Lost.... (and found?)

Okay, this should be the final instalment of my Amazing 6race cum Lost Coin saga...

Now where was I?

Oh yes... the ring... I lost it in the sand... SAND okay??? If it was in the garden, in some grass or bushes then maybe it wouldn't be so bad... but SAND!!! Soft, shifty, sinky SAND!!!

I arrived home feeling very dejected, hopeless and helpless.

But even so, I just couldn't sit around doing nothing... there must be something I can do... even though the situation is completely hopeless... I must keep trying to do SOMETHING... at least it's better than moping around, feeling sulky and sorry for myself - that wouldn't be a good atmosphere at all but simply add salt to the wound.

So I started looking through the Yellow Pages and surfing on the Internet, hoping to stumble across some solution, any possible solution.

Someone mentioned a metal detector in jest as we were searching in the sand earlier. Where on earth does one find a metal detector? And how much would it cost? What if it turns out to be impossibly expensive - plus there may be no guarantee that we might find the ring even if we had one. Well, at least I should check it out so at least I can know whether I should eliminate the option and move on.

Let's see what we can find in the Yellow Pages... D.... Detector? Detection? Leak Detection Services? Hmmm... doesn't sound likely, but I'll give them a call anyway, good thing they listed their after hours mobile number.

Rang them up, told them my story. The fellow was very sympathetic but unfortunately he couldn't help me. Their equipment will not be able to pick up something as tiny as a ring. Maybe try ringing up some gold mining or prospecting companies and possibly offer them something to borrow their equipment? It's unlikely they can do that, but that's the only suggestion they could think of. Sigh. Oh well, thanks anyway matey.

What else? What else? Let's look on the Internet... how about "Detect" + "Lost", and let's get specific and add "Ring" as well. Maybe good ol' Google will be of some help here.

As I scanned the search results, I came across this: foundit.com.au

Sounds promising... let's have a look... WOW!!! This is exactly what I need!!! This guy is a professinal "Finder"... He can find ANYTHING! Jackpot!!!

But then, aiyah... he's based in Sydney... hmmm... I'm at the end of my rope here. Let's give him a call anyway. Maybe he can refer me to someone in Perth. Or if I have to fly him over to Perth, at least I should find out how much it cost so I can at least CONSIDER the option if I need to.

Rang the guy up. His name is Brenton. And he was a terrific guy. (I'm not paid to do this okay?). But he was really helpful. He did not insist that I use his services although he said there was no one else in Australia who offers this kind of services. He gave me practical steps on what we could do next. And told me the cost if in the end we wanted to use his services as a last option.

There seemed to be a tiny flicker of hope. But the situation still seemed pretty grim. It was getting late. Although the last thing on my mind was sleep, I simply tried to release the situation to God and we decided to take action on Brenton's suggestion tomorrow.

First thing on Sunday morning. We went out to Kennards to hire a METAL DETECTOR! Who would have guessed that you can hire such a high tech piece of equipment from Kennards! And on a Sunday too! (Thanks, Brenton) And you know how much? $40 for 4 hours!!! Phew... I guess that's not too bad... it makes it a little more bearable if in the end we don't find my ring.

So 7.30am early that morning, hubby and I were back at Heathcote beach... drawing out boundaries around the area that we were certain that we lost the ring. We took turns to scan the area with the metal detector (but hubby did most of it). back and forth... left and right...

*BEEP BEEP*

Is it possible? Let's dig and find out... cheh, only an old rusted bottle cap...

Back to scanning... up and down... left and right...

*BEEP BEEP*

Yes? Nope... another false alarm...

This went on for over the next 2 hours... the sun was getting hot (yes we did put on sunscreen... SPF30 wide spectrum some more)

Getting tired.

And discouraged.

Hope slowly ebbing away.

*BEEP BEEP*

Just try again, Serene...

I knelt down and scooped the soft sand in my hands and let the sand sift through my fingers slowly... once again nothing... sigh. As I looked at the pile of sand before me, and the zillions of tiny grains there... and the even greater multitude of sand around me, I started to feel a greater sense of hopelessness...

"Lord, look at this sand... there's just simply too much, it's uncountable... you say you know the number of grains of sand not only in this place but in the whole world... if anyone knows which grains of sand hold my ring, only you would know"

At that moment there was another *BEEP BEEP*

Probably another false alarm, but let's have a look.

I knelt down again and scooped up another handful of sand, letting it sift through my fingers. And then......

"What's that there?" said hubby, a growing excitement in his voice

I caught sight of a tiny glint as the sand continued to sift through my fingers.

I let a squeal of excitement.

"My ring! Is it really true? This is so amazing! It's a miracle!!!"

What was lost has now been found!

Oh the joy!

I was so thankful and happy... I wanted to tell everyone the news!

The first people we told was this old couple sitting on a nearby bench.

"Found something?"

"Yes! It's my engagement ring! I lost it yesterday but we just found it"

"How amazing! We should go and buy a Lotto now"

Can you picture how happy I was? All throughout the day I was repeating the story again and again to different people. Telling them the joyful news!

This is a true story.

I hope you get it.

And every good story has inherent lessons... I think this is a good story... so what should we have learnt?

Firstly, believe in the power of prayer. God truly cares about our prayers no matter how insignificant it seems. And even if prayer doesn't change the situation itself... it may be that it is about changing our ATTITUDE toward the situation... and that can also make a tremendous difference.

Secondly, there is power in faith as small as a mustard seed. Even with a tiny glimmer of hope, be brave and have a tiny bit of faith to take action. Faith involves action. So sometimes, just take a step and do something (ANYTHING!). And maybe that tiny step in faith that you do will lead you in the direction to turn your hope into substance.

The End.

"The Lost Coin" (continuation of the Amazing 6race story...)

Okay, I'd better finish up this tory before it becomes too stale.... or before my readers all die from the suspense (whichever comes first)

We arrived at the Final Destination at around 3.40pm. Each team had to complete 3 tasks to finish the race.

(1) Build a sandcastle in exact replica of a picture we were given (points awarded for accuracy and creativity)

(2) Balance an orange with four strings held between all four team members

(3) Complete a five-legged race - with all four team members' legs tied together

After receiving instructions, we raced down to the beach at Heathcote ready to build a sandcastle.

Not wanting to get my rings dirty, I handed them to hubby so he could keep all FOUR rings (including his own ring) in his pocket.

We had 10 minutes to finish building the sandcastle. I must say, without any tools, we did a pretty good job on accuracy...

Then we all got up and walked a few feet up the beach for our next task... The Orange Balance.

I reached into hubby's pocket and pulled out the rings... but... there were not four rings, but only three.... where was my engagement ring?

I looked frantically around me, but all I could see was sand.

"I've lost my ring!"

"Where? How?", a number of concerned people came running up

A number of people, including our team mates, knelt down and began combing the sand to look for it.

I was frantic and worried... how could I lose something like this...

Over the next hour or more, we tried everything we could think of... more people came until there was almost 15-20 people together helping us to look.

We retraced our steps as precisely as possible... we formed a circle and prayed... we divided up the area into different sections to search in a more organised manner... we formed a line and walk across the area combing the sand for anything that was remotely shiny...

Still, nothing.

After 5pm, hubby and I decided to call off the search. We had searched the area repeatedly already but this was going nowhere.

As I looked around me, I realised that these people were true friends. While the bulk of the participants were back there partying, enjoying the barbecue and celebrating together... these 15 or so people were here with us in the hot sun, emphatising with us, really getting their hands dirty with us, praying with us...

I was so surprised and touched that we were surrounded by such kindness and friendship. So could I have lost this seemingly valuable trinket, to gain the realisation of the immeasurable value of true friendship?

It was a bittersweet moment for me.

We trudged back to the rest of the group and I tried to put the dissapointment and sadness behind me, enjoy the food and join in the merriment and conversation.

But what should I do now?

What if... just what if... I really never find my ring?

I know this is a small thing compared to countless other terrible losses and worse disapointments around the world. But this is something that is very close to my heart. Besides being a valuable gift from my hubby, it was something I wanted to pass on to my daughter as a legacy. That's why it matters so much to me.

(I'm truly beginning to understand how the woman in the parable of the Lost Coin must have felt like...)

Doesn't God see how sad my heart is?

Can I still say that God is good?

Sigh. Even though I don't feel it right now. But the fact still remains that God is good...

And if I never find this ring on earth, when I get to heaven, I will be sure to ask God about it.

Hubby was very sweet aftewards too, "I know that this ring meant a lot to you. But I still love you okay? And although we can never replace this ring, I will still get you another one"

Tell me how not to melt your heart?

P.S. As I glanced briefly through some of the paragraphs I wrote, it almost sounds like I have lost a child. Perhaps I sound very materialistic. Let me reiterate again that it's not the actual dollar value of the ring that matters, but the significance of the ring itself. I know losing a ring can never compare to the loss of a child. But I guess this is one of those things that you can only "get" if the story clicks in the right place for you (such as having a similar personal experience)

So is this the end? Or is there more to the story...

The Amazing 6race... (because we need amazing grace to finish the race!)

Saturday, November 25th... the year was 2006...

That was finally the day of our church's annual AMAZING 6RACE

Starting point was at UWA's Oak Lawn


Our team: INITIAL D... three girls (me, Nezzy and Joey) and one guy (the guy is holding the camera)

(yaaa... I know, the name is very unoriginal, but it was all I could think of at that moment when we were registering... plus hubby had been watching the whole Initial D series on DVD/VCD, so that was my inspiration)

Hubby and me


Our host... the truly one of a kind, Stanley Tan

(Ooooooh... Long sleeve shirt with shorts, plus got belt some more... and white socks with leather shoes! Very interesting, only someone like Stan the Man can carry this off!)

The next part of this entry will be about the race itself, i.e. the different stations and tasks we had to go through and the fun (or agony) we had.

(1) Our first task to kickstart the race was to send one team member to search for a key (there were 80 keys altogether scattered about the lawn) and unlock a padlock to undo a chain tied around a tree (located behind the host)

Our team took a bit of time to complete this. Nezzy was panicking a bit at one point. But of course in the end we managed to unlock it and get our next clue.

We ran to our car and got ourselves organised. Nezzy would be the driver and my hubby would be the navigator (since guys supposedly have better navigational skills)

The navigator


(2) Our next clue required us to unscramble some letters that will lead us to our first destination in Northbridge

The scrambled letters looked something like this: CROK EFCA

How were going to figure this out? Crok? Kroc? Orck? Rock? Ooohh... Rock something... then Joey had a lightbulb moment, "Rock Face!!! I remember going to this indoor rock climbing place in Northbridge before! Let's go!"

Walau-eh! Don't tell me we have to climb up that!


Each team had to send two representatives, a guy and girl to complete a basic climb. So we sent out hubby (naturally) and Joey (since she had climbed here before)

Okay, ready, set...


...aaand GO!

(Spidermaaan... Spidermaaan... Friendly neighbourhood Spiderman)

Okay DONE... now for our next task

(3) Detour to Jacob's Ladder in Kings Park. Jacob's Ladder is a loooooong flight of steps leading all the way up the hill to King's Park. And our task was to find out the total number of steps there.



This task was up to Joey and myself. Being so clever, I suggested that they drop us off at the top and then drive down to pick us up at the bottom. Definitely the easy way. Most people would think of this, right? But on the way down, we met a couple of teams struggling UP the steps... panting and mumbling, ninety-eight... ninety-nine...

Yaaa... so clever right? I counted 267 steps altogether! Later on, someone told us that the number of steps was actually printed there at the lookout point where we started... (*geram*) So much for being clever.

(4) Anyway, moving on to the next clue. We had to choose between two options: LAND or WATER. We decided on the LAND option. No point getting wet so early in the game.

We headed to the location stated. The task was for two members to cycle about 1.5km to the Bell Tower on Barrack Street Jetty, and await a phonecall from the other two team members for further instructions.

Hubby and I were the cyclists. We rode in cute little bicyles which sat two people side by side, and looked like snuggly little pedal cars. Hubby would navigate and I would steer.

Here we go... we're in for a wild ride with me at the steering wheel!


Meanwhile the other two team members had to solve a puzzle in order to get the clue for our next instructions.

We arrived at our destination and realised that neither of us brought our mobile phones! Thankfully we spotted another team who were kind enough to lend us a phone. In return we let them take a picture with us in our buggy-bicyle!

[[Buggy-Bicyle Pic Coming Soon]]

We quickly called Nezzy who told us to search on the ground for a printed tile with the names of students at the Midland Christian School and obtain the first three names listed. The we hurried back for our next clue.


This cycling task was probably my favourite part of the race. Even though my legs are aching now as I type this after all the rigorous pedaling. I think it was a chance to do an unusual activity which we otherwise would not have initiated ourselves. And pedaling down by the river in a buggy-bicycle is definitely unusual!

(5) The next clue was to unscramble another set of letters for our next destination.

Can you figure this one out: CKSOT DOAR WLBO

Nezzy: The last word is definitely "bowl"... but which one?
Me: The second word is "Road"
Nezzy: Stock Road Bowl!!!

At the bowling alley, we had to complete ten frames before moving on to our next task. It would have probably been more fun if we weren't so pressed for time to get it over and done with quickly to get on with our next task

(6) The next task was to stop at the MacDonalds in Melville, where a team member would be randomly selected to eat two cheeseburgers and recite the Big Mac Mantra by heart: "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on a sesame seed bun"

We pulled straws and Joey was our champion for this task. For a relatively small-sized girl, she did pretty well munching down those two cheeseburgers in one go.

(7) Our next clue was the hardest. We were given a slip of paper with seemingly random dots, and a transparent sheet printed with boxes and spaces. We were supposed to place the transparent sheet over the dotted paper to reveal the location of our Final Destination.

But we just couldn't figure it out. We decided to take a lunch break and try and work out the final clue... but it was impossible. We even started calling up other teams to collaborate and try to work out the final clue together. But it seemed that no one knew the answer.

After lunch we drove around to try and score "Bonus Points" by completing other miscellaneous tasks on "Stanley's Wish List". Such as taking a photo of a team member with a cow, kangaroo, policeman. And solving an optional number and letters puzzle (also to score bonus points).

We kept on cracking our heads, trying to figure out the final clue... and then we decided to call Adrian... a Mr Nice Guy from another team.

Me: Pretty please tell us, we really have no idea where it is
Adrian: Okay, okay... it's at Heathcote in Applecross
Me: Wow, you guys are really smart to figure that one out
Adrian: Not really, we had insider info
Me: Cheh, how come eh? But nevermind, whatever it takes right? See you there!

We zoomed off to Applecross... the Final Destination... where the events took a dramatic and sad turn...

To be continued...

Testing my managerial skills

For the past few days, I've been "supporting" this new collaboration project: codenamed Project Vanilla.

The new Junior Analyst (who joined us just over a week ago) has been assigned to do most of the groundwork... and I was asked to "support" and "guide" him along.

I tried not to spend too much time on it since it's not actually MY project. I prefer to concentrate on my own Project Fission, which I am directly managing myself. The client LOVED what I had worked on so far for Fission, so I was happily cruising along my own highway driving my own project along with minimal interruption.

We sent out the Vanilla call guide to the client on Wed night for the client's perusal. New Analyst breaths a sigh of relief. Cross fingers that he did an reasonably okay job.

Then this morning, I opened my Outlook to be greeted by a flood of emails... each subject title beginning with "Project Vanilla: something"... What on earth could have happened in the last 12 hours???

I sifted through the emails quickly... all from the client... "We are not 100% convinced that this going in the direction to meet our requirements"

(What on earth???...)

I left my manager's email till last. He was on leave for the rest of the week and left me with this message, "Serene, can you drive Project Vanilla and work with the client to get this done by this week, get (Junior Analyst) to support you and prioritise this for now"

Looks like I'm in for a long day...

The Junior Analyst is a bit blur. Somewhat easily "excited". I took a step back and tried to guide him without going down and just putting my oar in. Must give him chance mar...

Walau... but really need to handhold him man...

Every little thing must tell him. After tell him, he will be like "Okay, Okay, I understand", very excitedly and enthusiastically. Fantastic. "So I will check with you in an hour and see how you are doing, okay?"

One hour later... errrrmmm... (silently thinking) What on earth are you trying to do here?

At least he's trying lar.

Sigh.

I suspect this is a ploy by my manager to test my mangerial and leadership skills. So my reputation hangs in the balance over the success of this Project Vanilla call guide.

Phew!

Okay, no need to kanchiong... hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Are you the man in the box?

Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called "The Pledge"; The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn"; The magician makes his ordinary some thing do something extraordinary. Now if you're looking for the secret... you won't find it, that's why there's a third act called, "The Prestige"; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before.

Top 10 reasons why you should watch The Prestige?

10) Christian Bale

9) Elements of CI (Competitive Intelligence)

8) Michael Cane adds a nice polish to the movie

7) Depiction of distorted love

6) Christian Bale

5) Classic story of two friends who became literally DEADLY rivals

4) The deep and profound quotes scattered throughout the movie

3) Christian Bale

2) Gripping storyline... just when you thought you had it figured out... turns out you actually didn't...

aaaaaand...

1) You guessed it... Christian Bale

My desk

Thought for the day: Alcohol could possibly aid staff productivity...

Alcohol = Happy = Not Stressed = Well Rested = More Energy? = Something Something = Productivity?

I'm not very good with equations... so I may need help filling the gaps

Pharmasaurus Carnivorous

Cell Group last night.

For refreshments, one of the guys actually prepared ROAST LAMB!!!

Waaaah... with potatoes and mint sauce!!!

Yaaaaarrrrrmmmeeeee...

We also made a discovery of some primitive creatures:

Presenting... The Pharmasaurus Carnivorous...


Observe... their vicious fangs tearing up the slab of meat to feed their carnivorous cravings...


I wouldn't want to be that poor slab of meat...

Lunch date

Today hubby and I went to work together.

Hubby had to go over to the client's office today to do some work on a system his company had designed for this client. The client's office was directly opposite my building.

We decided not to drive because finding parking in the city would be next to impossible unless you are willing to pay through your nose at close to $20 per day... Anyway it was very convenient to take the bus because the bus stop was very near our house and it dropped us off very near my office.

Anyway, we had a teeny tiny flare up because I didn't check the bus time properly. We were catching the bus at a different bus stop from my usual stop and so I wasn't familiar with the bus times there.... yah, yah, my fault lar I admit...

Well, in the end we managed to catch the bus and reach BOTH our offices right on time.

Despite the little flare up this morning... I was quite happy because this would be the first time we could meet up for lunch on a working day.

I took hubby to Taka... cheap Jap food in the city... unfortunately this happened to be the day that Taka had decided to raise prices by 50cents... sigh... but still quite cheap lar - $5.00 for a don set, and they let you have free tea.

So nice to get a chance to meet up for lunchie...

Hubby was supposed to be assigned to work at the client's office for 2 days... but him being so efficient, he finished all the work today. So tomorrow he'll be going back to his regular office in Ardross.

Sigh.

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Lemongrass

We discovered that our garden has a planting of lemongrass. I had no idea what it was at first... it looked like just a bunch of lalang to me...

That is until one evening when our landlord's son's cousin came over and asked if she could plucked some lemongrass from our backyard. "Lemongrass? What lemongrass?". I let her in and she showed me the lalang corner. "Oooooohhh... so that's what it is!"

I was quite happy to discover it because lemongrass is usually quite expensive when you buy it in the shops, like $1.50 to $2.00 for a small bunch. Now I can add more variety to my culinary experiments.

In case you are wondering what lemongrass is and what it looks like, please >>click here

So yesterday afternoon, I was struck by a sudden inspiration to create a lemongrass meal cuisine.

On the menu:

1. Coconut Lemongrass Rice - jasmine rice steamed with lemongrass stalks and coconut milk

2. Lemongrass Steamed Fish - fish steamed on a bed of lemongrass stalks, ginger and garlic

3. Stir-fried Kailan and Lemongrass - stir-fried kailan with finely chopped lemongrass and garlic

So fragrant!

And healthy!

And yummy!

P.S. I considered taking a photo of our lemongrass plant, but on second thoughts decided not to because of the shameful condition our garden is in

Love ain't easy

The other day I got so mad at hubby. And I told him so.

I will not reveal exactly what his crime was... but I knew there was nothing he could do then at that moment to make me feel better...

I went off to another room to sulk and work off my anger thinking up cruel and evil things I could do to the poor man to exact my revenge.

As some of us do in these moments when we just don't know what else to do... I started complaining to God and telling him how unfair the situation was for me...

Slowly I calmed down, I started to recall some of the things I'd learnt... how I needed to submit to my husband, even if I knew that he had done wrong to me...

My desire to confront hubby and explode with all the hurtful things I could say to him, but I knew deep down inside that such an act would never heal the situation and instead just make it worse.

I admit that the rest of the afternoon, I didn't bounce back immediately, and I did continue to sulk and merajuk a little. But I hope hubby saw my herculean effort NOT to stoop into a mindless argument and held his tongue as well... and he tried his very best to be as sweet as he could.

There was so much I wanted to say to him to tell him how wrong he was. But I had learnt that a man always knows when he is wrong and doesn't need to be told so. I swallowed the iciness in my voice (as best as I could) and simply told him that I had felt really hurt by his actions. Hubby asked if I would forgive him. I said of course I would and that everything would go back to normal again eventually... but not right now.

In the end the ice eventually melted and we're back to normal again.

These are the challenging moments when real love has to break through beyond emotions and beyond self gratification.

I hope I can keep on improving and do better next time.

Q: Does it ever get easier over time?

Artistic...

My attempt at artistic potrayal of these purple Jacarandas...



(In case it isn't obvious, I adjusted the hue and saturation to bring out the purple and violet colours in this pic)

More Jacarandas

A little bird told me that there was one street around my area that was bordered with Jacarandas and looked absolutely beautiful at this time of the year...

I kept a look out for it all week and finally discovered this...







Lovely...

Never can get enough of Jacarandas... if the whole of Perth was chock full purple of Jacarandas, how pretty it would be...

What is your love language?

http://www.greaterquest.com/LoveLanguages.asp
 
My love language test results...
 
Score   Love Language
  10      Quality time
   7       Word of affirmation
   6       Receiving gifts
   4       Physical touch
   3       Acts of service

---

Be one of the first to try Windows Live Mail.

Company provided i-mate Smartphone! nice...

My very own tea set

Guess what?

I have my very own little tea set.



I feel like a little girl again being able to serve up tea like this.

Saturday morning breakfast feels so much more special with this set.

Attitude and 'Luck'

Hubby says I have knack for making my own 'luck'

Now I know that 'luck' is not a very good word to use because as many people say "There is NO such thing as LUCK"

But I suppose what I mean by 'luck' is the ability to create and seize my own opportunities...

As my dad always used say "It's not about WHAT you know, but it's about WHO you know"

And who you know seems to be the golden key to helping people secure jobs, projects, deals etc. etc. etc.

But as I set out into the wide world on my own, my first stop being Singapore, I landed my first job completely on my own merits. I wouldn't say I am a very extraordinary or extremely beautiful and hardly even a genius of any kind. But (also as dad liked to say) "by the grace of God" I got in.

And overall, I think we've had a very blessed life. We've expanded our territory in our own little ways. And I NEVER want to be complacent about it, but simply GRATEFUL.

Even for our move to Sydney, and to Perth, the transition was so smooth, it was just so amazing... the amazing deals we came across (like our unforgettable $10 futon couch), the people we met, and little pleasures we enjoyed... life is certainly very beautiful!

I really think it's about setting the right attitude...

One core principle I hold is to always give the benefit of the doubt first. Expectations can do a lot in determining your outcome...

Afterall it's your attitude that determines your altitude.

Purple Splendour

This is one of my favourite trees...

I believe they must be a favourite in Perth too... they grow in such abundance here in the Perth 'burbs... I didn't see as many in Sydney (nor In Melbourne, but when I was there is was winter, so hard to say)



Probably one in every five houses you pass by will have one of these in their garden... and that includes ours...

I'm ashamed to say that I don't even the know the name of this tree... I could Google it, but where would I begin?

For now I am content to enjoy the loveliness of this mysterious purple splendour!

Lucky Number

Note: Apart from blanking out the beginning part of the car plate number, no other special effects of any kind were used in this photo. The image you see here is completely real. So stop rubbing your eyes!

Muching M&Ms; at work

Kiasu people in Perth

One evening when hubby and I went to pump petrol (we go to Caltex to use our Woolies 4cents off per litre docket)

Petrol was at an unusual low that day... I think it was like $1.05 or something like that... and after the 4cents off docket, that would be really cheap.

Then we saw this fella with what looked like at least 5 huge containers and he happily was filling up petrol in all those containers and his car... joker!



Talk about kiasu.

My first police station experience

I might have forgotten to mention it before, but during the first week that hubby was here, we rented a car to go around doing house-hunting, car-shopping and various errands before we both started work...

Okay... story time again...

During that week, we encountered a teeny tiny car-kiss. An opposite neighbour (who was apparently very absent-minded) backed out of his driveaway all the way to our side of the road and made a little dent in the bumper of our rented car which was parked there. The neighbour's car didn't even have a scratch (it was a Hyundai vs. Toyota... easy to guess which milo-tin car got the dent).

(PAUSE: Now I know some of you might be thinking "alamak how come can like dat one?" well, there was really no way we could have prevented this. Our car was parked in a LEGAL position. It was COMPLETELY stationary. And only a blind and lower-intelligent being could have reversed in this very illogical manner to cause this)

PLAY and continue story...

The absent-minded neighbour was very apologetic and was willing to reimburse us for everything. So we exchanged phone numbers and agreed to contact him once we sorted it out with the car rental company.

Anyway, the car rental company INSISTED that we need to make a full police report... so we did.

This is is my FIRST real police report experience... so I knew I was in for an interesting time.

This is the police station at Kensington


The police woman on duty looked at us incredulous as we explained the case to her...

"We only take in police reports for damages over $1,000 and this is hardly anywhere near that"

"It's for a car rental company" we said meekly

"Oh. That explains it. They are very pendantic about these things" *rolls eyes*

She gaves us a bunch of forms to here and it was out turn to look at her incredulously.

I found the situation we were in so amusing I couldn't stop laughing. See... even hubby was amused...


Ok, time to get serious liao... fill in form proper-proper... don't pray-pray ok!


Wah... have to draw diagram some more... *giggle giggle*


I was supposed to help to draw the diagram because my drawing skills are supposed to be better... but I was giggling too much... plus I had no idea of the North-South-East-West bearings to draw an accurate picture... so this is hubby's work of art, not mine.

Well, the end of the story is, we filed the report, settled the case with the car rental company and contacted the neighbour to pay for the damages.

Moral of the story is:

#1 It doesn't matter what you do to prevent car accidents... if there are stupid people around, you just have to deal with it (hubby may disagree with this or have something to add, but that's his business and he can get his own blog to rant)

#2 It's very important to polish up your drawing skills for unexpected siutations (e.g. filing a police report)

The End

Fast Eddys - brekfast @ 8pm

8.00PM breakfast at Fast Eddys... yummy!

Junk Mail, Glorious Junk Mail

How nice to come home to a big fat pile of junk mail.
 
It's one of the few pleasures of life to plomp myself down on our comfy couch, and flip through brochures and promotional mail at my own leisurely pace.
 
Continental pasta... ooohhh 99cents special this week!
 
Uncle Toby's cereal... save $1.27 this week!
 
Tim Tams... only $1.87 this week ONLY!
 
Multibuys baked beans... buy 2 for $1.50, save 89cents!
 
This kind of junk mail is good, because it's useful.
 
I detest the kind of the junk mail that says "Dear (insert name), you are in the draw to win $100,000,000,000, simply sign up for a one year subscription for (insert useless product/service name) and get a free (insert useless item)"... now that is real JUNK mail... in the bin is goes straight away... how did they get my name and address in the first place? I feel a tremendous invasion of privacy here.
 
So Woolies, Target, Kmart, Red Spot, Bunnings, Spotlight... keep sending that beautiful junk mail through... you have a loyal reader here...

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You'd be so nice to come home to...

Phew!

Last night was yet again another working until late day. I stayed until 8.40pm and caught a taxi home (company paid). Although 8.40pm is not as bad as when I was working in Singapore, still I do not want to start another viscious cycle. This report better be done A.S.A.P before I start getting sick of it.

On a more cheerful note, we just had our couch set delivered on Tuesday morning. It is a 3-seater plus a 2-seater and an ottoman set on special offer and Myer for $1199... and there was a 25% off sale... plus my 'special connections' got us another 5% off... WoW!!! What a deal!!! (we purchased it on a Friday and I was itching to get it by Tuesday).

It was sooooo niiiiice to come home to something nice and comfy to sit on... especially after a loooong day at work... how lovely to come home to a nice comfy couch, with hubby getting dinner ready for me just in time, and lazing around watching CSI...

On an amusing note, on Monday I received an MSN message first thing in the morning when I started work... it was a "Good Night, I'm off to bed soon" from a dear sister way over in the UK... then just before leaving the office at the end of the day, another MSN message from the culprit popped up "Good Morning, I just woke up!". Imagine me working all day and being productive and all... with that little missy snoring away all the time! Some people... *wink*

All alone

Today is the first time I am staying so late at the office. It is 6.40pm now. I am the only one left at the office (except for the carpet cleaning guys, but they don't count). I had a report due today, but it was just too impossible to finish it in time. And people here don't work past 7pm I think. Well anyway, the guy who I am working on the project on isn't staying late tonight, so we sent an email to the client to extend the deadline by another day. So there's nothing left to do but continue working on it again tomorrow.
 
I am now just spending a few quick minutes checking emails before I run off to catch the 6.50pm bus and head home. Thankfully, I made enough dinner yesterday for tonight's meal as well. So all it takes is to heat it up later to eat.
 
Tata!

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TV dreams

I forgot to mention that the reason why we are so called "skimping" and getting thie $50 TV (which if I may add is NOT ancient at all!) is because we are planning to get a flat screen LCD... in the meantime we need something to survive on...

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So clever!

I am so clever. Because I can find such a clever hubby.

Yesterday we went on another bargain hunting spree and brought back a TV ($50) and an IKEA side table ($8).

It was quite funny. You see we went to this student's house to look at some of the things she was selling off before she left to go back after her studies. We were eyeing a TV she had for sale at $140. I tried to bargain down to $100 but she was reluctant to drop the price. As we chatted, we noticed another TV sitting in the living room. The girl told us that it was her friend's TV and that he might be selling it too. So we got the friend out of his room and asked him about the TV. How much? $50! We glanced at the girl. She was grinning sheepishly... aiyah, spoil market only lar.

So we agreed to take the $50 TV.

The girl asked me if there was anything else she had that I wanted. I said I was looking at her IKEA side table which she wanted to sell for $15 (original price at IKEA was $29). I cocked my head and tried to look very thoughtful, "I think the most I would pay is around $5", I remarked casually... she immediately exclaimed "$5!!! That's a bit too cheap lar... ok, ok, I give you half price for $8, how?"... "Done!".

Before we took the TV home we tested it. Some of the channels had a lot of noise and were very buzzy. "Our place here got bad reception lar... it's really ok one", said the seller.

Back home after having our dinner at Makan-Makan cafe, we hooked up the TV to test it. Hubby had to tune the channels to get the right reception. We kept trying but somehow some of the channels were still noisy and buzzy.

I was starting to get worried that we had been cheated... and I considered giving the guy a call back to return his TV... or would we be forced to write it off as a bad buy?

But hubby, being the problem-solver that he is, was determined to find the solution. He went through the different options one by one until... "Ahah! See here, there are different systems you need to look at for each channel, you need to select the right system, most TV's do it for you automatically but some older ones require you to do it manually, you see?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. So glad I have such a clever hubby. Who else would have been able to figure it out? Aren't I so clever to find such a clever hubby?

Anyway... Yeah!!! We got TV!!!

Now can watch cartoons in the morning as I get ready for work... hehehehe...