the roads are getting nearer

Monday, March 20, 2006

` Monday, March 20, 2006

(Courtesy of some wannabe enterprising not-so-young 'uns)

We present to you a slew of brand new hot-in-the summer

***sHaGadeLicious clothing***

specially flown in for your viewing pleasure...

all the way from Down Under!!!

We've shopped and searched extensively for G.R.E.A.T stuff at prices that won't break your bank account.

~~~Unique one-piece tops and dresses~~~

Styles that remind you of the days you frolicked lazily in the sun..

Or revelled with the bohemian crowd...

Or chilled out on an afternoon at the cafes...

Or all dolled up for a late-night soiree..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course, please don't expect overly budget-level bargains..

Although we are not driven by superlative margins..

Give us the endorsement for future shopaholic fulfillment..

So that we can continue to source for FANTABULOUS finds!!

PoP by and say HI !!!!

Prices start from $15.90 onwards.

Top sizes range from UK 8 to 12

One piece per item, per colour only.

If you appear enthusiastically keen..

We could be tempted to give a discount!

Date: Saturday, 25 March 2006

Time: 1pm to 9pm

Place: Far East Square Bazaar

(next to Planet Fitness)

Feel free to email sputneek@hotmail.com for further details.

SEE YOU THERE!

(2) comments

` Monday, March 20, 2006

That there will be no hotel room availability in Bangalore for the next week and beyond. The very desperation of the travel agent's tone of voice echoed the optimistic sentiment that I wouldn't have to make the trip after all. Don't get me started on how exorbitant the rates are in the city for a decent night's rest and how close to impossible it is to plan a visit there 1-2 weeks in advance and secure a room. It is near impossible. And you wonder why multi-nationals keep investing their capital in a city which takes a prolonged amount of time to address the infrastructural concerns for large businesses to operate efficiently and cost-effectively.

To define wishful thinking, please refer to the earlier paragraph. However, it would be tantamount to striking lottery. I am about as desperate as the travel agent to prove a point.

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` Monday, March 20, 2006

Last Saturday was what I would declare a “full-on action” day. (try not to perv at that one-liner if you could), jam-packed with activities which included a dress tailoring session, shopping and 4 disparate meal and drinking sessions! One of my mates have decided to answer the government’s call for lesser lonely hearts (oh yes, and add one more to the bridal roster, eversince I stumbled upon a significant one-liner in the blog of hers. Heh.). Of course, hearty congratulations to all indeed! Red packet provisions will have to be conservatively accrued for in the next few years or so.

So it was off to Simpang Bedok for lunch after getting measurements at the seamstress (fingers crossed, let’s hope the dress turns out to be just what I’d imagine). Had settled for nasi briyani after not-so-subtle touting and hard-sell at one of the coffee shops. Turned out to be pretty satisfying, had the sun been kinder on the heat and the humidity that seemed to constantly permeate the air. Finished the meal with a large cup of iced teh tarik. Good stuff.

I have definitely tried avoiding a visit to Zara for the past 2 months, knowing full well that the credit card would be put into action on a per-visit basis. Resistance was inevitably futile on that day, so we made our way to the Great World city outlet, a perennial favourite of mine for some inexplicable reason. The frivolous side of me emerged as I surrendered to a black chiffon dress, knowing full well that there were 5 other evening dresses collecting dust back home.

Bearing chi-chi ladies-of-leisure aspirations, we headed to Fosters – The English Rose Cafe in Holland Village for late afternoon tea. For $9.50 per person, you get a hefty 2 scones, banana bread and sandwiches plus a cup of tea. It was lovely, if not for the weather playing its heat trick on us again when we sat at the al fresco area. Definitely worth a re-visit and recommended for chilling out on lazy weekend afternoons. On a cool day of course, otherwise the café interior looked pretty inviting with its couches and English architecture.

After getting stuffed with too much pastry and tea, the next destination was Corduroy & Finch at Bukit Timah Road. There was such a buzz generated from this place in the media that it was suggested as a gathering place for the ex-Syco alumni. Despite having an ambience reminiscent of a bustling Australian café-restaurant (quite similar in concept to Whitebait & Kale at Camden Centre), I concur with Whiskeysprite that the food was definitely over-rated. The mushroom linguini with white whine sauce was rather flat in taste and the pasta was undercooked. Similar comments were made round the table, although it was indeed a good idea to check out the hype. If you’re still curious, make sure you have semi-deep pockets and a car to take you there.

Next stop: 1 Rochester. There was a recent write-up in 8 Days on the new wine and dine setups in the far west (where my office happens to be situated) and this was the new drinking establishment that was being raved about. The only downside was that it no longer took reservations and it was quite a bummer to have driven all the way to Buona Vista only to be told that there was a long waiting list of people to be seated before us. I gave my 3 thumbs up based on a preliminary rekkie of the place. Hopefully, there’ll be available tables on the next visit.

So off we went to Little Bali at Gillman Village for sloshing vacancies. Thankfully, we were lucky this time round. However, it was noticeable that the place seemed filled to the brim with an extremely young (read: university / Zouk-ish) patronage (and hence the conclusion drawn that the ‘mature’ crowd had moved on to Rochester for obvious reasons). Makes me wonder how much allowances the kids were getting these days to be making the trip to these out-of-town hangout places.

Of course, I was absolutely knackered the day after and opted for an extended sleep-in.

ARGH and it’s back to dreary ol' Monday again!!!

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Saturday, March 18, 2006

` Saturday, March 18, 2006

Here I was, happily (albeit boredom has its way of making its presence felt when the slacker in me surfaces) living my ho-hum life of temporal non-existence. Wishing and hoping and praying that my boss in the faraway Greenwich Mean timezone would've woke up one day and forgot that he had a lackey hiding in the far corners of the office in the exotic Far East eagerly preparing for the mummification process.

Alas, this was not meant to be. At 5pm sharp yesterday, a tiny blip appeared on the internal company messaging system with a seemingly harmless "Hi, how are you?". A typical way to start a conversation, I gathered. I learnt over time that no one really cared whether you had a bad hair day or that your dog had passed on this morning, hence the obvious but rather rhetoric response would typically be "I'm good, thank you."

The exchange of pleasantries certainly didn't last for long.

The Boss: ".....which brings me to another issue..I have a rather urgent assignment for you to undertake."

Me: (mental alarm bells starting to sound in the far Southern Orient) "I see."

The Boss: "Do you think it might be feasibly possible for you to make a trip to the India office in the next 2 weeks? I know it's quite sudden but it would be good if you could go for the exposure to the other side of the business.......etcetcetc"

Me: (unmentionables representing the best of Chinese dialects violently subdued) "Yes, that's fine. But there will definitely be issues surrounding the visa application and travel arrangements...."

The Boss: "Okay, just try to make your way there as soon as possible. We anticipate that this might take over a week or so or even more if things get to a rather interesting point..."

And there you have it. Another trip to the almost adoptive motherland due in the next 2 weeks. Had it not been such a logistical headache making the travel arrangements and also the fact that I've been summoned to that area countless times in a year back, I'd be more than happy to activate Sammyboy in a jiffy.

I'm trying to attribute the rather violent post-reaction from the conversation to the cumbersome PMS. No wonder there's a Chinese saying that you first taste the bitter, then maybe you'll savour the sweet. I wonder how many times over I'd have to endorse the bitterness and if I'm still keen about the latter benefits.

(2) comments

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

` Tuesday, March 07, 2006

I have obviously contracted travel rash. Or cold/hot rash. Or hotel room rash. Or foreign office/water/weather/food rash. Whatever it is that triggered this horrendous skin irritation since Sydney isn't giving me any leeway for relief, despite countless prescriptions, injections and medication from the doctors. I feel like a werewolf sprouting sharp teeth and grizzly hair when the night falls. Yet, not one word of medical advice has managed to pinpoint the root cause of the problem. I feel helpless relying on one too many antihistamines, which are effectively steroids. If this goes on, I'd probably be able to start lifting weights for the national team. Anyone who can come up with a permanently effective solution to my dermatological woes will be well rewarded. I sure hope it clears up before the next trip!

(5) comments

` Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Last Friday, an hour-long conversation with my new boss and ex-manager transpired into a request (although I see it more as an inevitable directive) for me to embark on a month-and-a-half assignment in the London office this April. I wasn't exactly thrilled to say the least, but this time there was much less resistance.

Amidst the babble of voices on the phone, my mind started wandering prematurely to the weekend regional jaunts that I could start researching about, which included Barcelona (for very obvious reasons), Prague, Dublin, Geneva and perhaps even a Nordic city as far as Stockholm! So of course, the answer this time round was yes, I'd very much like to join the rest of the team at the spanking new Canary Wharf building, since I've been tasked to run solo in the Singapore office for the past 9 months and I'm definitely showing unhealthy symptoms of prolonged hermitisation.

I appreciated the fact that they had taken into consideration my constant battle with the cold to have arranged for the visit to commence in spring. My next mission: start sourcing domestic flights and hotels in the various cities that will possibly host my weekends. The travel bug has bitten me once again, can't wait!

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