Sunday, April 25, 2010
Rambles
I'm probably sounding terribly self-righteous here, but I have an especial dislike for people who sweat the small stuff. And those who want something but are too lazy to put in the effort to work towards the goal.
Labels: Rambles
Monday, April 19, 2010
My Current Dream *Sigh*
Nice and Bloody children, Freshly Squeezed from the Oven
I know I'm supposed to study for exams, but the my Mac is proving too much of a distraction at home, so I decided to go out to study. Alas, the venture faced with much hurdles so I ended back home in about 2 hours.
It looks like many people are getting married. Or, more aptly, many more are having children. I'm not sure why people have been asking Mister and I about children. I mean, we are not even married yet?? Babies are definitely not on our list right now. We are barely even spending enough time together for the past one year, with our respective crazy schedules coupled with wedding preparations and house renovation. Anyhow, I think not going overseas together as a couple has its merits. Somehow the delayed anticipation makes you look forward to marriage life more effectively.
Going back to the issue of children, I have never been a kid person. I had even been told that my voice is too booming and would thus scare children during a job interview. The last I saw, that company (which incidentally aims to churn out whiz kids for families with money to burn) was still looking to hire people for that position I applied for. All I can say is, good luck. Anyway I only like looking at kids in the same way as you would look at a soft toy: cute, perhaps huggable, but you wouldn't want to interact with it the same way you do your peers. Somehow, in my mind, I have this nagging suspicion that they are sub-humans; you can talk to them, but you need to go a bit below your intellectual and other capacities to do so. Sounds harsh? Yes, I admit it. I am heartless when it comes to children. So do not ask me about having children.
I saw a friend's profile on FB, which gave me a huge shock. This gal, while never good-looking by most standards, did have an okay share of suitors back in our undergrad days. Then, she and an older acquaintance of mine fell madly for each other and as they said, the rest is history. I found out that she recently gave birth to their 2nd boy and was thoroughly taken aback by her appearance. It was bad enough after her 1st boy. To put it simply, she now looks no different from the heartland aunties you see roaming about S'pore. Fat, swollen by the water retention and seemingly moving about in the auntie manner. And she is younger than me by a number of years! And her husband...let's just say that, although he had never been a hunk, he looks positively sad now.
Now I know that pregnancy causes water retention and that mothers sacrifice a lot etc, etc. But Mister and I simply find the entire parenting process, from its conception to erm...maturity?? frightening. The frightening standards of living, the horror of juggling career and motherhood. I really cannot conceive of this. This is not to say that I will not have a tod one day. I'm just saying that, I am not one of those who view marriage as needing to result in progeny. I'm perfectly happy having a dog or for Mister to have his dream rabbit to see us through the rest of our days. But that is a question for another day.
It looks like many people are getting married. Or, more aptly, many more are having children. I'm not sure why people have been asking Mister and I about children. I mean, we are not even married yet?? Babies are definitely not on our list right now. We are barely even spending enough time together for the past one year, with our respective crazy schedules coupled with wedding preparations and house renovation. Anyhow, I think not going overseas together as a couple has its merits. Somehow the delayed anticipation makes you look forward to marriage life more effectively.
Going back to the issue of children, I have never been a kid person. I had even been told that my voice is too booming and would thus scare children during a job interview. The last I saw, that company (which incidentally aims to churn out whiz kids for families with money to burn) was still looking to hire people for that position I applied for. All I can say is, good luck. Anyway I only like looking at kids in the same way as you would look at a soft toy: cute, perhaps huggable, but you wouldn't want to interact with it the same way you do your peers. Somehow, in my mind, I have this nagging suspicion that they are sub-humans; you can talk to them, but you need to go a bit below your intellectual and other capacities to do so. Sounds harsh? Yes, I admit it. I am heartless when it comes to children. So do not ask me about having children.
I saw a friend's profile on FB, which gave me a huge shock. This gal, while never good-looking by most standards, did have an okay share of suitors back in our undergrad days. Then, she and an older acquaintance of mine fell madly for each other and as they said, the rest is history. I found out that she recently gave birth to their 2nd boy and was thoroughly taken aback by her appearance. It was bad enough after her 1st boy. To put it simply, she now looks no different from the heartland aunties you see roaming about S'pore. Fat, swollen by the water retention and seemingly moving about in the auntie manner. And she is younger than me by a number of years! And her husband...let's just say that, although he had never been a hunk, he looks positively sad now.
Now I know that pregnancy causes water retention and that mothers sacrifice a lot etc, etc. But Mister and I simply find the entire parenting process, from its conception to erm...maturity?? frightening. The frightening standards of living, the horror of juggling career and motherhood. I really cannot conceive of this. This is not to say that I will not have a tod one day. I'm just saying that, I am not one of those who view marriage as needing to result in progeny. I'm perfectly happy having a dog or for Mister to have his dream rabbit to see us through the rest of our days. But that is a question for another day.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Goodbye, NUS
Friday marked the last day of evening lessons at NUS. Time certainly flew by; it's been nearly a year and my time as a student had once again ended. We took plenty of pics with the 2 profs...all on FB. As I drove home in the drizzle, a wave of nostalgia swept over me.
I had hated evening lessons and that heavy feeling of needing to revise during free time, as well as finish your assignments. I thoroughly disliked not earning a salary when I needed money to pay for so many things in the course of planning for wedding and renovating my new house. God took care of them all. I'm grateful for my scholarship, although I've decided not to serve the bond after weighing the costs. My hostility towards the gahment has increased a lot since my last job and it has not been lightened by the study. I hope not to be involved in a place that served the state so directly. And, not to forget, my health also suffered badly in the course of all these activities.
And all this is coming to an end. I'm feeling this syndrome, which I forgot the name of...the one where you actually weep for your kidnapper?? LOL I know this sounds really extreme, but that's what I've been feeling.
I will miss the intellectual satisfaction of being a student, despite not having enough time to properly digest all that I had learned. I'll miss NUS food! It's cheap and good here. NTU is seriously sad. I'll miss the centrality of the place, despite the difficulty of getting home in the evenings. Will miss the profs and classmates.
I had hated evening lessons and that heavy feeling of needing to revise during free time, as well as finish your assignments. I thoroughly disliked not earning a salary when I needed money to pay for so many things in the course of planning for wedding and renovating my new house. God took care of them all. I'm grateful for my scholarship, although I've decided not to serve the bond after weighing the costs. My hostility towards the gahment has increased a lot since my last job and it has not been lightened by the study. I hope not to be involved in a place that served the state so directly. And, not to forget, my health also suffered badly in the course of all these activities.
And all this is coming to an end. I'm feeling this syndrome, which I forgot the name of...the one where you actually weep for your kidnapper?? LOL I know this sounds really extreme, but that's what I've been feeling.
I will miss the intellectual satisfaction of being a student, despite not having enough time to properly digest all that I had learned. I'll miss NUS food! It's cheap and good here. NTU is seriously sad. I'll miss the centrality of the place, despite the difficulty of getting home in the evenings. Will miss the profs and classmates.
Labels: Rambles, Random, Saya Affairs
Monday, April 12, 2010
Maid Problem
Now, do you cringe when you see a title like that? Typical domineering, unable to do it yourself employer, you might think. Potential maid abuser. The list goes on. I felt that way too, when one day, in my fav shop, a customer walked in and announced that to the boutique owner. "Who don't have maid problem??" screeched the owner. Anyway, pls read on before making your judgment.
My Indon maid of 7 yrs left at the beginning of last yr. After getting rid of a Filipino maid who took over her (having her or not did not make a diff...the house was as dirty as not having one even when she came), I took the matter into hand and my grandparents chose this young Indon maid. Lets call her 'H'.
In the beginning, H was okay, to use Singlish slang. She did her job better than the Filipino one, altho not as well as my previous Indon one. We all presumed that it was cos she was not trained yet. I even gave her some of my old t-shirts and allowed her to eat some stuff I bought, because that was what I used to do with my previous Indon maid. H seemed to be settling in well.
Then, an incident changed my perception of her. I had been using a silk blanket, which my Mom bought for me on a trip to the Jiangnan region in China. Silk is a tricky material to wash. The makers in the silk factory told me that you can only wash it using shampoo and never soak it. You must also never hang it in direct sunlight to dry. It can only be dried in the morning sun and never more than 1 hr (between 9-10 am). So I warned my previous maid never to touch it unless told.
So imagine my shock to find my silk blanket gone one day. I asked H where is it. She told me she washed it. I screamed at her. In reply she said she handwashed it. I told her she was not supposed to do that too! In response, she looked nonchalant and walked away. I was flabbergasted. I did not use any harsh words, altho my voice was certainly raised. The silk blanket and its giver and the memories behind it mattered very much to me. I was furious at her response.
I got even more furious to see it when it came back. The silk was ruined, to say the least. The padding inside were bunched and did not fit the cover properly anymore. I scolded her. Same response. What the hell?? I treated you kindly and this is how you behaved?
From then on, I could no longer trust her. But things did not blow up until another 2 incidents.
In the 1st, I had asked her to help me throw away some spoilt shoes I had. A few weeks later, I saw that she was wearing my old Havaiaanas slippers! I told her, if she had wanted it, she must ask! No response.
The second incident made my blood boil. As a shopaholic, my closet regularly gets filled to the brim, so I tend to donate some clothes to the Salvation Army. To cut the long story short, in order to stop me from doing that, my grandma placed my old clothes in H's room to be given away. One day I discovered some clothes missing. In anger, I searched H's room. I found 2 of my clothes hiding nicely underneath some clothes of hers. She even took some of the underwear and perfume I threw away. That did it.
Besides these personal stories, recently we have been receiving anonymous calls telling us abt her misdeeds. I personally received one. The caller was obviously a Filipino familiar with her every action. She told me that H goes out every night when we are asleep, returning only in the daytime. That H has a Chinese bf who gives her many things. She told me that she doesn;t like H. H seems to have that impact on everyone. The caller says she never greet ppl and thinks herself beautiful just cos many men look for her.
Apparently, an Indian man also calls the house, telling my relatives that she brings men home all the time.
With all these alarm, you would think her employers would do something about it. NO! That is another rant, which I do not wish to go into at this point. I am only flabbergasted that some ppl can't live with a bit of dirt and inconvenience while waiting for new maid. And that some ppl are so frightened of changes that she goes along with it. And that when I, with well intention, tried to help, gets spoken to with a loud voice. Well, if H startes doing something even funnier than what she had already done, it's NOYB.
My Indon maid of 7 yrs left at the beginning of last yr. After getting rid of a Filipino maid who took over her (having her or not did not make a diff...the house was as dirty as not having one even when she came), I took the matter into hand and my grandparents chose this young Indon maid. Lets call her 'H'.
In the beginning, H was okay, to use Singlish slang. She did her job better than the Filipino one, altho not as well as my previous Indon one. We all presumed that it was cos she was not trained yet. I even gave her some of my old t-shirts and allowed her to eat some stuff I bought, because that was what I used to do with my previous Indon maid. H seemed to be settling in well.
Then, an incident changed my perception of her. I had been using a silk blanket, which my Mom bought for me on a trip to the Jiangnan region in China. Silk is a tricky material to wash. The makers in the silk factory told me that you can only wash it using shampoo and never soak it. You must also never hang it in direct sunlight to dry. It can only be dried in the morning sun and never more than 1 hr (between 9-10 am). So I warned my previous maid never to touch it unless told.
So imagine my shock to find my silk blanket gone one day. I asked H where is it. She told me she washed it. I screamed at her. In reply she said she handwashed it. I told her she was not supposed to do that too! In response, she looked nonchalant and walked away. I was flabbergasted. I did not use any harsh words, altho my voice was certainly raised. The silk blanket and its giver and the memories behind it mattered very much to me. I was furious at her response.
I got even more furious to see it when it came back. The silk was ruined, to say the least. The padding inside were bunched and did not fit the cover properly anymore. I scolded her. Same response. What the hell?? I treated you kindly and this is how you behaved?
From then on, I could no longer trust her. But things did not blow up until another 2 incidents.
In the 1st, I had asked her to help me throw away some spoilt shoes I had. A few weeks later, I saw that she was wearing my old Havaiaanas slippers! I told her, if she had wanted it, she must ask! No response.
The second incident made my blood boil. As a shopaholic, my closet regularly gets filled to the brim, so I tend to donate some clothes to the Salvation Army. To cut the long story short, in order to stop me from doing that, my grandma placed my old clothes in H's room to be given away. One day I discovered some clothes missing. In anger, I searched H's room. I found 2 of my clothes hiding nicely underneath some clothes of hers. She even took some of the underwear and perfume I threw away. That did it.
Besides these personal stories, recently we have been receiving anonymous calls telling us abt her misdeeds. I personally received one. The caller was obviously a Filipino familiar with her every action. She told me that H goes out every night when we are asleep, returning only in the daytime. That H has a Chinese bf who gives her many things. She told me that she doesn;t like H. H seems to have that impact on everyone. The caller says she never greet ppl and thinks herself beautiful just cos many men look for her.
Apparently, an Indian man also calls the house, telling my relatives that she brings men home all the time.
With all these alarm, you would think her employers would do something about it. NO! That is another rant, which I do not wish to go into at this point. I am only flabbergasted that some ppl can't live with a bit of dirt and inconvenience while waiting for new maid. And that some ppl are so frightened of changes that she goes along with it. And that when I, with well intention, tried to help, gets spoken to with a loud voice. Well, if H startes doing something even funnier than what she had already done, it's NOYB.
Labels: Se-lat-por Affairs
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Kiasu and Strange S'poreans
Been feeling very tired these few days. Which is very strange, because, biologically, this is not supposed to happen. Oh well...
Anyway, I realised that S'poreans are very, very kiasu. Being classmates with some made me realise that some ppl I thot I knew r indeed super kiasu abt grades! And doing grp project with *ehem* mature ladies are a a bit of a pain at times. Why are S'poreans so afraid to take the jump? Why do they have to question until they know everything before they start?? And why are they so damned anal and lack creativity?? Gosh...
I don't mean to rail against those staying in HDB flats, but my neighbour is strange. Very strange. The 1st time I saw him, I was walking towards my flat and he just stood and stared until I went in. Creepy. Last week, Mister and I were waiting for a delivery when I noticed Mr. Creepy next door going in and out repeatedly from his house. Then, at one point, he stood, leaned back a little and peered into our house! After that, I just lost any interest in initiating smile at him.
Then there was this strange guy who came to our door and pointed to our iron gate, saying that we need to do something about it; there had been many cases of break-ins through the hinge side of iron gates. He pulled out some iron bolts which appeared no different from what we already had and said he can replace them, for $79 fee! We refused and I asked him to leave his contact number. He refused, saying that it must be done now. I asked again and he walked away, saying maybe another time. I think I must exercise lotsa caution after moving in. HDBs are full of creepy people.
Anyway, I realised that S'poreans are very, very kiasu. Being classmates with some made me realise that some ppl I thot I knew r indeed super kiasu abt grades! And doing grp project with *ehem* mature ladies are a a bit of a pain at times. Why are S'poreans so afraid to take the jump? Why do they have to question until they know everything before they start?? And why are they so damned anal and lack creativity?? Gosh...
I don't mean to rail against those staying in HDB flats, but my neighbour is strange. Very strange. The 1st time I saw him, I was walking towards my flat and he just stood and stared until I went in. Creepy. Last week, Mister and I were waiting for a delivery when I noticed Mr. Creepy next door going in and out repeatedly from his house. Then, at one point, he stood, leaned back a little and peered into our house! After that, I just lost any interest in initiating smile at him.
Then there was this strange guy who came to our door and pointed to our iron gate, saying that we need to do something about it; there had been many cases of break-ins through the hinge side of iron gates. He pulled out some iron bolts which appeared no different from what we already had and said he can replace them, for $79 fee! We refused and I asked him to leave his contact number. He refused, saying that it must be done now. I asked again and he walked away, saying maybe another time. I think I must exercise lotsa caution after moving in. HDBs are full of creepy people.
Labels: Rambles, Random, Se-lat-por Affairs
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Too Many Cooks...
The worst thing about planning for a wedding is that, almost everybody wants to have a say or two in many affairs. I think this is especially so in Chinese families.
One of the most common grouses among young Chinese is the fact that they are pressured by their families to hold banquets when all they want is a simple solemnization or some different affair. I'm personally not a fan of banquets and had probably already written an exhaustive entry on why, so I will not bable on about this issue any longer. I'm glad that in this respect at least, I get a bit of leeway by holding mine in a different venue. Although not exactly my ideal (there are far too many invitation that I would ideally prefer) it is still different and that is exactly how I like it: not mass produced.
The thing about marriage is that, it is no longer about what you and your family wants, but should also take into account what the in-laws might think. The notion of pleasing everybody becomes an even more remote possibility.
Finances is really shrinking. I'm grateful that God made me save up for that few years before going to study. Still, I've spent more than I should on frivolities this month. And I still want more! Just to tide over that pain of being a poor student. Ironic, isn't it.
My new house is going up beautifully, esp after the chandeliers were put up. I can't believe what a difference great lighting made! Mister told me that it's even more gorgeous at night. I can't wait for renovation to finish. Here's praying that my last chandelier goes up well too. We called it "Purple Princess", because, well, it is decorated with purple crystals. But it is a fragile little thing and some beads etc were falling out even as I was carrying it to the lighting shop to buy bulb for it. I'm glad our contractor had sense not to allow his men to sweep the beads away; hey it pays to get an awesome contractor!
Gave a surprise party to my uncle at Crystal Jade in Vivo last night. I was thinking of my new house the entire night, gazing at the restaurant's red decor. Everything is going nicely, except perhaps my studies. I wish I'm as smart as some people. Sigh.
One of the most common grouses among young Chinese is the fact that they are pressured by their families to hold banquets when all they want is a simple solemnization or some different affair. I'm personally not a fan of banquets and had probably already written an exhaustive entry on why, so I will not bable on about this issue any longer. I'm glad that in this respect at least, I get a bit of leeway by holding mine in a different venue. Although not exactly my ideal (there are far too many invitation that I would ideally prefer) it is still different and that is exactly how I like it: not mass produced.
The thing about marriage is that, it is no longer about what you and your family wants, but should also take into account what the in-laws might think. The notion of pleasing everybody becomes an even more remote possibility.
Finances is really shrinking. I'm grateful that God made me save up for that few years before going to study. Still, I've spent more than I should on frivolities this month. And I still want more! Just to tide over that pain of being a poor student. Ironic, isn't it.
My new house is going up beautifully, esp after the chandeliers were put up. I can't believe what a difference great lighting made! Mister told me that it's even more gorgeous at night. I can't wait for renovation to finish. Here's praying that my last chandelier goes up well too. We called it "Purple Princess", because, well, it is decorated with purple crystals. But it is a fragile little thing and some beads etc were falling out even as I was carrying it to the lighting shop to buy bulb for it. I'm glad our contractor had sense not to allow his men to sweep the beads away; hey it pays to get an awesome contractor!
Gave a surprise party to my uncle at Crystal Jade in Vivo last night. I was thinking of my new house the entire night, gazing at the restaurant's red decor. Everything is going nicely, except perhaps my studies. I wish I'm as smart as some people. Sigh.
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