Simply Divine Cuppy Cakes

I stumbled across the beautiful cup cakes for sale. They look absolutely heavanly. I can spent hours just staring at the web pages...drooling simultaneously. I cannot believe that someone in Singapore can actually make such beautitiful cupcakes and she has a whole collection to suit your every need, baby's first month, weddings, birthdays, CNY or just any other day you feel down and needs cheering up. Oh! Simply divine! Just $2.00 each!
Check out the website

www.cupcake-momma.net

They look so delicious that I wonder if they are real. I couldn't bear to eat them. I must learn how to make them!

Earth Day

Me and Hub visited Sungei Buloh in celebration of Earth Day yesterday. It was a nice slow walk, surrounded by nature. You can actually get to see many things if you bother to slow down and listen. We saw 3-meter long monitor lizards, squirrels, large spiders, many diiferent varieties of birds and fishes.

Everyone should clebrate Earth Day. It is the most important day on earth! I am not a hardcore tree hugger greenie but I believe that everyone can contribute to conserve the Earth's resources and make it a better place. An individual's effort might seem minute but it makes a difference. Every piece of paper, every plastic bag we save helps.

So please remember to bring your own bag when you go shopping. Every time you want to crush a piece of paper, please check
that you have fully utilize the piece of paper.

Way to Go, Ikea!!

I am so happy that one major retailer has finally decided to take the big step of charging for plastic bags! Ikea, way to go! Singaporeans simply uses too many plastic bags. On the average, each Singaporean uses 600++ plastic bags a year! Shoppers have made it a habit to ask for extra plastic bags. The cashiers and packers at the checkout counters have make it a habit to give additional bags. A typical NTUC checkout experience goes like this;

Usually I will bring the huge Ikea reusable bag when I go grocery shopping, I will ask the NTUC auntie to put everything I buy into the reusable bag. She will proceed to pack the items into plastic bags and then put the bags into the big bag. When I protest, she will rebut with "Aiyah, you don't put plastic bags, the bag will be wet."Duh...

On the ocassions when I forget to bring the Ikea bag, heavy items like, canned food, rice, etc..., will be put into double bags. As usual, I will protest . "Auntie, one bag is enough, I live in the next block. I will reach home soon." Our friendly NTUC auntie will give me the friendliest smile and say "Never mind, never mind, two plastic bags stronger." and proceed to double-bag everything.

Plastic bags are non-biodegradable, they take up so many precious space in our landfills. When they finally decompose, they release harmful gases into the environment. Plastic bags also choke up our waterways, our rivers and our oceans. So I will continue to minimise my plastic bag usage until they invent a biodegradable bag. One person might not make a huge difference but it helps. 600 less plastic bags to choke up the ocean this year!!

爱美不要命

Sometimes I wonder whether if my brains go to sleep when I start to shop. Recently, I bought a pair of boots, knee-high boots to be more specific. They cost $70, not a lot for boots but I live in Singapore, sunny tropical Singapore.. Why on earth would I need knee-high boots? The most absurb thing is that they are size 36, one size too small for me. All because I think that they look gorgeous when I put them on and the clever shopkeeper insisted that " ya, don't worry, this type of boots look better when tight. tighter better!" Ok, so I bought them. They look wonderful sitting in the corner of my living room, waiting for snow to come to Singapore and my feet to shrink. Why do I insist on wearing 3-inch heels to work? Why do I insist on contorting my feet into un-natural shapes? If I am my feet, I would hate me. Am I more beautiful when I am in heels? Do I look better with a $200 hairstyle in comparison to a $20 one? Do people care? Can they tell the difference? I feel bad spending so much money on material things. All these stuff are "wants". I am not an indiscrimate spender but all these little things add up... These $20, $30 could have been given to charity, put into investment accounts, left to grow in a fixed deposit account, etc... I have to admit that spending money makes me feel happy or wearing my purchase makes me feel good! The additional sense of well-being helps a lot when you are meeting a client, when your boss is giving you hell or when the world looks grey and sad. I need the dash of colour to brighten up my day or the additional height to boost my confidence level. Hell, why do I work so hard if not for life's little pleasures, so shopping here i come!!

I accepted the fact that I have a toxic boss

It makes things much easier to accept that my boss, Miss North Korea, is toxic. She is a b****h through and through. When you have accepted the fact, you will start to treat her like one. You will be less upset when she starts to be nasty or acts like a B***H. Just like North Korea, you are less surprised when North Korea starts to test out nuclear weapons or when it abducts some innocent Japs or South Koreans. You might even start to provide humanitarian aid to North Korea since the people are such poor things.
Exactly the scenerio in my workplace right now, whenever, Miss NK sends a nasty email or starts one of her tirade, I will shut myself off mentally. I will try to be nicer to the people around me, my colleagues, the cleaning auntie, the suppliers just to brighten up thier day. Otherwise, there is always a toxic cloud hanging over them, miserable people...
This is not an excuse to condone miss NK's behaviour. This is what I am doing to make myself happier, blocking out all the negative stuff, just like what all the countries around the world are doing.

McDonalds Junk or Comfort?

Me and Hub went to McDonalds to try the new egg bagel breakfast. Considering that I am not a bagel fan, the MacBagel actually taste quite good. It is not as dense as the real bagels you get in the Sates. The filling of eggs, tomatoes, onions and ham increases the yummy quotient tremendously! Proberly adapted to local taste. McDonald is great at doing that. Subtlely changing the flavours to adapt to local taste yet retaining the essence to make it feel original.
McDonalds is my all-time favourite food..not only fast food, it falls under the same category of comfort food like Chicken Rice aand Maggi Mee. Something I will want to eat when I am sick, when I am unhappy. Whenever I am overseas for long or alone, it s some food I will look out for, just to taste something familiar.
No doubt that it is something imported, it is something which I grew up with. The fillet o fish today taste the same as the one as the one I tasted as a six-year-old. It definately makes me happy whenever I eat it. It is a junk food I love! I am loving it!

Bosses-people who can make or ruin your day

New workplace, new colleagues, new bosses. Maybe I have always been lucky, sheltered again the real big bad world. Maybe by tiny stroke of luck or fate, I have always had nice or at least amicable bosses. Maybe it is time I wake up and learn to stand up for myself. Maybe I am just too sensitive, scoldings or should i say, tanturms by bosses are just too common for others to feel anything.
The whole incident goes like this. I asked Miss North Korea a question over email regarding some project which we are working on. She scolded me for not consolidating all the questions which i need to ask her. I should ask her in a consolidated email since she is very very busy and does not have time to read all my emails. Prior to this, she did chide us in front of the entire company that we are not updating her enough. We should take the initiative to update her. Previously when I sent her the updates, they were ignored! For just one email which I innocently sent to her. Hrmmmm...
I don't understand why is her EQ so low? We are all colleagues! We see each other for so many hours everyday. It doesn't take too much effort to be nice, polite and civil to each other. Am I mistaken? The workplace is for war? I hope I am not. I shall have hope that I can change things.

welcome me to the world of blogging

I know i am a late starter in the fascinating world of blogging. I never felt the need nor the want until recently. I thought i should start blogging just to try out the new experience.
The whole new experience thingy came about with my decision to leave SDC. It is time for Jasmin to step in the big bad world.
To me, SDC is a very comfortable world. Everything is manageble, most people are nice. It is like a cocoon, warm, gentle and nurturing. I know that no matter what happens in SDC, I have people whom I can fall back on, I know how to get myself out of tight or unpleasant situations. So the decision to leave is also a decision to step out of my comfort zone.
Well, here i am now, sitting at a new work desk, trying to blend in with the not so friendly culture in this brand new environment. As always, the very optimistic angel in me will tell me that no no, they are not unfriendly, they are just too busy. they like you, they just need some time to get use to you. Well, I just have to supress the pessimistic devil and make do with whatever. I am going to succeed in the MICE industry!!