your mouth filled.

4th course: Dessert (Tiramisu)

Hold your fork like a pencil and slice the dessert using the longer edge.

We finished dinner with coffee and tea and Agnes advised it's always polite to say yes when they offer you any. Feel free to add creamer or sugar (brown is recommended, for original taste) and stir with your teaspoon using a figure of 8 method. Atas as it may sound/look but we later discovered it is actually not effective. Haha. I think the kopitiam clink!clink!clink! method is the best. CHEAPER BETTER FASTER, lol!

Some other pointers to note:

- no sharing of food with one another :( (we played cheat, but well, just to try the other main course)

- you only wipe your mouth by dabbing your left and right corners with your napkin. with your right hand

- you clear any misc food/non-food with your napkin. with your left hand.

- your arms should only go onto the table as far up as your wrists

- pass pepper and salt as an entity and always to your right

- you should eat with hand-to-mouth and not head-to-table

And this is the 101 to the art of hosting and dining! Hope you liked my sharing haha. We definitely enjoyed the course very much because of the knowledge and insights gained. The skills are very much practical and worthy to have. We also picked up pointers on how to dress and how to conduct ourselves at a social event. Thumbs up!

Random spotted

Rooster in my neighbourhood. (What the ???)

I'm thinking real tender, tantalizing steamed chicken hahahaha.

A Monday off

I decided to take the Monday off because I wanted to extend the weekend plus I needed to clear my leaves before the end of the year.

And it was so wonderful - your Sunday nights don't feel so blue anymore because you know you can skip work the next day! And my phone didn't ring on Monday morning so I had an undisturbed laze in bed. In fact I was already awake at 8 plus but I forced myself to sleep in haha.

Didn't have any plans for this particular off day so I chose to spend it with my parents. We went to Joo Chiat to try this Vietnamese restaurant that my mom recommended. 

It's located in a shophouse at the corner. I didn't take many pics of the set-up but I must say the restaurant has a really old-school feel... the tables and chairs, the fans. They had photographs of their food all on a huge piece of wall so you can immediately identify what you want to eat. The menu was in Vietnamese alright but I was very surprised when their staff spoke in Vietnamese-English too! By viet-english I mean, you know, english with a very heavy vietnamese accent? If I had kept my eyes on the menu I would have believed I was in Vietnam. My parents and I placed our orders by pointing at the pictures in the menu, ahha.

Shrimp roll: Tastes exactly like the one we had in Vietnam. The mint leaves, the thin popiah skin, right down to the vermicilli inside.

THEIR COFFEE COMES IN THE AUTHENTIC VIETNAMESE WAY OF BREWING!!! THE FILTER!!!

THEIR RECEIPT IS WRITTEN IN VIET!!!!!



Their pho was brilliant too - clear and flavourful with a right tinge of sweetness. For $5 the serving came bigger than expectation, plus succulent pieces of beef. And like any Viet dish you'll find your food buried under lots of leaves and vege you can't even name but our pho was slightly localized - less vege haha. And cleaner and greener leaves! =P

I would recommend this place for its authentic feel of Viet and value for money. Definitely coming back again to watch my coffee being made, drip by drip :)

I really miss this place =/



We were on cloud nine!

Those were our sleeping huts!

An ad come true

HAHA I didn't know this could happen in real life too!

There wasn't eye contact though :(

shopping for glasses

I was browsing for glasses last week in a heartland shop and the shoplady, being very service-oriented and friendly, asked for my preferences. She gave my face a quick look and advised that I would need a wider frame because, "你的脸很阔."

-____-
She actually said that using a matter of fact tone.


And like that wasn't depressing enough, she added, with much self-confidence,




" 你来对地方了"

FML.

But it actually would be hyper hilarious if I weren't myself. Haha. Stand-up self-mocking talk.

QOTC

"It takes a public holiday for me to realize how much family fun I'm missing out on and made me thoroughly regret the decisions that I've made"

How true, I say. How true.

In time, my time

It was a P-Holiday I had been looking forward to all week cos there was gonna be K-lunch followed by fun in the sun at Sentosa with the OG peeps but 2 pulled out at the eleventh hour, reporting sick. Aww. The weather was BRILLIANT all day - sun was up and shining, clouds were big and fluffy, sky was blue and divine. Too badddddddd. But anyway the day was well spent too - yummy home-made lunch (porridge and fried bee hoon) courtesy of Magic Mom, followed by a lazy afternoon nap totally uncalled for, but equally shioksssss.

Quickly put on a t-shirt and shorts and went to meet Jx at the ever-neighbourhood-friendly Tampines central. Smuggled a Pokka green tea bottle into the cinema for 'In Time'. A decent movie with an interesting plot - how would you live your life if your time was measured in weeks, days and seconds? If he had a century to live, Will Salas (played by J. Timberlake) said, "I wouldn't be looking at the time so much." Well, ya... does that mean you can then enjoy the luxury of living your life at a slower pace? And does that mean you will end up brutally exploiting it, knowing you have too much on your hands?

That goes the same to our youth. We know we have time, we fail to plan, we live day-by-day, and when we finally realise time is ticking down, it's always almost too late. Someone once said, "Live everyday like it is your last." That's awesome. That would be living your days to your fullest but I don't think it's possible la. If everyone believed in that there would be nobody working in the supermarket, selling fish and meat in the market, operating the trains and buses etc. I would prefer "Do one crazy thing everyday". I am not advocating you to commit crime or arson but yeah, do something you wouldn't be doing in your everyday - it could be as simple as greeting the bus uncle in the morning, opening the doors for the person behind you... or something else like going for a run, sending a hello-sms to your old pal... you know. Signing up for language courses, logging into lovebyte, planning a family outing are also great crazy things =D

Jx also asked me what the movie was about. I thought it could be applied to the widening rich-poor divide in our reality. The rich are getting filthy wealthy and have absolutely no idea of how their counterparts are doing at the other end; whilst the poor are struggling to make ends meet and seeking ways to climb up the wealth ladder.
I digressed.

After the movie we did our usual, walking the malls... then filled our stomachs with KFC haha. The only person I enjoy having KFC Buddy Meal with is dear Jx. Basically it is because both of us adore KFC and when we get down to tucking into the juicy tender chicken, we don't need to care less of our unglammity of using our fingers, or how much of skin/fats we are adding into our diet.

I went home $220 less wealthy because I would be collecting a brand new pair of (deceivingly)-smart-and-decent-looking glasses! 30% off the frame and 20% off Crizal lenses leh + my current pair is deteriorating quite badly! Happy with my purchase. Early Xmas present for myself heh. Actually, that's an excuse la. I also spent $150 last week on bespoke working pants! I don't usually splurge so much on myself but ditto glasses, my current pants are losing their shape and fraying abit - NOT NICE!

It's almost mid-November and very soon, the end of the year... It is this time of the year that the solitude will kick in BUT NOT THIS YEAR! Have planned something on Xmas eve and I'm sure it would be an awesome time!

And time to reflect on 2011.... I remember vividly not too long ago I was complaining the first 3 weeks into my permanent posting feel 3 times dreadful than that... and that was in February!?

In time, I say, in time.