Miracles amid quake devastation: Some rays of light amidst the Iran tragedy.

# posted by Shopaholic : 2:26 PM

Some pictures I received via email.

# posted by Shopaholic : 2:14 PM

SHANKAR GUILTY: Former TV presenter Vidya Shankar Aiyar has been found guilty of molesting a 30-year-old woman after a party last year. District Judge Victor Yeo described the 37-year-old bachelor as a 'hunting wolf in sheep's clothing' and not the 'clear and candid' person his lawyers had made him out to be. -- LAU FOOK KONG

A conclusion to the molest case that we had a heated debate about on Sleepholic's birthday. On this account, the ladies have been dealt a winning hand in the court of justice.

# posted by Shopaholic : 1:31 PM

Hehe, I finally dragged myself to the gym last night after 2 weeks hiatus and it feels so good after. Coincidentally, I met Nic-aholic on the bus on the way home (We stay in the same estate). She just finished gym as well, but hers is at Planet Fitness.

Took leave this morning for the half-day because I can't stand the idea of taking 2 hours to prepare and get to work and then taking another hour to get home, just for that 4 hrs of work. So now I'm sitting in front of the computer clearing out all the forwarded emails from my account. Didn't have time for them when I was so busy at work.

This is not a good year for Hong Kong pop scene, with the passing away of 2 icons, Leslie Cheung and now Anita Mui. And such contrasts between them as well, one threw his life away while the other wanted to fight cancer but still lost the battle in the end. I will always remember Leslie Cheung as the handsome face in movies, especially in the 'Chinese Ghost story'.

# posted by Shopaholic : 1:13 PM

LOTR Personality Test (courtesy of Alcoholic)

You are most like Legolas, Son of Thranduil.

Legolas knows his way around in the world, with a keen understanding of nature. He is often oblivious to the pain and fatigue of his activities.

Though reserved, you excel in aesthetic endeavors. If a mountain is there, you will climb it. Time alone is important and solitary activities refresh you. You have good observational skills. While providing compassion and being considerate, you may have the tendency of being soft-hearted or even "too emotional". You like keeping your options open. Closure is probably not one of your strong suits.

Like Boromir, you are not content to sit on the sidelines while the action takes place around you.

Traits: Open minded, easy going, persuassive, optimistic about the future. On the dark side you could be exploitative and an opportunist.

Test based upon the Myers-Briggs/Keirsey Personality Tests

Note: The results of this test are based upon the books' characters, not the movie.

# posted by Shopaholic : 12:33 PM

My gums bled after the cleaning. Apparently, that's a sign of weak gums and not enough flossing. Ok, I admit it, I'm real lazy when it comes to flossing (about once a month? haha). On the bright side, the dentist said my teeth are very healthy and white as can be, no signs of decay whatsoever. They just needed a bit of polishing.

I like this dentist. I told him I have to budget of $150 to spend, and that's exactly what my bill came up to. I checked, he charged the lower end of the range for me. I did cleaning, polishing and 2 fillings. He warned me that the fillings are not necessary, that they are just a preventive measure at this stage. This is so unlike my old school dentist who told me that I absolutely needed the fillings or my teeth are going to become black decayed holes!

Now my teeth are feeling bright and smooth.

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:50 PM

I had to make a dental appointment for tonight in order to be able to claim my dental benefits for 2003, so there goes my gym plans today. I have been quite lax this 2 weeks due to the festival season and the sad thing is, it takes me only 2 weeks to put on what I took 3 months to lose! Sighhhhhh. Leaving office now.

# posted by Shopaholic : 5:50 PM

This should put Sleepaholic's fears to rest?

Lift weights to lose weight
While increasing muscle mass will boost your weight, it also helps your body to burn fat faster. By Wei Koh

IT SEEMS to fly in the face of common sense, but talk to any top trainer and he will stress that lifting weights is integral to any fat-reduction routine. Aerobic exercises alone won't do the job.

Mr Dean Chee, head trainer at Club Oasis, at the Grand Hyatt, Singapore, explains: 'Building muscle is key to losing fat because the faster you put on muscle, the faster you will burn fat. This is because increasing your muscle mass will also increase your metabolic rate.'

While aerobic exercises help to burn calories, building muscles will help to keep the calories burning even when you're resting.

Fat loss occurs by a combination of two processes. The first is cardiovascular exercise combined with a reduction of calories. This causes your body to burn the stores of fat around your waist.

But at the same time, you need to lift weights to promote the underlying muscularity of your body.

Trainer Martin Koh of Fitness First, at the Paragon, explains: 'Without strength training, you will not be able to sculpt your body into an ideal muscular form.'

But what about the common concern of putting on too much muscle bulk? No fear, says Mr Chee, because 'it takes an inordinate amount of effort to build very large muscles'.

Normal strength-training will sculpt and define, but never give you Hulk-like proportions.

Mr Chee says an ideal fat loss programme should consist of six days of activities, divided into three cardio days and three strength-training days, arranged to alternate.

The cardio days can consist of anything from walking to stair-climbing to kickboxing. Strength-training days take place in the gym with you lifting weights.

Initially, you will lose fat at an accelerated rate and will be pleased to see the numbers on your scale sliding south, but they might start to increase as you build muscles.

This can be a source of misunderstanding and frustration for many.

'One of the greatest mental blocks people often face when losing fat is they can't understand why the weight on their scales increases,' says Mr Chee.

'I have many women clients, in particular, who just can't accept that as they lose fat, the numbers on the scale get higher.'

He explains that even women who focus on aerobic exercises like kickboxing will usually gain weight due to better muscle tone in their shoulders, arms and legs.

'All their friends will tell them that they look great, healthier, slimmer and so much more toned, but they will still be frustrated by the numbers on their scale.'

The lesson, then, is to retain lean muscle and reduce body fat. Strength-training inspires muscle growth which will increase your lean body weight, which in turn will affect your basal metabolic rate. So the more muscles you have, the more calories you burn.

Mr Koh says: 'Women should bear in mind that the ideal female form has changed. The new standard involves a decent amount of muscular development.'

Take a look at Madonna's or Jennifer Garner's strong sexy bodies for evidence.

But what if you plunge into dieting combined with cardiovascular activity but skip the weight routine?

Unless you have a strong natural predisposition towards muscularity, you will get leaner and lighter but your body will lack any major form of muscular definition.

You will in fact look a bit like a long, fleshy pole. This is evidenced by the bodies of long-distance runners who eschew strength training to keep their weight at a bare minimum.

These athletes, while in mind-blowing cardiovascular shape, invariably look bird-chested and somewhat sallow.

This is far from the sculpted Da Vinci-esque form you can achieve by adding weight training to your fat-loss regime. Eventually, you may need to throw away your scales and rely on how you look - and more importantly how you feel about your body.

# posted by Shopaholic : 4:33 PM

Yawwwwwn, just woke up from my Sunday afternoon nap.

Workaholic and me went shopping yesterday evening. We haunted Marks & Spencers and Tangs shopping centre, trying on intimates again. I have a sudden interest in lace, feeling that my normal wear are practical but boring. Oops, saying more is too much information here, hehe, but we both got what we wanted.

At 9 pm, we rushed down to Bugis Junction because the top Nic-aholic and me gave Workaholic for Xmas is a teeny bit small for her and she wanted to change the size. Before that, I already begged the saleslady on the phone to let us exchange the top. Turns out she thought I was referring to a different top and they had transferred all the stocks (of our design) to the Wisma branch (where we rushed down from?!?) so Workaholic has to go and exchange the top on Mon instead.

# posted by Shopaholic : 3:43 PM

Last night, we had a change from our usual pasta and sushi and went to Magic Wok, a Chinese-Thai restaurant located at Far East Plaza instead. The combination of the company varied too, Workaholic and me, Nic-aholic couple, plus a couple they matchmade (their respective guy and gal friends) Lio and Jo Beauty Jo and Lion.

Before dinner, we were at the Isetan private sale, checking out the lingerie section. I always buy my intimates at Isetan sales, real bargain then. I also bought another pair of pointy URS shoes and the Chomel pink hair stick I was hankering after (20% discount!). Blur me left the whole bag of goodies at the restaurant when we left. I'm lucky it's still there when I realised and ran back for it.

After that, we adjourned to another new place, the Europa Bistro and the ladies all ordered strawberry ice-blended while the gentlemens had Tiger beer. Along with the change of company, there was a change of conversation, ranging from politics (Workaholic have an extensive knowledge of the who's who of our Members of Parliament and Ministers, owing to her job in the public sector), childhood games, embarrassing moments, happy moments and stressed moments etc.

A good night out. (But I had to wait nearly half an hour for the night bus home)

# posted by Shopaholic : 2:37 PM

Now watching:
1) Moon Fairy, Channel 8 7pm - Chinese fairytale about Chang'er and Hou Yi.
2) Armed Reaction, Channel U 9pm - Modern police drama centering around 2 female cops.
3) Friends, Channel 5 11pm - First season repeat telecast.
4) Charmed, Channel 5 10pm.

Not much time to watch TV nowadays.

# posted by Shopaholic : 1:59 PM

As published in Issue 690 of 8 Days magazine:

Reality bit when The Bachelor's Andrew Firestone and Jen Schefft called it quits two weeks ago, citing "different goals".

Awwww, there goes my perfect couple. Maybe the producers should stick to Bachelorette? That seems to have better chances of working out.

# posted by Shopaholic : 1:54 PM

Halfday today and it's clubbing to bring in the Xmas tonight! I haven't met my deadline for work, but this time it's because I didn't receive all documents requested, not because I didn't work hard enough. So........see how it goes on Friday. I'm going to put it aside in my mind for the holiday.

# posted by Shopaholic : 4:18 PM

Last night, we had an early Xmas dinner and birthday celebration for Alcoholic at Da Paolo restaurant. The celebration's held early this year because dinner on Xmas day itself are unreasonably expensive. 9 of us attended the dinner and we had our exchange of gifts as well. Some were surprises, and some had to buy their own presents, sort of defeats the purpose of giving presents. On the whole, I'm quite happy with my presents, a few pink ones, haha.

It was fun seeing everybody opening their small presents. I would guess that there are some misses but definitely there were hits. But some are more difficult to please than others. hahaha.

The restaurant is a new branch at Bt Timah and it has a fantastic ambience, really romantic. Service was good, though the waiters were a tad pushy. And the place closes early! We were halfway through exchanging presents at 11pm and they chased us out of the place.

Small presents I received:
Workaholic and Sexaholic - White URS shoes
Alcoholic - Pink party glitter
Sleepaholic - Adidas water bottle and pink Elle Adidas socks
Nic-aholic - Black Esprit socks and pink Topshop G-string
Her darling - Black butterfly necklace

# posted by Shopaholic : 4:15 PM

I just finished wrapping all my Xmas presents. And no, I'm not a millionaire yet. 3 of us were in the office listening to the radio with abated breath today and scrambling to match our Toto slips. The max I got for my personal bets are 3 numbers and we got 3+1 numbers for the shared bet, which amounts to $20 winnings. As it's such a pathetic amount, we are using it to bet on shared 4D.

# posted by Shopaholic : 11:46 PM

I am back! Unfortunately, the casino made a killing from me and not the other way round.Lady Luck does not seem to be smiling at me, whatever I bet DOESN'T strike. There must be a China tour at the place that day, I was sitting at a table surrounded by a whole group of them, betting RM5 chips. In contrast, we have the old hands (normally some old uncles and aunties) who oh-so-coolly place RM1,000 chips each time.

Oh, and I was stopped by the casino security who asked whether I've reached 21 yet. hahaha.

Had a good time shopping at the new First World Hotel though, I bought a nice pink Diesel sporty jacket on sale, and lots and lots of Malaysia tidbits on the way home. Weather was nice and cool, as expected, shiok!

Toilets in Malaysia are disgusting, even in the hotels. They are either flooded, without toilet paper or smells yucky. I would say the standard is on par with Singapore hawker centre toilets.

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:25 PM

Home from the dinner. The food wasn't that great but I gobbled down several rounds because I was ravenous from missing lunch. Finally off to Genting REALLY early tomorrow morning (I have to wake up at 4am!) as we are hoping to beat the traffic jam at the Singapore/Malaysia Customs. It will be a good break, I need to get away for a while and even a weekend will do. My mind is still whirling over Someone and the things he gets up to. Really wonder why I subject myself to this. Well, maybe I will have a windfall at the casino, don't we have a Chinese saying "unlucky in love, lucky with money"? Or maybe even the $5 million Toto draw on Monday? I staked $10 on it, hehe. The things I can do with $5 million is mind-boggling!

# posted by Shopaholic : 11:51 PM

Hardly got any work done today. Morning fire drill and we spent half the time at a coffee place eating bread, eggs and drinking tea.Then less than hour later, we are at Plaza Singapura shopping for a gift for the departmental dinner we are going for tonight. That took 2 hours. Now, we are leaving for the dinner at Hotel Negara soon. The buggers have been calling at least twice a day asking when they can get my work. Sheesh.

# posted by Shopaholic : 6:15 PM

Long story short, Su emailed me this morning. She was piqued because I rebutted that she also made personal phone calls at work when she reminded me to keep it outside work (she said because she was trying to protect me in case Second Boss gossip to Big Boss about me). She felt that I do not show her the respect as a senior and she's feeling the conflict in being a good friend and being a senior.

I replied her email saying that I thought she was talking to me as a friend and I replied as such. If she had any problems with what I said, she should have said so right then instead of letting it simmer and behaving in such a manner afterwards. Also, she's putting me in a position where I don't know whether I can say what I feel or think to her, or I should just shut my mouth up. Plus, this has nothing to do with respect as a senior. I ended saying that I feel extremely offended by her behaviour.

We didn't talk much, kinda awkward. She's on half day leave so that's a bit of a relief. Well, a outward show of respect would mean me being fake. Besides, is there really a need to pull ranks, especially when it's such a small department?

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:10 PM

Blogger hanged on me just after I pressed the “Post & Publish” button!!!

Su. On Monday, I thought she was quiet because she’s upset over her mom’s illness. But it became quite apparent over these 2 days that she’s angry with me over something, just like the one time she acted like this previously. However, as to what she’s angry over, I completely have no idea. She dragged a gal from another department along when we had to settle lunch ourselves without Second Boss and she barely spoke a word to me the 2 days even when I tried to break the ice. I emailed her yesterday asking her whether there’s a problem and she just totally ignored it.

This is sickening, at least if we had a big fight or if she had an outburst, I will still understand what it’s all about instead of the puzzlement now. This shouldn’t be the way friends behave towards each other and if there are problems, I prefer to thrash them out. I was there for her at her wedding, when her mom fell sick, listening to her when she needs to talk about her family problems, but now she’s acting this way over some petty stuff. The thing is, I can’t totally ignore her. The hostile (not overtly, but I can tell since I know her quite well) mood is making life difficult at work, especially since our work tables face each others’.

I sent her a sms just now saying that she’s behaving in an obnoxious manner and that if she had treated me as a friend, she would be more open about whatever is bugging her. No replies, we’ll see how she behaves tomorrow. If it’s more of the same shit, well, we’ll be only colleagues in future.

# posted by Shopaholic : 12:19 AM

Today is one mad rush. Rushing to complete as much of my work as possible. I'm aiming to finish all my required sections before Xmas. Lunchtime, I rushed to Orchard Road to get Nic-aholic's big presents (each person is in charge of another person's). After work, I rushed off (as early as it looks reasonable) to gym so that I can get home earlier. Phew, now finally finished dinner and can relax a bit before bedtime! Tomorrow and the rest of the week is going to be very much the same, I guess. Still have small presents to buy for everybody.

Su is in a very unstable mood today, think her mom's condition is really bad. I didn't dare ask unless she wants to talk about it herself. But she barely spoke a word today, and the mood is getting to me.

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:57 PM

I'm back! Luckily, the host decided to change to a catered buffet dinner instead and it stopped raining, so it wasn't so bad. The place was TEEMING with children, both in my host's chalet and outside. Gosh, all those screaming and crying kids. It was quite nice meeting up with everyone and bitching about my ex-employer though. Turns out those still hanging around the firm are enduring worse conditions (yes, surprisingly it can get worse!) than our batch. Thank god we quitted that place early.

# posted by Shopaholic : 11:06 PM

The rain is pouring outside, it's a perfect day to rest at home, do my own facial and hair mask etc. But I am under obligation to go the Pasir Ris Downtown East beach resort, which happens to be on the other end of Singapore, for an ex-colleague's baby daughter's one year old celebration. Beach resort and BBQ in the rain??? The idea just doesn't gel. I tried rejecting her invitation subtly but got a scolding instead, so I'm left with no choice. Sighhh, not looking forward to it, but I have to go get ready now.

# posted by Shopaholic : 4:42 PM

For some time, I have been wondering how to add a calender like those found in some other blogs. Yesterday afternoon when I was home sick, I finally got down to it and did extensive research on the internet. Tough finding information, I tell you, most I found are not compatible with blogger, geez. So anyway, finally found one that can be used for my archive pages. The only drawback is that it cannot be used on the main page, but it's the best that can be done under the circumstances.

# posted by Shopaholic : 1:41 PM

For Sleepaholic, in her own words:

All I want for Christmas is...
ok guys, after much pondering, I have decided on BIG ticket items:
1. sunglasses
2. coin pouch

Small ticket items:
1. Books
2. One perfect pair of shoes for all occasions hee... I know I must be dreaming.

# posted by Shopaholic : 1:13 PM

You are cool and collected. You are very comfortable with yourself and what you do. Even if you have a lot of responsiblities, you always manage to be in control. You are sometimes laid-back and you are always the voice of reason. However, others may see you as lazy or detached sometimes, unable to act responsibly.
Most Compatible With: Lime

Which Tic-Tac Flavor Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

# posted by Shopaholic : 5:41 PM

1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays?
I enjoy cold weather but I have never seen snow before, living in sunny Singapore. I would love to spend a snowy Xmas abroad one day though. The scene of me and a special someone cuddling in front of a roaring fireplace while it's snowing outside appeals to me.

2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect?
Surrounded by loved ones, including family, friends and a special someone, all having a good time. It's the people that counts, not the place.

3. Do you do have any holiday traditions?
None, I'm from a non-Christian family and we don't celebrate Xmas.

4. Do you do anything to help the needy?
Except occasionally donating a dollar to the old uncle playing harmonica at Raffles Place MRT or buying tissues from old ladies selling them at hawker centres, no. I need help myself....haha.

5. What one gift would you like for yourself?
Happiness.

# posted by Shopaholic : 11:32 PM

Having a pounding headache and had to cut the night short to come home and rest. Turns out I have a slight fever as well. This is not a good time to fall sick, can't take MC even if I'm really sick.

Remember the Hong Kong counterpart I told you all about? We took him out to lunch at a seafood restaurant today. After talking to him a bit more, I find him quite cute. Too bad he has to go back soon, but I will definitely keep up the contact.

# posted by Shopaholic : 11:11 PM

As for Someone, a lot of friends have tried analysing to me the right thing to do, which I understand too. As Nic-aholic told me, maybe I keep believing him because I WANT to, because I actually do love him. I know the smart thing to do is to stop all communications but it's hard to cut out a person who has been so much a part of your life for 6 years. I miss him when I don't receive my regular morning and bedtime calls. (And no, he no longers reads this blog)

# posted by Shopaholic : 9:47 PM

The most busy season of my job has dawned on me, starting today. I have only gotten the required information and before I could even do anything, there are already people (let's call them the buggers) pestering me to give them the finished product (not my bosses, but to say more would reveal my occupation, hehe). Crazy, don't they have their own work to do? It's not as if they MUST have my work before they can proceed. Plus, it's not my fault this time that I can't give it to them. I can only get some of the information next week and I still need time to work on them.

A Hong Kong counterpart is in town for 2 weeks and we must entertain him for lunch and dinner some days. Lunch is fine, but dinner eats into my gym and sleep time. Sickening.

There is of course Xmas shopping to complete and I still have no idea at all what to get for everyone. I hate shopping during Xmas season, the crowds and long queues for changing rooms irritate me beyond belief.

# posted by Shopaholic : 9:27 PM

Ok, remember I said we have an arrangement among my group of friends and we are supposed to come up with wishlist for Xmas? Here is my updated (realistic) version.

Must have
Either Linksys USB network adapter WUSB54G (about $130), a diffuser for aromatherapy (will order through my HR department so have to be reimbursed, about $90) or Warehouse jeans.

Barang Barang (in order of preferences)
1. Chomel light pink hair stick (simple squarish design)
2. Sports water bottle (lighter ones, Adidas/ Nike)
3. Reebok shoe bag (black, with the zip going round the top which can be flapped open)
4. French Kiss movie VCD (not DVD, I don't have DVD player)
5. Bags for work (black/ beige)
6. Necklaces (big funky ones, sweet pretty ones)

I will update the list if I can think of more things.

# posted by Shopaholic : 11:50 AM

Be chaste, or be chastised
A drive by a Christian-based group to promote virginity disturbs me because of how it is using morality and religion to warn the young against sex
By Karl Ho

…..In a Nov 23 report, vice president for programmes Joanna Koh-Hoe, 29, was quoted as saying: 'Our message is this: If I have pre-marital sex, I am not a person of good character. In fact, any sex outside of marriage is immoral whatever the age of the person.'…..

Hello? What times and age are we living in? Pre-marital sex does not equate bad character and vice versa, virgins do not equate good character. Besides, not everybody are Christians in Singapore. This does not mean that I approve of promiscuity, just that people should be given the freedom of choice, and materials from which they can make informed choices.

This reminds me. Workaholic, Sleepaholic, Nic-aholic and me were at Embargo last Saturday, where we were chilling out over a few drinks after the movie. I was telling them about this sex blog of a 24 year old Singaporean gal I came across (by pure accident!) when I was surfing the blogs one night. It contains a journal of her escapades, her fantasies and sexually explicit pictures of herself and her boyfriend. Not that I’m a prude, but it’s certainly an eye-opener to actually see that there are Singaporean ladies daring enough to post such things. Brings to mind the infamous Annabelle Chong? For the sake of keeping this blog “clean”, I won’t be providing the link here, but you can email me and ask, if you are interested.

# posted by Shopaholic : 1:04 PM

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh, blogger ate up this post earlier!
I watched Love Actually last night. It kicked off saying that Love is everywhere, Actually. This is the kind of movie I enjoy most - a no-brainer, fluffy, feel-good, romantic Christmasy movie.

Comic moments are abundant throughout the movie. Rowan Atkinson's brief appearance as the jewelry salesman who insists on giftwrapping the necklace (the Boss Harry's present to his Secretary Mia, whom he is having an affair with) to perfection (while the Wife Karen is shopping in the vicinity) is hilarious. The Writer Jamie's interaction with his Portuguese cleaner Aurelia who doesn't understand English and whom he eventually fell in love with, ignites laughter with the clever use of the subtitles. Colin the British loser amuses us with his unattainable fantasies of sex with American women and the Come-back 50ish rock star Billy spouts nonsense in public appearances.

Poignant moments when the Wife Karen discovers that the necklace she saw in her husband Harry's pocket earlier is not meant for her (Why can't these men resist temptations and appreciate the woman who stood by them?) and when Mark SILENTLY declares his (doomed?) love for his best friend's wife Juliet.

Hugh Grant is the newly appointed Prime Minister who falls for his catering manager, Natalie. She is a supposedly plump, yet beautiful, lady with big ass and thighs the size of tree trunks. It is a refreshing change that she manages to land the most eligible bachelor and it certainly brings hope to bigger gals like me.

I would rate this movie 4/5.

# posted by Shopaholic : 11:47 AM

Shorter hours so LRT can be fixed
FOR 20 Sundays starting Dec 14, the Bukit Panjang LRT will run only from 8am to 10pm, instead of from 5am to 12.45am.

The shorter operating hours are to allow Singapore LRT (SLRT) to fix what is hopefully the last of a series of faults that have plagued the system since the light rail system opened four years ago.
..........

High time they fixed the system. Lousy system in the first place, especially when they planned the stations. There are no stations on the main road where all the buses pass through! Don't understand what those planners were thinking, they must be people who never actually use the public transport themselves.

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:32 AM

A bit belated, but a little update on the Dinner & Dance. More of Dinner and Prizes for me because I didn't stay for the dance (have to work the next day, you know?).

Su had 2 makeup vouchers, so we stopped by the Mac counter at Raffles City shopping centre to do a bit of eye makeup before proceeding to the venue. Everybody who saw my Pink outfit gushed over it! It was definitely worth the price. Initially, we were a bit worried that we might be overdressed since we knew that some of the other department's gals were intending to go straight from work. Turns out we needn't have worried because some gals actually did more than us, the full works - salon-setted hair, gowns, makeups etc. (A bit of an overkill in view of the venue if you ask me)

Food, the usual 8 course Chinese dinner with cold plate, sharksfin soup, roast chicken, mixed vegetables, steamed fish, cornflake prawns, crispy noodles and mango pudding. Nothing extraordinary, but I like the prawns though.

Entertainment was a great improvement over last year's. At least the host this year managed to get the whole ballroom involved in some of the activities. Previous year's best dressed lady participated in another bar top dancing competition on stage with a guy. This gal really has the guts to shake her booty in front of the whole company, senior management and all, 2 years on a row (she was the talk of the company last year)! She doesn't really dance that well, a bit sluttish and rough-looking, but I must admire her courage and sporting attitude. Lost out on the Best Dressed Award to another gal on her table. She must feel a bit peeved about that, especially since we can tell that she has tailored an outfit specially in keeping with the rainbow theme.

Prizes. I didn't win any of the 21 prizes, but we won some Ikea bottles in a table draw. Crossing my fingers that there would be a post-draw like last year where everybody got shopping vouchers.

Overall, it was a nice break, if only we didn't have to work the following day.

# posted by Shopaholic : 3:08 PM

About my appraisal, there is a stack of appraisal forms with points given which I photocopied before signing and returning to my boss, hoping that I can study it in more detail later and I clipped it inside an 8-days I was bringing home this afternoon. I distinctively remember holding it when I dropped by the neighborhood shops to buy some contact lens solution, but it went missing when I searched for it at home. I called the optical shop and they claimed they didn't see anything I left behind. Strange. I hope anybody who finds it would just chuck it in the rubbish bin. This would cause trouble for me if Boss finds out?

More on the D & D tomorrow. I'm very sleepy already.

# posted by Shopaholic : 12:51 AM

Finally, I had my dreaded appraisal this morning. Oh well, it wasn't as bad as I thought it will be. Boss mentioned some points I knew she would but there were a few compliments sprinkled in as well.

Half day off today for tonight's dinner and dance! I'm now back home resting and preparing for it, hopefully I will meet some hunks from the other departments.

# posted by Shopaholic : 4:12 PM

Conned at auction website
"Angry customers complain when online seller offering cellphones and gadgets at bargain prices fails to deliver" (after deposits are paid)

Another cheating case, this time involving auction websites.

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:23 PM

I lost another kg, finally! Really 1 kg per month of gym. All those hours spent sweating it out on the treadmill, and results are so slow! But I don't think you can really see the results eh? The volcano on my right cheek has subsided somewhat, but 2 more are building up on my left cheek, right before my D&D (company's annual dinner and dance)! I'm going to run from the cameras that night.

Boss on half day leave yet again. She has a really good life, 3 half days a week! So I guess will have to wait till afternoon for my appraisal. I was telling Su that I don't have high hopes for this appraisal, will be happy as long as I don't get too much scolding.

# posted by Shopaholic : 8:29 AM

I can't believe what i just found out. Suffice to say that it's the worst thing he could have done. Yes, worse than what happened earlier today. I must have been blind to trust the freaking bastard again. And it hurts, it really does, but please guys, you know I don't articulate such things, so just don't ask me about it when you do see me. I just needed a place to vent.

# posted by Shopaholic : 11:41 PM

I am so disappointed with Someone. Lying seems to be his second nature. To him, that seems to be the easy way out, but he never considered that I will find out about it and it will hurt me more than if he had told the truth. Despite all the chances given, there are still so many broken promises and broken agreements. He can look me in the eye and tell a lie. Now, I truly believe that a leopard can never really change its spots. It's inherent in him. If you are Someone and you are reading this, I really don't want to have anything more to do with you. Return what you owe me and get the hell out of my life. Like you said, thank god we are not married. I would rather stay single for the rest of my life than marry a stinking asshole like you. I know you have your excuses every single time, but there's a limit to my patience and you have exhausted them.

P.S: I don't have to show you face in this blog, it's mine. I can say whatever I like after what you did. And if you can do it, you shouldn't be afraid of me airing it. So many years and so many lies.

# posted by Shopaholic : 5:56 PM

2nd boss and Su just had their performance appraisal, and my turn will come soon. I have an ominous feeling and this ball of trepidation and fear is building up in my stomach.

# posted by Shopaholic : 12:07 PM