About Me. Add to the Picture. The obligatory 'Political Post'. 2010 Objectives. My Present List. Fine Dining

I had a great day today. As Lou is preggers and is expected to pop any second now, she's been at home all day and isn't allowed to go out due to backpain/random pain/all that jazz.

In order to recreate our famous girlie lunches whilst adhering to health and safety requirements, Kate and I had decided on a winning combination: We come over, cook an amazing meal, and hang out with her. The last time we did that, Kate and i roasted a chicken and we made a baked alaska for dessert.


Yeah baby. I learnt how to make this from my mother in law.

This time, we opened the invitation to the lads and our partners were allowed to join in. It was amazing. Lou roasted some scrumptious, juicy lamb, Kate sorted out pretty amazing roast potatoes and veggies, and i made some triple chocolate muffins, served with custard.

In fact, it was a standard Sunday Roast - but without the stress for the host. We had great fun cooking in Lou's ample and well equipped kitchen, and lunch was served on time. Us three being serviceable cooks cleaned up as we went and everything was ultra painless, But the finished result was awesome.

After a very filling lunch, we dumped all the dishes into the dishwasher, gave the kitchen a quick wipe down, and watched a lot of telly (and fell asleep during the football).

Hanging out doing nothing with friends + teamwork + good food = Priceless.


Update on MacGuyver
1. thanks uniclycommon. Xjournal is even better than SE Magic! It downloads the blog history so our writing is no longer at the mercy of the LJ servers! It has an amazing search function! Where is our history kept though? And do you know how to make bullet points in a blog?

2. Mac Users - how do i export a playlist in itunes into a folder (so that i can zip it up and save all the mp3s in a memory stick easily?)

So my friends, does anyone know of a great blogging client on the MAC? I used to use SEMagic for windows but now those days are over :(

Ok, Pman had returned home and we have decided to call the computer 'MacGuyver'.

More questions and comments about the MAC since i am a PC user.

1) In terms of networking, Mac seems to want to play with others, but PC computers on domains (VS workgroups) are not making it easy for me to connect it to my Mac network. Very irritating.

2) The 'Geniuses' on the Genius bar are good with Mac, but since most of the pain of switching come from the compatibility between PC and Mac, they really should know more about PCs. my Genius didn't know diddly squat

3) I'm intensely irritated that i can't take my calendar and contacts from my iPhone to import into iCal and Address book. No, it doesn't sync with iTunes as it's already synced with an Exchange server in 'the cloud'. I can't find the files on the iPhone to import them manually. There is no way i can get my data so for my calendar, i had to resort to Google Calendar and for my contacts - there is no way. And no third party applications i can buy. ALL NORMAL Win mobile phones and palms and Blackberrys allow you to control your own contacts and calendars! WHY IS APPLE PREVENTING ME FROM ACCESSING MY OWN DATA??!!!

4) iPhoto doesn't possess the capability of converting BMP files to JPG. It doesn't convert any file formats, in fact. Any windows software can do it. What were they thinking?

5) the Facebook plugin for iPhoto doesn't particularly work. At all. How on earth do you Mac folks upload pics to Facebook?!

6) Contrary to my brainwashing, the Mac hangs. at least twice this week.

I am not emotive about the Mac VS Windows debate. They are all just machines with different marketing strategies, and design qualities.

Met my iMac yesterday, i think i shall call it McMac. ha ha. It's a desktop computer with a modest 21.5" screen, which is bigger than anything i have ever owned, at home or at work. We also bought 'One-to-One' training sessions with the Apple store as i don't have enough Mac friends in Aberdeen who would sit with me and teach me how to use the Mac.

Apple, to me, is like the Catholic church. It is centralised and vertically integrated. It does things its own way. Everyone who works in the Apple store is a priest and they try to convert everyone who enters their store. The software (doctrines), the hardware (churches, bibles)- everything compliments each other and it is meant to go together. If they don't like something, they discuss it within their corporate centre in the Vatican and then they release a new doctrine by the Pope. If they hate something, they excommunicate it. Windows, are the protestants. They've got the hardware (bibles, churches) but the software (doctrine) is made by loads of different sects and they fight all the time, so sometimes the OS crashes and there is disagreements everywhere.

Microsoft is currently the bad guy, but from the way Apple sets itself up, i wonder why people aren't ranting and railing at the removal of their human rights to privacy and choice. It is very, very corporate, and quite scary if you think about it. If you buy an iMac, they know everything about you. Anyway, i quite like centralisation, and i like slotting myself into the corporate, soulless world and living in the Apple ecosystem, so i happily subscribe to other evil huge conglomerates like Google and give them my emails, contacts, calender and whereabouts with Google maps and i let iTunes know what I'm listening to and what I'm watching.

Converting to Mac from a Pc is easy and they've made it very simple. The entire procurement system, from buying to recycling at the end is managed by Apple and it's always streamlined, minimalist and respectable for your "designer lifestyle". They take your PC and transfer all your documents and emails, then they meet you and introduce you to the Mac with a Personal set-up within the Store. I didn't particularly respect my spotty student trainer, but she soon introduced me to a better one who was more experienced. You can go for training within the store as i mentioned earlier, and they also do the repairs in house. When you upgrade to another mac (and why wouldn't you? You are now an Apple drone!) they take your old computer and recycle it for you. There are Apple stores around the world and support lines that you can call, and the support people actually know what they are talking about. This is dissimilar from the PC experience, where you buy it in a lovely shop, and then the pain begins. If it doesn't work, you're screwed. The shop won't offer support or training, and then you're on the phone either looking for computer courses which might be rubbish, and using dodgy shops who offer to fix your PC for peanuts which you secretly mistrust. Perhaps, the lack of choice is a good thing.

So i carried my iMac home in its easy to transport box. Opening the box was pain fee (not too much packaging). Even plugging in the power cable, which clicked so snugly into its little slot, was so satisfying. Then I discovered the little hole in the monitor stand so all my cables could feed though it, maintaining the neat and tidy exterior. The tiny wireless keyboard and mouse were already recognised. Just setting it up made me feel uncluttered and minimalist.

It takes a while to get the hang of it, and everything on the keyboard is in a different place, but learning is easy. The first thing that hit me about the Mac is that it Works. It really works. You plug it in, you turn it on and it works in about 5 seconds. My gosh, i had never got a PC to work so quickly before. User friendly just doesn't accurately describe how easy it it to use. In 10 minutes of Pinny coming home we were on Skype and video-conferencing. Awesome. I showed her my cat and she showed me her place which i could never figure out from her pics. I stayed up so late, i even video conferenced with Bubu as she was getting up for work. Madness.

Time flew with my new friend!

A few questions though:

1. How do i get my freecell and solitaire on the Mac?


2. How do i set up a wireless network between my PCs and the iMac for printing and file sharing?


3. How on earth do i remove programs? (is it just deleting things from Finder instead of the Dock?)


4. How do i convince iPhoto to allow me to change the photo data in certain photos? It seems to think that some pics i took in 2008 were taken in 2005 and this messes up the "Events" order.


5. How do i put shortcuts of webpages on my desktop?


6. WHERE ARE MY PHOTOS? Can't find them on Finder!


7. How do you go 'back' in iPhoto? Backspace deletes photos instead of takes you back.

Some comments/gripes:

1. I miss the way i could organise my photos in folders and subfolders in Windows. In Photo, all days have their own event and you can't have a sub event in an event!


2. Swiping on the mouse isn't very sensitive and i have no idea when i can use it. Swiping doesn't allow me to navigate in iPhoto either (or does it)?

I can't wait to get learning on iMovie and then Garage band! Then we'll be in business!

When my colleague asked me what my new year's resolution was, i realised that i didn't have any. How strange.

It seems like a chapter of my life has been closed and i was too busy living through it to notice. And now it's over and I'm wondering: What's next? I had spent the first half of the year wishing for some relaxation time, and now that I've got it, it never seems to be enough, or I'm thinking that i should be embarking on the next great project to fill up my time.

Enough i say. let's rest for a while. I shall not be having a baby or building a new house or making up something grand to fill up my life. My life isn't something to be rushed or to be jammed packed like sardines. It is to be savoured and i would like to develop the skill of savouring. One day.

This year was certainly action packed. If my life was the winter, then I've experienced every single type of snow that there was. It wasn't that bad. You see, (as a dear colleague once told me) there isn't such a thing as bad weather, just bad clothing, and clothing myself with a combination of good friends, family and my trusty spreadsheets, we weathered the most biting of blizzards.

Health
You see, the beginning of the year was so busy. We were travelling to Eire to do wedding planning every time we got. Meanwhile, our company around us were restructuring and our friends and bosses resigned or were made redundant, we dealt with change and new roles and bigger responsibilities. I was still wedding planning, going to the gym 4 times a week and seeing my personal trainer. After our evening exercises Pman and i were practising swing dancing and choreographing our wedding dance. I had never been so exhausted in my life. Once, I turned up to the gym and realised that i couldn't move. I tried, but i had to turn around and stumble home.

It wasn't what we did. We planned everything well and did things in advance. It was the fact that we would go to bed and our brains would be whirring. I was worried about things that were out of my control, like if important people screwed up on D Day or if my parents were in a bad mood - or if people hated each other and didn't get along.

On hindsight, i think the pre wedding weight loss was not a myth as what i previously thought, as i am now half an inch wider than before the wedding and no amount of anything will reduce me in size. Currently I'm just too happy to do any kind of dieting - living healthily is all i can manage these days.

I don't think i did well with those health objectives from last year.

I am working out regularly and even started biking around town when the weather wasn't terrible. The whole 1.5 years of working out meant that my legs were strong during ski class this year. However, i am still smoking. Granted - it's only during crazy social situations (weddings, when i meet certain friends, with my colleagues at drinking dos when someone buys a pack and we all go crazy). I can't say that I've only had 52 ciggies this year. I might have had more. Or not... but it was a lot less than 2008. So let's continue on this downward trend!

Yoga classes was fallen by the wayside, only because my gym does them at 8pm on Tuesdays, and it's the most inconvenient time in the universe. I need to stretch more and if i need to prostitute myself to BodyBalance classes to stretch then so be it.

Ski a lot more this year. Do all blue slopes at a decent pace.

Vanity
Another thing i promise is not to get fat. I accept (willingly or not) that post marriage, we all relax a little and put on a few pounds. However, a few pounds is ok, a few stone is not! I shan't be one of those newly-weds who throw everything out of the window and turn into big mammas. Marriage is meant to bring out the best in a partnership and looking obese ain't good, so there!

Love & Wedding
I think we achieved the objective made in 2009. After the initial and rather painful negotiations in 2008, 2009 wedding planning was pain free. It wasn't something we loved, but we never fought about it. In fact, being engaged is the time where we learnt so much about each other, and were forced to discuss and speak about our relationship and what we wanted most evenings.

We worked as a team and found that the problems we faced were not from each other but from others (unhappy aunts, people who were being difficult, acquaintances who threw tantrums- you get the picture).

In terms of love, i promise to work on our love. 2010 will be full of distractions as we find our place with our new status. There will be no more common great project that we will work together on and unless people make the effort, couples tend to drift away from each other.

Friends
I am painfully aware that my year with 2 weddings was my year and it was all about me. It's time to step aside and let other friends take up the limelight. One friend in particular is going to benefit from my unwavering attention as she faces the black slope of the most difficult and challenging year of her life. I hope to do her proud. Another friend is, i think, going to be going through some serious soul searching in career and love and i need to support her.

What happened to our little group holidays? When shall the 3 rings unite?

Family
Since we are now married we are embarking on family holidays and doing tonnes of the things with the parents on both sides. Hmmm.

I promise to make it work and act mature and not yell at my parents when i see them again!

Hobbies
A great year for hobbies. I unravelled and remade the Pringle sweater, knitted 2 jumpers and hats, beaded tonnes of rose corsages for the wedding, amongst other things.

1) knit a dress and skirt that you will actually wear
2) make papa those hat and gloves
3) teach swing dancing classes successfully, slowly creating a scene in Aberdeen - this is your second time around and it could be so much better than before.
4) love and cherish Marbles!

Cross reference with Objectives for 2009

CHRIS' PANTRY: It's a pleasure


It's nearly Christmas and i'm proud to say that i've finished all my work AND the bosses to scared to give me anything to do before the holidays... so i'm surfing!

Here is a pic of an amazing cake an acquaintance of mine had made. I am ASTOUNDED. And i think Mr Wilson would like it verily.

All right everyone, I've bitten the bullet and taken one for the team. I've actually booked, paid and dined in a proper Gordon Ramsay restaurant, and i even took sneaky photos of the food with my iPhone. So chavvy.

Maître 'd : Good evening sir and madam, is this a special occasion?
D & Pman: Err. well..

The thing is, the special occasion was that we were in London for a weekend, we were meeting up with our best friends (each) and i had the organisation skills to book the table in advance. Anyway, why the F*** should i have to explain myself for being anywhere?

I chose Ramsay's on Royal Hospital road because it was the first one that Mr Ramsay opened, and it was horrendously hard to get a reservation. In fact, i probably only got through because it was the recession and the bankers were in hiding. Because i called at 10am, 2 months before, and not at 9am, i could only secure a 6:30 reservation. That was ok. We could be out of there by 10am and meet our friends later for drinks.

So, 2 months before, i squeezed in a call to the reservation line. Not only had they REMEMBERED my mobile number, they had remembered my name from when i had naively called a week ago and tried to get a table a week ago not knowing their 2 month rule. It was scary. They were evil. They asked me to fill in a form and send it back by email with my credit card number. I had to authorise them to deduct a prohibitive cost if i didn't turn up. Pman and i shuddered to think about the repercussions. We arrived 10 minutes early.

There were only 14 tables in the room, and it was already filling up. The clientèle were not glamourous. I think they were like us - out of towners who had booked this once special evening in advance. The women were definitely in their 40s and dressed well but not in the way that made you want to own their lives. Do you know what i mean? The hottest girl in the room was this young tall blonde (Eastern European looking i think) and short banker - type man. They were not talking. He looked like he came from work. I had put together an impressive outfit but Pman forbade it as it required heels and he didn't want us to take cabs all night long. It was a good call, but i ended up in trousers and brogues - very swinging 20s and very normal.

Ah well, i never pretended to be anything otherwise!

The women (excluding the blonde) were not skinny celebs either. Damn! I wanted to people watch and stare and be pervy! They were slightly overweight! They didn't work out! One was carrying a bag from Lulu Guinness that she bought from QVC (home shopping TV channel)! Ye Gods i knew it because i watched QVC too and Pman forbade me to buy any bags on sale! Ha ha ha ha

Ok ok, sorry, i just want to let you know that my revelation was that people who spend money on food are just... normal people who dress up and save up and spend money on food instead of computers. We are now at the age where we make the economy go round. The old guard are dying and the teens/ twenty-somethings are too young/poor to influence the market. I have the dollar vote, and i vote that even poncey places are accessible to everyone. I don't like secret rules and snobbery, like in Pretty Woman. Even if people are snobby towards you, they have nothing on you except that they are rich. Big deal. They still wear Topshop and shop at Tesco.

The staff were just a *bit* up themselves. I think they were screamed at by Mr Ramsay so they made small talk with us and being French, laughed robustly at the jokes they didn't get. Poor things. They were all 20 something as well, probably fresh out of cookery school and who were probably a lot of fun out of their uniforms ( i mean.. in their street clothes, not naked or anything).

Pman and i then started to observe the crew and see the roles of everyone. I am also fascinated by the jobs of the staff. There were a lot of staff. There was the cute French lady who showed us to our table and took our coats. Her job was also to remove the presentation plate on the table. Did you know that in Fine Dining, you get plates that you don't eat from? Live and Learn.



The waitress asked which one was hosting the meal and they gave Pman the man's menu and i had the girls' menu. That meant that i didn't see any prices. How old fashioned!



They had a bread boy. It was hilarious. He was the only person of colour (from the Indian subcontinent) there and his sole purpose in life was to serve bread and butter. He came around and asked us if we wanted unsalted or salted butter, and then he laid the salted butter in front of us, with reverence. Then he came around with the bread, which was all warm and yummy. He served us. Then then headed off to the next table. He finished his circuit and came around again, giving us more warm bread and didn't stop until after the soup course.

We loved the bread boy.



Now we get to the 'Menu Prestige'

We also had 3 types of wine which were chosen by the sommelier. They were all A-HA moments. I had never had such good wine that i could scoff like juice. After dessert, we were about to order our coffees when the waiter asked us if we would like to go into the kitchen to see how our food was prepared. REALLY? Of course we agreed and we watched as everyone was bustling around (no shouting though). The head chef was a female.. i forgot her name. Silly me. Then he led us into the lounge and there he served us coffee, the most astonishing Turkish delight, and chocolate impaled balls!



It was that point when Pman pointed out that they only led us into the kitchen so that they could get us out from our table and prepare it for the next seating of guests - one of whom was the lady with the QVC bag..

Then they gazumped us with the bill.

I knew that this place had a Michelin star, but i didn't know it had 3. This was the only 3 star restaurant I've ever been to. I wouldn't say it was 3 times better than the 1 starred places on my list, but they certainly made an effort with the silverware and the interesting plates and cutlery. Hmmmmm. Would i recommend it? I got to say, even though it was almost a third more expensive, it still wasn't as good as Aubergine. The every single course meal there was an 'A-HA!' moment, nothing has held a candle to it since.

I've been reading alot of blogs about how foreigners are coming in and taking Singaporean jobs. They want to reduce the number of foreigners, especially during the recession. What's wrong with protecting your own citizens?

As a Singaporean, i understand the frustration of it all - why give money to these strangers who can take their money home where it's worth so much more? Why give OUR jobs to them? Tell them to GO AWAY!!

The point is, i do think that they are are told to go away. Foreign workers (I'm thinking about domestic helpers) are given stringent contracts, and they are deported the second they 1) get married to a local 2) get pregnant and refuse an abortion 3) break the law 4) are no longer wanted by their employers.

But does a Singaporean want to do a menial low level job?

Not really. So they can stay, i guess.

The other problem is that foreigners with degrees are being given jobs over and above Singaporeans with worse qualifications. I guess if a country is based on a merit system, then it makes sense. Unless people are happy with nepotism and favouritism i suppose. We don't want Singapore to turn into a certain neighbouring country where certain races are given preference over others, so we? :p

I am a foreign worker. I am a well qualified foreign worker, sitting at my desk and earning a decent salary that a Scottish person could have. I pay ALOT of taxes. I also contribute a lot to the economy, and I do my job better than anyone else (otherwise i wouldn't have got my job), and my taxes pay for unemployment benefit, free healthcare, the state pension, redundancy payouts from the state, job seekers' training, etc etc. I really do feel that i contribute
here. And if I lose my job, i get sent home.

In fact, that poor Scottish person who's job i stole could sit back and relax, and receive the unemployment benefit
that i pay for. Tongue firmly in cheek.

In Singapore, the foreign workers in Singapore pay taxes.. and those taxes go nowhere (except the clean streets!) There is no unemployment benefit. The taxes go into the coffers of Singapore Inc, and the reserves are getting bigger and bigger. Because of the merit system, the economy is probably performing better than if they stuck to racism and nepotism, but still......

the locals get nothing real that will put food on the table or pay their mortgages.

No wonder everyone is obsessed with immigration. It's a problem, i can't doubt it, but as a foreign worker i emphatise. i want to pursue a life of love an happiness and in the country of my choosing... for now.

To be continued when I get to a computer.

cross posted to brit_knits

Finally finished the jumper i started making when we were on honeymoon in May 2009. We got the wool from Derry and then i upgraded my knitting needles to amazing interchangeable knit pro ones. Really great stuff! The pattern was a dorky traditional one but i modified it to fit my man's body - the second bespoke item of clothing he's ever received (besides his wedding suit).

It was knitted in a round and i knit two sleeves at once with the knit pro needles, and then i sewed the sleeves to the body and finished it with a collar. I love knitting in a round and avoiding the sewing bit in the end.

More pics here:

View from the front

Two sleeves at once - before i got the knit pro needles

Over cakes this afternoon my colleagues were ribbing me about being a newly-wed. They asked if the honeymoon period was over and whether we started bickering yet.

z: No it's still awesome
them: So you're not scolding him and giving him hell?
z: No, why would i?
them: because you're married!
z: don't be silly! He's my property, why on earth would i want to abuse my own property? It's like shitting on your own lawn, keying your own car... dirtying our own house! If i want to abuse someone, i would do abuse someone inconsequential, like you guys from work.
Gerry: you mean if you're really angry with your husband, you would go out and hit someone else's husband?
z: exactly.
Rob: give her a year.....

All jokes aside, i always wonder why people would get into relationships with people that really irritated them, and then keep breaking up and then coming back for more. I also wonder about marriages where both sides bitch constantly about the other and refuse or can't look past their differences to work to a better solution. It's a marriage, this other half you've got is tied to you both emotionally, physically and financially for a long time and it's so much better to proceed through life with an ally nearby, not an enemy, right?

So yeah, I'm not one of those boasting people who say my relationship is perfect and that my knight in shining armour is perfect and that we are the most happy, shiny people on the planet (ignore Pman's pleas of his perfection- he's lying! ha ha ). GAG. But I can say that i do work my hardest to make my actions, words and deeds towards my imperfect partner more than acceptable. Because we're tied together forever, and you don't shit on your own lawn (or bomb your own country).

Errr, isn't anyone going to blog about Obama in Singapore? I'm curious about what you all think!

Pman and i have just joined a gym together. I've flirted with exercise most of my life, from being in the Swim (B) team as a kid and then joining the hardcore canoeing team (whose training looked suspiciously like our Singapore army training) in my late teens, doing ashtanga yoga before it hit the mainstream and playing with Swiss balls and doing 'core stability' when the ideas were first shipped to the UK via these ultra keen LA gym bunnies who taught at my ultra expensive David Lloyd gym in London. Gosh. I AM old. Pman is ultra fit, probably born that way, since he has been running about like a headless chicken (rugby, hurling, touch rugby, football, cycling, karate, marathon etc etc) since he was young. Pman hates the gym as it's fitness for fitness' sake and isn't fun (presumably touching other boys on the playing fields is fun) but since he's been training with his touch rugby team, he's been sent to the gym to bulk up. That was great news for me since the gym that we chose offers some fun exercise classes and we get to car share to work, to the gym, and then home again.

I have known about BodyPump, BodyCombat and BodyBalance classes for a while. While they are very good, they just irritate the hell out of me. It you love globalisation and the loss of local knowledge and products, and you love the fact that you can get Starbucks and McDonalds anywhere in the world to the same standard, and you are into chain stores, ubiquitous brands and standardised everything, then you'll love these classes. These classes are owned and franchised out by Les Mills, a fitness conglomerate. It's rather like a fast food chain. The aspiring Les Mills instructor is sent to the mothership and trained/brainwashed into how to run the class. They come back and speak in the same way, with all the catchphrases and buzzwords that motivate the people (the official word is 'fitness magic'). You pay a subscription to Les Mills and you are now allowed to run these classes. They send you the moves, the music (in tune with the latest chart hits and timed and mixed to fit your moves) and you teach the class. You are not allowed to change the program. You belong to them. You do what they tell you to do. They change the music and moves a few times a year and they send you the updates, which you implement.

This is what they wrote on the website:

"Becoming a LES MILLS(tm) instructor is a life-changing experience and one that carries with it both privileges and responsibilities."

GROAN. It's a bloody exercise class ok! BodyPump is doing weights to music. NOTHING EXCITING OR LIFE CHANGING. How the hell did they manage to patent and make millions from something so basic and simple as that?!

When i first did a BodyPump class, the first thought that occurred to me was 'Wow, if the pop industry can come up with a catchy inspirational workout song, imagine the royalties Les Mills will pay to them for the right to distribute that music into each BodyPump class around the world!" And that is true.. apparently the 'Mozoltov' song that Black Eyes peas wrote is raking it in for our favourite vegetables. Imagine this cosy cute relationship between the music and fitness industry, one writing songs for us fat bastards and then the fitness industry jamming these songs down our throats for 3 months as we attend these classes 3 times a week. Think of the sales. Genius.

A part of me thinks that it's quite good. I mean, they must have the best fitness instructors beavering away in New Zealand, coming up with the best moves and music for us, dreaming up combinations and doing this as their full time jobs. It sure beats the half-hearted attempt of the lady in my previous council gym whose idea of fitness research is changing her dance CD every 3 years. There is, afterall, logic in industrial specialisation.

The other part of me hates it so much. I hate this 'community' of Les Mill freaks and how they think that fitness can be obtained if they just pay pay pay their way through and attend these classes. Like sheep i say! The other thing that freaks me out is...

BodyBalance.

'BODYBALANCE(tm) is the Yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates workout that builds flexibility and strength and leaves you feeling centered and calm. Controlled breathing, concentration and a carefully structured series of stretches, moves and poses to music create a holistic workout that brings the body into a state of harmony and balance.'

I did a BodyBalance class and it pissed me off full time. It would describe it as a New Zealanders' attempt to combined all the eastern, mystic spiritual fitness exercises into a bite sized, commercial one hour long money spinner. In other words - an abomination.

Firstly, the TaiChi warm-up was complete bollocks. Nothing was explained about the breathing, the weight changes, or the power of centering your chi (or whatever my grandfather used to do in the morning). It was us waving our arms about and looking stupid and getting no benefit from it. Stupid Duffy moaning about her pathetic love life in the background didn't help either. The others bits consisted of us doing random yoga moves (not very well), having no explanation about the breath, about sucking in your belly (tightening your bandas or whatever), and the pilates bit rushed through the exercises, explaining nothing about your neutral spine or anything useful.

You could get injured that way.

The low point was when we were meant to do some slow breathing to the strains of Bono and when he sang 'Magniiiiiiiiificent!!!' the instructor intoned 'Yes , you are magnificent. Concentrate on your breath.'

AAARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! DIE DIE DIE DIE INFIDEL!!

I mean, did she even explain how she wanted us to breathe? Through the nose, the mouth? Diaphragm? Circular? Ye Gods i was stifling my giggles while all the brainwashed earnest gym bunnies were posing in their sexy gear thinking about how magniiiiiiificent they were.

Now. I am not a Hindu, i do not believe in all the yogic mumbo jumbo out there. But i respect authenticity, and i respect the purity in doing something right and if i want to do yoga, or pilates or Taichi, i am inclined to want do it properly, not just dump all the best moves from different fitness philosophies into a 'greatest hits!' combo and expect 'harmony and balance'. The analogy i gave Pman was 'you can watch 1 hour clips of explosions on youtube but it's not all about explosions! What about the story line?'

Sometimes i despair at how modern life is going. What happened to individual initiative? Why are there chains and franchises everywhere? Where is our local food? Why are big companies trying to own and sell even the most simple natural combinations like Basmati rice or one click shopping idea or doing weights to music?

How can we stop the madness?

My sister sent me her present list, so I'm just going to put mine up. Again, I am very happy with the stuff I've got, so these are just frivolous things that are fun to have..... Also, this is a great list for Pman to check if he's looking for my approval. Err these things are kinda expensive, so really it's a list for myself to remind myself what i really want and then to buy it when i get my bonus or something.

1. Mont Blanc handbag, all things Mont Blanc are still an obsession


2. A wristlet. It's half a wallet and half a bag! What an ingenious idea! Great example here from Burberry, but i don't mind cheapy things. Kate got one for me without even checking the blog. LOVE HER.


3. This mont blanc wallet. I don' t even know what it's called and it's not on the website, but i took a pic of it in Terminal 5. Basically, it's long enough for me to put my money in, but sleek and small enough to fit inside my hand bag.


4. An office rack bag for my bike! yay to my parents in law!


5. Or a Brooks saddle


6. mainly so that i can fit on an ultra cool, limited edition saddle bag which i LOVE LOVE LOVE


7. A Handbag liner! so cute! thanks pman!


8. a large travel cosmetic/toiletries bag. It should be in a cute print, have a mirror but the compulsory item is that it MUST have a space to put my make-up brushes... something like this (but it's not in a cute print) or this!


9. Luggage scales!
10. a very cute beach bag, but i think it would be great for little picnics in the countryside and i could strap it easily to the back of my bike


11. Knit Pro interchangeable metal circular knitting needles... DELUXE SET!!!
(sorry. i bought it already. couldn't wait.

Here is the 2008 list:

1. Litter Kwitter for Hunter (not relevant as Marbles is a water loving breed and will probably drown herself
2. The coolest Cat litter tray in the world.


3. Cat Tunnel for hunter (got that already!)


4. A voucher from www.ASOS.com. I love the website as it's very trendy and not very expensive.


5. Comfortable flat knee length boots for semi casual winter afternoons that require me to walk loads (UK Size 6-/6.5)


6. Slim leather gloves (can you tell it's cold in Aberdeen?) (thanks Pman!)


7. Serious big and long ghetto necklaces.


8. Touche Eclat - I have no idea why i haven't bought this yet. maybe it's because i would be admitting that I'm old and have under eye wrinkles. I would be glad to get it as a gift though. haha


9. Aero Garden - growing my own chillies is the grand master plan.


10. A small red coffee machine (brilliant wedding present from my uni mates)


11. Bath caddy so that my books don't get soaked when I'm in the bath


12. MONEY (in cash for the wedding) or by PAYPAL for my zillions of Ebay purchases..


13. Green intelligent panel for my laptop


14. Eco hair dryer


15. A really good, green iron (ours is falling apart) (we got a nice one for Pman for Christmas 2008, haha)


16. Really small hair straighteners for travelling

Stuff from the 2007 list:

1. A universal remote control (one to rule them all)
(thanks sudz!)

2. A new Freeview/digital recorder box
(Thanks tuaz!)

3. A sound system which comprises many small speakers that i can mount on walls instead of large standing ones


4. Desperate Housewives season 3 and above


5. Sex and the city DVDs to complete the set (I already have season 1 and 4) (thanks sudz!)


6. Random bling (not necklaces), but i mean real bling, as i am allergic to cheap metals haha.
(I think I've got enough from my irritating Chinese dowry.)

7. All sorts of platform shoes in UK size 7
( Thanks Bubu and Pinny! )

8. Anything from Victorias Secret
(No matter how much i got, i still want more...)

9. A 42 flat screen TV to replace the horrible CRT monster which is sitting in my living room


10. Stripy Wellington boots
(Thanks Pman!)

11. A black cashmere cardigan


12. Anything from Mont Blanc (except pens - i wouldn't know what to do with another one! I'm gonna have to split loyalties! NOO! or necklaces - same reason as before)
Thanks Pman! I think the collection is complete.. or maybe earrings will complete the set?

13. A pair of fuzzy slippers for the house. For some dumb reason I'm acting like my parents and am wearing hotel slippers at home.


14. A Digital Photo Frame
(Thanks Pman!)

15. A fuzzy Bath Robe
(Thanks primark! haha)

16. A wind up radio with integrated solar panels that doesn't run out of power after 20 minutes! (I've bought about 2 and they still disappoint)

Hi everyone,

I would like to do some on-line shopping on a Singaporean website that delivers to a Singaporean address. I am interested in stuff for kids... like toys or cute gear or anything.

Do you have any idea which website does it? It seems to me that Singaporeans love going out and buying stuff for themselves instead of buying on-line and waiting for deliveries! This is totally alien to me. I buy everything on-line.

Please help!

Since pink_tray sent me an email asking me for updates on the little one, i thought i would blog this for her.

Marbles is a good cat. She is so good, she stopped trying to escape from the front door whenever i open it. She knows the meaning of 'no' and 'uh-uh!' and stops her naughty antics when she hears those sounds. She follows me around the house, but isn't clingy like (sacrilege!) Hunter was. I now understand why Hunter was so affectionate and so obsessed with sitting on our shoulders - she was dying and had no way of fending for herself and was looking for comfort.

Marbles is just a friendly, balanced, cat. The last time Marbles peed on our duvet was after the Singapore wedding. I think it was an honest mistake as she was jumping about all over the bed in the morning (as we were playing with her) and it just came out. I think she just forgot to go to the loo and when the games started, she didn't want to go - she wanted to play! Hence, every morning when i go to the loo, i put her in the litter tray. It's a routine for her now and she goes in the morning before we commence the games. It seems to work so cross those fingers!

Mind you, it takes work to produce a balanced cat, especially from a breed such as the Bengal. We had an excellent breeder who loved her and cuddled her loads, so Marbles was well socialised when we met her and she isn't afraid of any human. However, a social cat soon can manipulate its owners so we had a hard (in my opinion) time disciplining her when she was naughty, putting her on her 'naughty step' (ie shutting her out of the room) when she was bad and ignoring her attention grabbing ways (i.e meowing loudly and demanding for playtime when we are asleep etc). We are the masters, so we keep the power in the household. I sometimes sit in her chair just to keep her on her toes and to teach this territorial breed how to share. She knows who the mommy is, and it's ME!

Bengals are also muscular athletic cats so they might want to climb the curtains or walk on your kitchen counter. It's a lesson for the owners to practise firm and consistent discipline. When Marbles tries to play with an unauthorised object, we say 'NO!'. She might then:

1) continue to play anyway, in which case we scold her and put her on her naughty step (shutting her out of the room/depriving her of our attention. No eye contact, nada.)
2) stop playing and looks sad, chirping mournfully, in which case we throw her a ball or a toy and she diverts her naughty behaviour into acceptable behaviour.

Consistency is key, (as it is in all our human relationships) so we have to do this EVERY TIME she tries something bad, which means that when she was younger we were always on the lookout and had to watch her closely. It's been quite a few months since we've had her so now she knows that when we say NO, we mean it, and it's enough for her to stop in her tracks and behave.

That said, cats really need their playtime so it's the job of the owners to play interesting and boisterous games with their cat to stop the cat from turning into a delinquent with too much pent up energy and aggression (like the yobs of today). We play fetch a lot because it's not too tiring for me and i throw things down the stairs so she runs up and down it and tires herself out. Marbles also has a good meal at night and unlimited dry food during the day. Again, as with kids, if you don't limit the availability of food, then they don't get obsessed with it and won't over eat. I mean.. the reason why i am not an alcoholic is because my dad had a full bar which was easily accessible in my home. It was there all the time since i was young so it wasn't a novel concept, and hence i don't really binge drink. Not usually anyway.

Anyway, enough of cat discipline. Here is where Marbles sleeps. It's a cat activity centre outside of our bedroom:



Marbles doesn't sleep with us. This is because we're the kind of people who actually value our privacy. I know I've said this before, but we will never be the kind of parents who allow the kids to walk into our bedroom and catch us at it, or worse still, prevent us from even trying. Hence, bedrooms are off limits, at least at night.

Because we implemented these rules from day one, Marbles has never tried to break into our bedroom at night. She guards our door and that is that. As she is a teenager in human years (about 14), i relax the rules and she sleeps with me when Pman is away. It's quite sweet really, i leave the door ajar and she climbs into bed with me and she's so warm!




I'm just so fascinated that Marbles knows what is hers and what is ours. I love the way she has found a little place in our home and uses all the kit that we buy her. She might have a fetish for my hair bands and the Wii silicone covers, but besides that, she really respects our house and follows the rules.

My first mammal pet was Ben, a mouse. I LOVED BEN very much. Ben was always trying to escape from her very fancy plastic habitat, but when she finally did, she would wait outside and say 'TA DA! I MADE IT!' and then allow me to put her back in.

In fact, i think she stayed in her box because she wanted to as we both knew that she could've been gone in a flash if she so chose.

Mice in this continent are viewed differently. Mice are 'disgusting' and people are scared of them. My cleaner told me she hated mice and that they are horrible dirty things that have nests. I know that isn't true, the dirty bit, that is.. I watched Ben clean her little face with her paws and lick her hands. I guess people here treat mice like how i would treat lizards back in the tropics. I tried to explain that Ben was a field mouse with brown and white splodges, but people still thought i was crazy.

Pman doesn't like mice. He thinks that they are disgusting. When Marbles is in the middle of her killing frenzy, Pman leaves her well alone. He has no inclination to rescue the poor mouse and take it outside to take its chances in the garden.

Cats don't really have good vision. They are mostly colour blind and their paws, whiskers and ears are all attuned to vibrations from the moving prey. Hence, the mouse freezes in pure fear, and Marbles paws at it, thumping it until it moves so that she can chase it and pounce on it and injure her even more.

This morning, Marbles was uninterested in playing fetch with me. In fact, she was sitting in the guest room with Pman and watching him iron his shirt, or so i thought. I heard her squeak a few times, and i wondered why she was so excited about ironing, especially since Pman wasn't throwing anything or playing with/cuddling her. As you probably have guessed, it wasn't her squeaking. It was the mouse.

Z: Darling, what's Marbles doing?
P: Playing with her mouse
Z: What, the small white one from Royal Canin?
P: No, a real one.
Z: A REAL ONE??!!!!!
P: I didn't tell you because you would freak out like you are doing now.

After that, no amount of begging would make Pman take the mouse out of the house. He wanted it dead before he touched it. I don't understand. It's just a mouse. AND it's cute, AND I've got a history of loving mice... but when it scampered here and there, i was kinda scared too and kept out of its way, and i wouldn't save it either, dead or alive.

I don't know what is happening to me.

I hope Marbles doesn't rip out its guts on the carpet while we are at work, or put the mouse in her water bowl.

After receiving lots of negative comments about my very indulgent post about well engineering, i shall go back to posting about crowd pleasing topics: SEX and VIOLENCE!

yeah yeah yeah!!

Maybe not. I just wanted to write a note to myself to remind myself what happened to me in 2005 before i got moved to Aberdeen. I had a boss who was close in age to me (0 - 5 years). My year in that job was the worst time in my life, where i was screwed over, embarrassed in meetings, given precious little coaching and was never protected by him even though i was pretty green behind the ears, was in a trainee role and trusted him like a little puppy. Why did he do this? It was because he had no incentive to manage me properly. If he helped me too much, i might get ahead and ruin his own chances, besides, he was too busy politicking to train me, the feicer.

I'm now suddenly in sort of a similar position. I've got someone who is effectively my boss and is close to my age. I need to remind myself that people who are at this stage in life are incredibly insecure about their careers and are doing all they can to get ahead, stomping on everyone, especially those they perceive as competition. They do not listen to my lunchtime pleas of how i work for fun and i love to support people for them to get ahead. They will never protect me. In fact, they will go into meetings with me and talk over me with their overly bossy style to achieve their agenda whilst i am trying to get agreement the softer, more pleasant way. When i ask for help to answer a difficult question, they will instead blame me because i didn't know or check everything.

Trust no one. But manage them wisely, bringing them on side.

In fact, only trust the oldies who are close to retirement or those with lots of kids. I know how they tick and they don't want to hurt young 'uns like me. In fact, they want us to succeed as we will be paying their pensions.

Office politics is irritating. Everyone knows my cards, and some ambitious ones try to keep them hidden but we know them anyway. In the end, i believe the nice ones will prevail.

Hello, I think my little overindulgent blog called 'nesting' prompted a lot of comments about two of my possessions:

1. The fridge
2. The tandem bike

I've got precious little to say about the fridge, except that when it was delivered i spent a good 2 hours staring at it, and it sat there, humming like a little red Ferrari. Ahhhhh.

The tandem though is something i've got a lot to say about. But before we get to it, let me tell you about the Magnus Platform. It's an offshore installation that Pman used to work on and it's produces oil and a little bit of gas. It has it's own integrated drill rig on the platform, so we don't need to rent a rig to sail by and do the drilling.

Anyway, (i'm trying to keep this as simple as i can!), on an oil platform, the wells that produce the black stuff are fitted into 'well slots' that sit on the platform. Imagine that the wells are like drinking straws and you've got..about 20 of them. Now if you've ever put 30 drinking straws in a pint glass, they tend to go everywhere and they don't poke out at the right place. So If you can poke them through a Styrofoam rectangular piece, then the straws can be ordered in a nice neat manner. Refer to diagram A below:



So, this 'styrofoam piece' I'm referring to is like the well slots on the platform. Each slot is about 4 feet wide and they are a fair distance from each other, so the well slots take up loads of space.

Now as the oil field ages, we need to drill more and more wells to get to the undrained bits of the reservoir. We can either:

1. Drill a sidetrack - which means use an existing well to begin with but then drill a different direction from the original well, so it'll look like a drinking straw with two bottoms sucking up beer from two different areas


2. Re complete the existing wells: do some 'well work' to clean up these old wells to make then run smoothly and better again


3. Drill more new wells.

In this specific case, they decided to go with option 3 and drill more wells. However, to do so, they needed more well slots. Well slots are huge, however, and there isn't enough space on a platform, and building large cantilevers (bits that attach on the sides of the platform to make it bigger) are really expensive and are heavy, which might stress the foundations of the platform.

So the good folks on Magnus decided to put two wells into one well slot, which meant that they would save a ton of space and also, money.

They also executed the idea successfully and without hurting anyone (remember that working offshore with huge bits of equipment and steel isn't a safest or easiest of places) and they hence they started boasting about it.

A month and a bit ago, the Magnus team set up a little 'fete' in the atrium of our building and set up a couple of games and activities to play during our lunch hour, to celebrate their success as well as teach us non Magnus people what they were congratulating themselves about. They had a theme of 'Two is better than One' and all the games were meant to be played in pairs.

When i found out that the prize of this game was the TANDEM BIKE, i called Pman straight away and dragged him from his office to play with me.

We played so hard, assembling jigsaw puzzles together, listening to 22 tunes and identifying them, building schematics of the well slots with little rubber connectors and glass pipes.. and cycled on the stationary tandem for 2 minutes to get the longest distance! I was desperate to win, and I'm glad to say, we did!

Sorry about forcing you to learn about slot splitters on Magnus, it was the only way.

We took the bike out for another spin today. It was so fun! My bum still hurts from yesterday but i wasn't too tired as i think the 2 years of pre-wedding aerobics classes actually did the trick. We ran more errands today and went to the beach for some ice cream. We named the tandem, Thor. We chose a Viking name since the bike is of the 'Viking' make and he is aptly the God of Thunderstorms (given Aberdeen's great weather conditions).



More stuff about engineering on oil fields are here.

For the past year and a half we've either been wedding planning or having weddings. Now that both parties are over, we've tried to go back to normal life. The wee cottage we live in needs some investment, after 2 years of benign neglect. It's time to shake it all up!

Like all grown-ups do, we tried to start anew, using our possessions as a guide. We had received so many cool wedding presents, like our automatic vacuum cleaner that increased our standard of living, to our coffee machine, crystal wine goblets, Wii, etc etc.... So we (tried) to declutter, gave loads of things away to charity and replaced our Ikea togs with nice grown-up things. I'm still trying to live with less stuff so the CD shelf is next on the cutting floor. Then we replaced Pman's car with a cute sports car because i thought: we're young, we have no children and we better get it now before it's too late! We built Marbles a new floor to ceiling climbing post, which she likes (but will never replace her desire to play fetch with real humans) and we're considering how to fit the bubble chair that the Irish lads sent us into the living room. Sacrifices need to be made.




We did other little things like replace the towels in the bathroom - which previously was a random collection of towels Pman and I had bought when we were students- with plush green matching sets from John Lewis (thanks again folks for the vouchers!). We built a bench to go under the dining room table and got rid of the non matching beech chairs that i had brought with me from London when i moved in 2005.

We're nesting, consolidating and trying to start our grown up life with routine and measured happiness. Oh yes, did i mention that I have started golf lessons because Pman's idea is that we should be able to play sport together and heaven knows i shall never attempt rugby and roller blading again?

We had managed to get a kitchen company to fit our new kitchen whilst we were in Singapore for our second wedding and honeymoon. Our kitchen was always a source of slight irritation. Slight because it was 'new' when we had moved in, but it was an irritating DIY job and everything was just a little bit wrong as it wasn't done professionally. The previous owners were also cheapskates and it showed by the crappy appliances (the oven took 20 mins to heat up), the too small basin and their refusal to accommodate a dishwasher into the plan...or an extractor fan!



Here is our new kitchen! Induction hob (it's electric, but it acts like gas and it's awesome), self cleaning oven, 1.5 basins, granite tops and a house for the dishwasher. Loads of cupboards so everything is easily accessible, soft close everything, drawers that close smoothly without banging into other drawers (fecking DIY job!) and a rotating shelf in the upper corner cupboard so that all my spices are readily available!



I'm soo thrilled!

Oh yes, and a fab present from swingdemon, thank you! It's so gorgeous and it's now above the couch.



Next stop for home improvements : garden and shed!
---
The other thing that a newly-wed considers is how to live her life now that 'happily ever after' has arrived. Before the weddings, i was wedding planning day and night and going to the gym 4 times a week. That sort of lifestyle is not sustainable but i don't want to get fat. So what kind of stuff can we do as a couple which keeps us fit and helps us spend more time together?

We're decided to do alot more dancing together and had a lovely time in Dunfermline with the Edinburgh dancers. They were so hospitable and friendly to us Northern folks. Pman was thrilled as the level of dancing wasn't that great so he wasn't too intimidated, and i was just filled with pride as he swung me (and other girls) out on the dancefloor all night, with only 30% of the song consisting of made up moves.

The other thing that we did together was cycle. When i first moved to Scotland, i swore i would cycle everywhere. However, i didn't as i wasn't fit enough, it really hurt and i was terrified! However, this summer i changed. I don't know what happened. Pman dusted off my bike and he took me cycling around town. He taught me the tips and tricks to survive and we enjoyed the long summer nights on our bikes, visiting friends and such. Today was a first for me. I actually took Mauve out and ran errands all day with her, and i survived! I cycled in the bus lanes, didn't scream when the buses started tailgating me, found all the bike racks and i didn't fall off my bike... not even once!

Cycling as a mode of transport is awesome.. it's between walking and driving. If you're sick of the speed, you can jump off and wheel it around as a pedestrian. You really see a city better when you're on a bike. Everything moves more slowly and you're more in tune with the city. And there is unavoidable eye contact with the kids walking down the street which i normally avoid with the earphones in my ears, my head down and those hands in my pockets when i walk.

Aberdeen is also pretty good for biking because it's not very rainy but it's always cool, so i would exert myself and have a glow, but not sweat buckets like i normally would in warmer climes. Everything in this temperate climate suits biking. We also won a tandem bike in a competition and we took the bike out for a spin tonight and it was SO FUN! Definitely great for us newly-weds. It was perfect for us to bond, to cycle in time with each other and to enjoy our rides together. It was easy too, two is better than one and the hills were not very daunting when we were cooperating!

So Tandem and teamwork are IN!