South African chicken

I was at Vivocity for their anniversary celebration just now and had a lovely time at the specially-commissioned Dick Lee musical and fireworks celebration by a French pyrotechnic guru. However, couldn't say the same for dinner.

It was quite late by the time the event was over, and I hurriedly rushed down to the restaurants before their last orders of the day. I settled on Barcelos, a new grilled chicken restaurant from South Africa.

Unfortunately, as nice as their corporate branding was, the food was way below par. Think of it as Kenny Rogers but without the huge juicy cuts of chicken and generous portions of coleslaw, with free muffin thrown in for good measure. Barcelos wasn't bad-tasting but their portions were miserable for the price and they only had their 4 "special peri" sauce to choose from, no ketchup, no chilli.

Let's take a look at the photos:



This is their Quarter Chicken meal. $11.95 for this!! I was appalled! Kenny Rogers' quarter chicken is so much bigger in size and whilst Barcelos only gives ONE side, Kenny gives 2 and with a muffin as well. I had to wait quite a while for this mind you, wasn't prepared for this outcome...



The chicken burger tastes better and seemed more substantial ($8.95), but look at the way the bun has been manhandled. Sigh, it looks like something I made in a slipshod way at home. And wait, is that three pieces of lettuce with one thinly-sliced cut of onion?



Spicy wedges $3.95 i think...it wasn't spicy and whilst they look homemade with the different sizes and the skins still attached, it also looks home made in the morning....and reheated over and over again until I ate it at 930pm.

The next time you see that wonderfully drawn graphic of the red and white chicken on the huge lightbox outside their store, walk away. Walk on the opposite side of the pathway, don't be tempted to the dark side.

The tree has got to go!

We unwrapped the tree base again. (sorry forgot to take pics) The scratching sound gets so loud when the wood is exposed. We really don't know what's inside that piece of wood and we don't want to find out. Of course if we could, it will put our minds at ease but since it's impossible, the tree is going back to the store and I'm getting a new one. I hope the shop attendants don't think we're a couple gone bonkers...after all, two people can't both be hearing things right?

Hope to get our tree back up and pretty this weekend. In the meantime, i shall attempt the decor at the top of the tv wall. Will post up pics soon!

A Christmas Tree

I bought a Christmas Tree! It's just a small one, due to space constrains in the storeroom. I dressed it up all nicely in the traditional colours of red and gold. I contemplated other colour schemes but perhaps I'm just a purist or traditionalist at heart...and red does match our living room rather well.

This morning I heard scratching noises coming from the base of the tree. I freaked out, thinking it was termites in the wood. My whole house has so much wood, i fear to imagine what it would be like with a pest problem of the termite kind! Kimmy and I untied the base and opened up the little gunny sack. Inside there's a piece of wood and many of the tree's "leaves". The sounds stopped after that, and I'm not sure if I was being paranoid. Maybe it was just the "leaves" falling inside - there's just so many - and because it brushed the gunny sack, a scratching sound was probable.

To play safe, I placed a plastic bag below the tree, I presume termites can't eat through plastic so that will save my console from attacks.

Guitar Hero

Here's my guitar hero, my knight in shining armour who plays noisy rock songs on the wii guitar, to the cheers of a stadium of fans. Ok, it might just be a game, but I must say it's highly addictive. Unlike previous versions of Guitar Hero who featured "fake singers", Guitar Hero World Tour finally paid for the copyrights to the original versions of popular rock songs, old and new. It's entertaining to listen, but even more so play, too bad I suck at it. I actually freak out when I see so many different colours on the screen and I can't move my fingers fast enough to play it right.

I freaked out also when I saw red today. My period is looming once again. Of course I knew it would come, but I never do give up hope that I might not see it for just one month. I am also freaked because this would mean I would have to go for the IUI soon. *deep breath* I'm scared. I'm scared it might not work, my eggs might be duds, my guitar hero's soldiers might not be the best of men. It could be a waste of time and money... As a friend once said, there are many warriors, but few good men.

But I have to press on right? Gambarimasu!

Live-alone virgin

I realise that I have been a "live-alone virgin" until tonight. What this means is that I am living in my house by myself, watching TV by myself, having dinner by myself, going to bed by myself, with nobody else in the house except me. Whilst I have had to spend some sleeping nights without Kimmy before, I have always had the company of my parents in law, who would ply me with liang teh and tau hway jui and chat with me until I retreated to the confines of my bedroom. And before I moved out after marriage, there was my brother around even as my parents went overseas on holiday, and also the pets whom I could talk to.

So here I am, losing my "live-alone virginity". Some of you who might have moved out when you turned 18 might view me as somewhat "over the hill" to experience this. No matter, from now on, I will be braver and more resilent, and no more mushy posts on having to miss my husband when he's away.

One mushy post

The last time I spent nights without my other half was when he was in reservist 2 years ago....or was it last year? Anyway, he is now on his 12 hour night shift in camp and I am alone at home attempting to while my night away. I have a list of things to do, watch gossip girl, check emails, wash the dishes, watch californication, etc. Thank goodness for some good pals who are as often as I am on the internet, I do not feel isolated and lost. Sorry for this seemingly lame blog entry but I miss my kimmy so. Can't wait till tomorrow morning when I can see him again...

The economy is bad, start shopping!

A friend asked me, "why are you always selling something?"

Hmm...i don't think i had the intention to unleash a barrage of emails and facebook links on everyone. However, some friends with blog shops are having festive sales, my husband was taking orders for portable drives, and I do my part to help them promote.

Recap, here are the blog shops having sales and deals:

http://www.beauty-box-online.com
http://letreebird.blogspot.com
http://iloveaglaia.blogspot.com

I must admit, half my thoughts are often occupied with new and interesting ways to promote my business, or others'. Maybe it's an occupational hazard due to me working in the advertising/marketing industry. I try my best to maximise profits from as many free avenues of advertising as I possibly can.

In any case, the economy is slowing down worldwide and we should do our part to spread the money around. You buy mine, I'd buy yours. =) Do click on the links to start now!

Half empty, Half full

article courtesy of mypaper.sg

I read this piece from my paper today, about how we can choose to live our life, positively or negatively from the "half-empty" or "half-full" perspective.

So many people, especially Singaporeans, complain. About anything, everything, and everyone. Perhaps it's part of our DNA here, or a result of conditioning since young. I do it too, but I do remember to think about the situation from all angles first, before penning my complaint letter to customer service. Not everyone does this, and many channel their anger and frustration onto others instead.

Do take a read, and learn to re-evaluate your mindset.

Back to Web Basics

Spurred by a friend to restart my accessories factory, I felt compelled to update my site and mark everything down to ridiculous sale prices for the impending festive season. As a result, I am still up at 2am trying to get everything up and ready so I can start promoting tomorrow. I realise that I have forgotten so many simple html tricks, but thankfully, blogger's gotten better and the tools it has on hand for me helped to save a lot of time.

Do feel free to surf by Aglaia Accessories to check out the marked down sale and perhaps join my site as a fan. =)

Binding Contracts

All around me nowadays are anecdotes of marriage. Strange coincidence? Or is He trying to tell me something?

Today at church, the preacher mentioned that marriage is not a contract but a commitment. The sermon topic today was not one of marriage, but this short note suddenly came in. I might be over-analyzing and being too sensitive, but it is true, marriage is something that two people commit to and then work at for the rest of their lives. It is not a contract they can break and get out of. After all, what God put together, man must not divide.

I guess it's easy for most people nowadays to view marriage as just a piece of paper. After all, if they lived perfectly fine together in the same house, what need is there to go that one step further on the level of commitment they have to each other. Perhaps it can be viewed that if the scenario was like that, then if they were to take the step towards marriage, it should taken with utmost reverence and importance. I always find it funny that in times of anger and frustration, we humans who are married forget the words we said when we got hitched - "...for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part..." Having financial difficulties or dealing with sickness and ailments are both not easy things to do, and many do bail out if they happen.

Also, as with contracts, many do think if the one they are currently in do not fulfill their expectations and level of commitment, it is fair for them to think of contingency plans. After all, the long-term is at stake here, and perhaps there's something more promising elsewhere. This could be likened to the contract the Singapore government has with Las Vegas Sands. With Sands' big boss in financial difficulty at the moment, the Sg government has searched out previous bidders to cushion the shock should the project be stalled or delayed. The long-term is of course the goal, and if Sands' in trouble, maybe there will be someone else more suited to take its place.

Whilst I do not think Sands will give up so easily, I believe married couples facing problems should do likewise. Commitment is key, and working out the issues should be more important than breaking their "binding contract".

Marina Barrage

Taken at the newly opened Marina Barrage, this amazing engineering feat was constructed for flood control in the nearby rivers, to create a reservoir so that drinking water can be derived from it, and enable lifestyle water sports to be enjoyed in it. I find that it's incredble how it was envisioned by our Minister Mentor 20 odd years ago when the Singapore River was being cleaned up. Why it took so many years to construct, I can only imagine it was because technically nothing like that was feasible in the 80s and 90s.

So now we can have picnics on the rooftop, enjoy sunsets and jog to the other side of the mouth of the Singapore River. Did I mention the extremely well designed interactive gallery and a nice little cafe with the most-welcoming smells? =)

lessons from a beautiful wedding

i was at a lovely wedding today. Held in a fairly modern church with basement parking and elevator music in the toilet, the service was fun, fresh and all about family and friends. The bride and groom seemed so in love, although most couples do at their wedding, and read out lovely thank yous to friends, family and parents. There was even a surprise performance by the bride for the groom, who was very taken aback but pleasantly surprised. She did a song by Faye Wong, one of his all-time favourites, although she admitted mandarin is her Achilles heel.

There were also some simple and yet powerful messages from the pastor's short sermon. Not that I was taking notes, but because I am in the business of contributing to couples' big step in life, I always find it so meaningful to remember the fundamentals of this all-important institution called marriage. Here are his tips for a wonderful life together.

1. Loving unreservedly
2. Giving up your rights, privileges and freedom and putting someone else in priority
3. Making sacrifices like how Jesus sacrificed Himself for us
4. Doing things first and not waiting for the other party to do what you want him/her to do before you make your move.
5. Changing yourself before expecting the other person to change.
6. If you run out of love for your spouse, ask God to give you that love, and the ability to keep loving.

I hope you might find this insightful.