A Friend’s Artwork

They say a picture paints a thousand words….

Selina, sister of Marleeeena(!), had started to dabble in “drawings” so she says!

I feel it is “art” and I quite like her “arty farty” style! 

They say art must “reasonate” with the person looking at it. It did for me as I cannot draw nor paint for nuts!

Below is her rendition of the cable cars plying between Sentosa island and Mount Faber.

Below is our local “infamous” cockerel rice bowl that is synonymous to many a household.

Notice how she tends to leave a lovely greeting for each pictorial. 

Below are pictures of birds she drew and had it imprinted on white mugs!

I loved this one below as it gave a little tinge of Van Gogh…the torrid or turgid skies as they say! This style reasonated very much with me.

I think she is a budding artist and I encourage her on!

Bird Man Returns From Sydney, Australia

Bird Man has been silent as he has been busy travelling from Hong Kong to China and to Vietnam for his business in avian matters.

Though he is unable to wrangle a job as the market is quiet, he has been “self employed” doing fairly well for self in the bird acessories business.

In fact he did so well that he went for a week in Sydney with his wife and 2 boys.

Bird Man used to live in Sydney for 6 years as a student there. Below photos are courtesy of Bird Man.

Sydney Opera House – One of the world’s wonders!

Oysters are his favorite…

Freshly shucked oysters….

Baked oysters with cheese…..

Yes…..Bird Man is a true blue Singaporean…..a foodie!!😃👍

And a great sunset to end his trip…

Today we sat and talked over “yum cha” (*dim sum lunch) about old times and we both wondered how long Electrical Lord would last.

We both felt karma would catch up with him in time.

The only good thing that came out of EL’s work place was my friendship with Birdman.

I told Birdman to have faith and believe that he makes a better business man than being an employee!

We all need to believe in selves as it is with self faith that we get to be where we want to be. 

Work Freedom – Day 5, Catching Up With Classmate

I would always scream “Maaarrrrleeeena!” down Ferry Street where we both lived in our town houses during our University Of Oregon days. She lived 2 doors away.

In good spirits she would do the same…..stretching on my real name….but for this post…”Gaaaarrrfield” 😉

I would meet at her unit for dinners and chill a bit, before going home to study.

It has been almost a year since I last saw her as work kept me busy and she, equally busy taking care of her parents.

She used to be a high flier in private banking, tailoring to investment needs of the well heeled. But she had the intelligence to shove the corporate world after she learnt to make her money work for her. I do admire her financial savvyness!

I am not savvy with money making ideals. 

I am one of those who rigorously scrimp and save and too afraid to invest in this or that. The rest is history.

Hmm the people around me take risks. 

Mr EX takes huge risks but claims he is always in debt. 

I believe he “lies” (*House M.D. has the best saying…”everybody lies!” LOL) as he does not look like a pauper though owing $15 million he claims. 

If you see him spend, you will be in awe or be like me, jaw drops! LOL!

Aah well I guess all businessmen “owe” dollars. 

No wonder I am not one. 

But I still owe dollars for basic roof. All Singaporeans own a home and strive through mortgage payments. Our national policy of everyone owing a home is a good one! I gotta thank our late Mr Lee Kuan Yew for that.😊

With my good friend Marleeeena I can go crazy or zany! I can forget adulthood woes.

I can talk about anything under the sun.

She also feels I should stay away from Mr EX as he is of “no good” – and I don’t disagree. 

He is selfish and expecting me to be at his beck and call when he needs me but never around if I need a hand. 

To me, he is just a useful subject for my “And So The Story Goes” series 😉 – so he does make self “useful” 😃

But so long as MR EX just provide “hees and haws” plus I giving him and he gives me a listening ear then so be it.

With Marleeena, I can be honest. 

We used to have our 99 cents ice cream treat on Fridays at Prince Puckler’s stand. I go with the neighbors for a walk as I am lactose intolerant, watching them tuck into their sundaes or cones.

Even in dead of winter, we would crawl out in the rain and cold to get this icey treat. It was our Friday de-stress session.

She was born into a Catholic family like me. 

I went to St Mary’s in Eugene whilst she attended service at Baptist Church.

We both became more inquisitive into Buddhism in our adult lives and she is now a practising Tibetian buddhist. I am still in spiritual limbo, unsure which faith to take.

I admire her strength in taking care of her family and when we both bumped into each other (after we lost touch) at a hospital, we both shrieked in joy at sighting each other after a long time.

I was so happy to see her then.

Today we caught up for tea at her place.

It was good to reflect on good old days and good friendships.

Her sister showed me her artistic side.

She sketched birds or fruits and had these printed on mugs for sale at SGD25 each (*excluding shipping cost).

If you are interested in these mugs, let me know. 

Happy Tuesday folks!

Work Freedom – Day 3

The story of my life has been that if I have free time, something will crop up to steal my precious time! Sigh!

My aircon unit for my bedroom has sprung a leak in pipes and this means refrigerant gas that keeps air cooled is going quite quickly.

Thankfully my regular contractor is able to get a new set for both rooms up and running next week. I can see my dollars flying out the window 😉

So, I have to be home whilst this gets sorted as old units are dismantled and new units put in. Some hacking on walls and replastering of ceiling works are required 

Aargh….dirt and debris! I have to be maid maria afterwards. I dread the work ahead. 

No gallavanting next week! Bummer!

I spotted this lovely doorbell whilst out today.

It fitted the look and feel of the wooden black fence, giving it the old English look.

Mr Odd Jobber from Dragon’s Lair called me to share his sorry tale.

Ms Bare Midriff decides to cut short his notice without fair dues. This is just so ugly as Ms Indian turns 365 degrees to be DL’s loyal runner and she is now going after Mr Odd Jobber just for fun as someone ‘died’ and made her the new ‘informal Queen’

It was not fair for Mr Odd Jobber who earned pittance and to be robbed of his rightful dues.

I shared with Mr Odd Jobber that he should seek help from the Ministry Of Manpower and explained his rights.

I cannot understand the wickedness of DL and her side kick to deprive him of his just wages.

Mr Odd Jobber has a wife and a 3 year old to fend for. Sigh!

I remember before leaving, DL was cross with volunteer farmers for planting veggies that grew into uneven heights and a sweet potato patch that crept along the earth bed.

She insisted for the leaves to be ripped out and demanded to know where the sweet potatoes were!

Though I am not a farmer, I know plants and veggies cannot be growing up to even heights. Sheesh even fingers are uneven in height and anything that is nature, grows on its own.

Since when can we command that veggies grow straight and of even heights?🤔

It also requires days or months before sweet potatoes get into shape and size.

There is no magical poof for a today magic for a seed planted and tubers form immediately!

She is a real nincompoop! 

The mountain of sweet potato leaves wasted just because DL feels it creeps on flower beds. Sheesh….can someone send her back to botany class!

Or maybe she is just plain dumb….an arm chair googler?

I am glad I left this horrid employer.

Leaves In All Shapes

Soursop Leaves are touted to be rich in anti oxidants. Some claim that it “cures” cancer or stops cancer in its track. One just has to boil it. True or otherwise, it maybe to firm believers of its efficacy.

Nicely shaped individually, it is shiny and almost waxy.

Mango leaves are thin and elongated. The veins are pronounced too. They can be seen in three’s.

This is a leaf from a yellow flowering plant. The leaf is split into 3 parts. I think it is the leaf of a hybrid of chrysanthemum flower.

This is the leaf of a yellow palm cane….like a frond with thin leaves, this is sometimes used for Palm Sunday

Last but not least….the leaves of my favorite plant….hibiscus!

*if you look closely, my toes are accidental stepped into the photo. Ooops!! 

Happy Tuesday folks

A Glimpse Of Geylang

Geylang is reknowned as a redlight district in lil red dot.

Vice or sex trade is not condoned here but this is best “contained” here.

Quite funny to see street walkers disappear when police cars patrol and reappear once they leave.

Roads are divided into Lorongs and it is in a grid system with even numbers on drivers’ left and uneven numbers in drivers’ right.
Lorong is malay word for “alleys” or street.

Street walkers are segregated by nationalities. Yes, sadly foreigners come here to ply their trade.

We have mainland Chinese, Filipinas and Indians (*used to ply Desker Road with transvestites )

But the government has been slowly cleaning up Geylang and conservation of old shop houses.

Businessmen have opened restaurants and eateries here.

They are trying to bring in home owners.  But fact is, these owners lease out property for sex trade and mixed with genuine home owners, it is bad for resale of property prices.

Today I explored Geylang. It houses Buddhist temples, Buddhist Centres that serve free meals for anyone, free TCM clinics to serve marginalised poor in need of help.

Quite a hodge podge of culture as foreigners bring their identity and culture with them, best expressed in the food they serve.

Yes, Geylang is now getting popular for durians, rambutans, grill food, No Sign Board Restaurant chain is also here.

A Bird In Hand, One Flew Over Cuckoo’s Nest & 3rd Came To Roost

I have put my paw print🐾🐾 on one job offer and will start work in June. 

But Pricier Bird flew by and after 3 rounds of dancing about, I am sure Pricier Bird has flown over this cuckoo’s nest.

As if like kittie below chewing salad, I gave the same facial expression. Bahh! Waste of time. It was a try….aah well.

Then Medical Bird decided to roost. As I was going for round 3 with Pricier Bird, Medical Bird asked me for a meet up this morning.

Medical Bird has the same verbosity as Electrical Lord and I shuddered. I do not know if he is equally abusive and if hours are long drawn.

I suspect it would be as he has a chain of close to 15 clinics and he seeks a head honcho to oversee his business by 2020 when he fully hands off!

It will be communicative styles of Electrical Lord, whereby I eat potatoes and he sups on rice!

I am never afraid of hardwork but I dislike unreasonableness or lack of empathy and compassion.

I will not know till I am in and I worry if I want this.

Tomorrow is round 2 with Medical Bird at 10am. At least he conducts business differently than EL who is a gas bag and a night owl who sleeps at dawn and expect us to work from dawn to wee hours of the witching hours.

I need beauty sleep….a good boss that is kindly and understanding.

Probably as extinct as T Rex?!😊

And So The Story Goes #63

Some years back, Mr Ex and I met for a cuppa…it actually transcended into a long drawn investigation of some lovely delicate eateries along the back street of where Dan Ryan’s Restaurant was located long Tanglin Road.

It so happened that tea we had at a quaint little store (* they seriously had scones and jam served in lovely Elizabethan chinaware) displayed giant tea cups.

Silly me whose mind always wander to new realms started muttering to self that those teacups were really huge and great! 

I told Mr EX that I could bring that into the meeting room with Board Members and it will be filled with iced tea!

Gee, to fill that cup, it must at least hold 50 glasses or more!

I started talking to self that I will stick straws into it and slurp on it as meetings were always long drawn.

By showing up with this gigantic tea cup, it will be my silent protest that screamed “hey guys, long windedness really”

[Someone once sent me a tweet that lil red dot’s parliament sitting took 4 hours and some minutes! The whole of lil red dot’s business done in  4 hours and if I compared it to days of yore with Electrical Lord and current Dragon Lady’s meetings, it can languish into 12 hours! The wee hours of the morning attracts these blood sucking vampires! LOL!]

Being the always attentive one, Mr EX walked to the counter and asked the cashier if he could buy it for me. My mutterings caught his attention and he wanted to make me happy.

The cashier said “unfortunately not” as it formed the store’s display.

But she gamely told him that they bought it from the store called “Barang Barang” at Tanglin Mall (*this store selling home decor and furnishings has since moved out of Tanglin Mall)

Tanglin Mall was about 10 minutes walk away and Mr EX immediately took off on his hunt to get me that cup, after telling me to slowly finish my tea and sit at the tea shop to wait for his return.

This is a trait that I will always remember of Mr EX. 

He may be a dope or a moron at times, but sometimes, these little mindful things or rather I call mindless things amuse me.

If I had known my self mutterings would matter, then I would have muttered blue or pink diamonds LOL! I could hock it at the nearest pawnshop and take the money for useful things LOL!

Anyway, lo and behold he returned with a huge carton box containing the tea cup in the picture above.

For size contrast, I dangled my Garfield over it to show perspective of size.

No, the dream of mine did not happen as surgery happened and I cannot carry heavy things. With so much volume of iced tea, the tea cup will be very heavy!

Today it sits on Mum’s table whereby she has filled it with earth to plant her favorite houseplant – money plant.

Yes, Mr EX is fun at times. 

He awes me with silliness and tries to make my days interesting and his too, as he dabbles into my lunacy.

It is good to have fun and laugh and as I look back, the tea cup cost him almost $60 I later found out, it was a kind gesture of his and for which, I must be grateful.

Does this mean I will be nicer to him? Hmm….I think not!

Afterall, I am his muse and he, mine LOL!

*A photo I thought I had lost. I had posted this earlier but was re-prompted to write this after I read Scifihammy’s post at https://madcapdog.wordpress.com/author/scifihammy/on the teacup she had.

Do visit her blog sites as I enjoy the flora and fauna of her garden tales and especially of her dog, Little Monkey

For me the teacup holds a funny story 😉

 And so the story goes…..

 

A Day In Lil Red Dot For Me

As I drove to work this morning, as usual I would be thinking of things. 

It is one of those times that my brain goes on auto pilot for driving and starts chugging on other things.

I reflected on Round 3 with Pricier Bird yesterday. 

I felt it went relatively okay, though I was not too sure if I had impressed the partner of the firm I was assigned to meet. He is one of two partners of the firm.

I was grilled on a couple of issues and I answered based on whatever knowledge I had. 

I was given the topic of what would I need to do for example for an EU Trade Pact with Russia and Singapore.

The session took about 45 minutes and when we parted ways, he asked if I had met the other partner and in my heart, I could hear my silent voice screaming ” oh gawd….is there a round 4″ – sheesh the wooing is taking a tad longer. 

I had already done my song and dance. I had wooed like no other. What other tricks would they expect of me?

Should I pose for them? My favorite pose below I could adopt?

Hmm…I wonder if this was meant to be? 

We shall see. 

He did say they will let me know in a couple of days’ time.

The news was on the radio as I continued on my route and I learnt of 2 fires yesterday; one was a fire at an incompleted construction site of one of the campuses of Indian International School that left 2 foreign workers, trapped on a gondola many storeys high. 

Thankfully, they were safely rescued, though they suffered sooty blacksmoke inhalation.

The other fire was a smallish one at Changi International Airport Terminal 2 – fire broke out in an air conditioned equipment room. 

To ensure it was not an act of terrorism, all flights were delayed and pushed to Terminal 3 and passengers were evacuated. 

Flights coming in had passengers disembarking on the tarmac. It is good that our safety standards are high as terrorists has struck many airports. We are on perennial heightened alert!

Glenn Ong the radio deejay was as always making me laugh. I was glad as my commute is a long one.

He had stepped out of the studio for a toilet break and the rest of the deejays, Flying Dutchman had a caller who called in to ask if the deejays would all go out and do a deed of kindness for an entire month and let fans run the radio station. *Me thinks this will cause havoc!! LOL!

The good deed the caller wanted was for all of them to help the elderly persons push the heavy carts of collected discarded card boxes for sale to earn income. ” Help them carry and push these card boxes to their homes or to wherever they sold it for income”

When Glenn Ong returned, the rest of the deejays did a mickey on him by saying the caller asked for Glenn Ong to do it!  

I laughed so loud. 

I love the hilarious synergy of this team on 91.3FM. They are my driving companions on radio.

As I stopped to get gas from Exxon Mobil, I met the usual elderly pump assistant, Mr Pump Guy.

 He is always having a ready smile for me when he sees me and immediately whipped out his wallet to pass me an $8 petrol voucher and quickly said we try to pump $60 into my car’s tank. He successfully did, doing it really slowly.

“Remember this month only, as the other gas station is undergoing renovation” – his toothless smile I will always remember. 

 Last month, the same kind Mr Pump Guy kept coupons for me to redeem free bowls of spaghetti for every $40 worth of gas pumped.

I would always give him the time of day to chat a bit as I have 15 minutes grace time before reaching my work destination. To him, I was a joy to his mundane morning.

I am so blessed to have the graciousness of Mr Pump Guy. 

He need not give me the vouchers but he did. 

For this,  I am grateful.

Reaching the office is never fun and I am eagerly counting down the days till I bid farewell.

Time for coffee…..

The entire team is leaving and I was frankly surprised as I thought I was the only one feeling the lousy attitude of DL and Ms Bare Midriff.

It seems they all felt it and chose to vote with their feet too. My existence there made them feel better and once this mad Garfield hugging loon was leaving, they decided to follow suit.

I never knew I had positively impacted their lives, albeit in such a short time.

Meanwhile, I just received another call to meet another entity this Friday….yet another bird in the bush😃

 

 

 

Round 3….Pricier Bird

Tonight I will meet with the Pricier Bird. All this wooing about, is really taking a toll as I have to play a cat and mouse game with DL to get out of her land.

I am unsure how many more rounds will I have to go through, before I can sight an offer in hand or the pricier bird being clutched in my palm.

But thankfully, Pricier Bird is kind to allow me to trot over after office hours. This shows flexibility in their approach towards minion.

I am unsure about the rest of the world, but in our lil red dot, the call from our Supreme Leader is to be adept, adapt to change and accept the new economy. Work methods, work styles are changing, this is in tandem with technological advancements.

The biggest downfall to DL is her lack of ability to change nor embrace new management styles to match the changing times.

DL fails to acknowledge Gen X, Gen Y, Strawberry Generation or millennials. DL is oblivious to the way these minions think or react. Style, tone and mannerism must be able to accommodate and match the mindsets of these minions.

I am heeding the call of our Supreme Leader. I have adapted and changed, swopping from industries that were once boom town Charlies to waning performances when the oil prices fell.

Marine and shipping also went downhill.

Electrical Lord was in retail and today, retail sector is suffering with poor sales. Departmental Stores in US, UK have shuttered and I silently pray that my favorite Marks and Spencer will not bow out of lil red dot.

It was bad enough that we lost an almost 100 year old department store, John Littles, to E Commerce.

Times change, people change and climates change.

I need to constantly change and remain relevant, else I become obsolete and displaced.

I must never become like DL in character, style or manner – I must treat people with empathy, compassion and genuine interest in their well being.

I sincerely hope I stand an opportunity with Pricier Bird.

Meanwhile, Bird in Hand is sealed.