Loopie - Joop

Is obesity a disease? As i looked at a recent photo of myself on fb, i wondered aloud, "How did i let myself do this?" It was an extremely unflattering picture, and i, despite all the execuses i could conjured up, had to admit that me, myself and i have allowed myself to balloon to this blobby state of fatness. I could go on telling myself that i'm still under 60kg, bearing in mind that the extra weight (almost 10kgs worth) was piled on within a space of 27 months, meaning i've been putting on an average of 200g per month! i could go on kidding myself that they will all burn off in my next gym visit, yah right, good luck with that, i hear you say. i could go on blocking off the voices in my head that keep nagging at me to put down that darn scoop of ice-cream as i binge in front of the TV. in truth, weight is an issue i've always grappled with. having had an ultra-active kiddy life of rushing to the next ballet lesson or dance practice, or the next piano or someth...

If you didn't know, my dear husband has begun working the asian shift, meaning he starts work in the late afternoon and 'finishes' in the morning. i use the term 'finish' rather loosely because he never really 'finishes' work for the day. the perils of technology you see, the very gadget that is both a curse and cure - the blackberry. it threatens the demise of personal time. because of it, you're expected to 'work' and respond in an instant. hao-e glances at it every other minute, even during mass sometimes which gets on my nerves. he has no life outside of work. i hope he's happy with work. because of this change, we don't get to see each other on weekdays anymore except for a few minutes in the morning, when i drop the car off for him to drive home, and a few seconds in the afternoon when he drops the car off for me to drive home at 4.30pm. i've lodged a complaint in light of this and have threatened to get a one-way ticket to...

Didn't sleep well - had been trying to scare myself with horror flicks, and i watched this weird hong kong show last night. yawning now and trying to stay awake after a filling lunch of prawns with bamboo shoots in a tomato-based sauce with egg. the sauce looked vaguely like the chilli crabs from singapore. it wasn't fantastic. i think the sambal prawns with asparagus i made yesterday was better. note to self, this is bermuda, half-way across the world, quit complaining! this assignment ends friday and i face the prospect of staying home for a while before the agency calls me for another assignment. me thinkest a spa would be nice, if i could cough up enough moolah for it. hmm... let me go check the bank balance.

1. Family Name/Surname Ong - meaning "king". ong is the hokkien pronounciation of "wang2". Equivalent surnames are "wong" in cantonese and "heng" in teochew. according to my dad, we have royal origins, cannot be proven now. 2. Chinese Given Name Wei Wen - a very boyish name. there are more boys called wei wen than there are girls. it has to do with my mother being english educated. but then again, i have to thank her for not giving me a name weirder than what i have now - it could have been much much worse than this. I share the same "wen" as my sister who's called "Hsiao Woen", spelt differently but it is the same chinese character. We don't have a generation name, but there are a number of my cousins using the word "wei" like mine - not the exact same word but sounds the same. So there are a couple of "Ong Wei___" in my extended family. 3. English Given Name Because my parents are english-...

it has been raining a bit less lately, so i'm cautiously declaring that summer is here. finally. colin asked me last week why hao-e's 'mii' on the wii is called "howie". long story actually. it stems from the name given by his parents within a week of his birthday (almost 30 years ago now and yes, in autocratic singapore, you're required to register all births within 7 days) - "Lim Khian Hao". 1. Family Name/Surname In case you haven't caught on, Lim (not Hao) is the family name (meaning "forest", written form combines 2 chinese 'wood' characters - wood + wood =multiple wood =forest. ancestors could have been woodcutters, no idea.) 2. Generation Name Khian can be called a generation name, albeit unofficial. (you won't find it in the genealogy book (zu2 pu3) in his village in China.) All his male cousins bearing the same surname (i.e. all his uncles' sons on his father's side) use Khian (spelt Kian in some in...

Beautiful hor? My current favourite flower, also the flower for August babies - Gladiolus (in light pink)

we were at CoJo's place on Saturday evening... they had just moved into this spanking new apartment on the north shore with a spanking new kitchen which i endeavoured to mess up. the apartment smelt very "new". ahh... wished i had an air-conditioner in our apartment. hao-e dusted off and packed the wii along for jo, the wii-virgin. our wii has been sitting around feeling neglected for a while now since it tumbled from its new toy pedestal... i suspect the CoJo duo will find more enjoyment out of it. so wii is squatting in their living room enjoying the "new" air from the air-conditioner. i bet it is having the best time of its life, not sweating it out with us at home. traitor. hao-e slept through equilibrium, which was a shame, hao-e not the show. it's a good movie although i didn't care beyond christian bale a.k.a. batman's pecs or the fact that boromir died like 15 mins into the show. the little son is creepy. need some blusher and a whole...

It has been getting harder and harder to pry meself outta bed each morning. it must be the heat. wait, did i hear mumurs from you claiming i said the same thing when it was cold?! no wait, further whispers heard all round of "it's pure laziness plus the age-factor"!? wait wait, i exclaim! i'm not old. may not win the most hardworking crown but i ain't THAT lazy. but it's the truth, i am finding it difficult to get out of bed. not that we have new 500-thread count 5-star hotel standard type of plush feather pillows/bedding. my pillow costs a mere $20. comforter costs $150 from 2 years ago. bedsheets are those chewed by my dog, bought when we first got our bedok flat. so what is the reason for this lethargy? i recently woke up remembering a dream - i don't usually remember anything, i'm a good sleeper, i don't usually wake up at night for anything, not even the loudest thunder, i can be carted off to the sahara desert and i wouldn't know...

to the end of this stint. ooh... a haiku to end the post. i don't care what you think. ears are still covered. don't shout. the beating rain comes pelting holes in roads, soil , sand where's the summer sun?

I PASSED! BOTH! btw, i have Super Junior's "It's You" playing in my head. The tune is so catchy, it's actually pretty scary. so is the group itself - 13 members in total! wtf?! how do they split the profits?? they have another frighteningly irritating tune called "Sorry Sorry", pronounced "Sorely Sorely" with some really hilarious dance choreography that the whole taiwanese entertainment industry is trying to imitate. this shawty shawty shawty shawty (what the heck?!) song threatens to invade my mind everytime my brain stops thinking and goes into standby mode. argh... i don't want to sound like a maniac Super Junior fan. way too old to like these boybands! the oldest member of SuJu is born in '83 lor. can die. don't even think about reminding me that my favourite Rain is born in '82. he's exempted. he shares my birthdate. he's special. we're special. i'm covering my ears. don't shout.