2 cups of aloe vera yoghurt + cheap China blender + one big mango = very satisfying cafe style mango smoothie : )

Recent things that I'm inexplicably drawn to

Chicken feet

Crime series like The Closer, Law and Order: SVU, Monk

Wearing skirts

bad thing about getting a laptop at work

...is not having a CPU under the table to rest your legs on.

Feeling very disco-ey today wearing silver flats and blue stockings : )

First visitor for Chinese New Year

Edit: Pigeon died, sigh.

A pigeon is now resting in the corner of the kitchen in my parent's house, it is a little hurt as he's sitting kind of lopsided. We are feeding him water, some raw rice and lettuce.

I found him on the walkway outside our house and was pleasantly surprised it allowed me to carry it in with little resistance. But I was more taken aback at my dad who would usually complain about all my pets, I actually had to confirm three times that he agreed to carry the pigeon in to let it heal.

Love and healing to start Chinese New Year, good omens.

Dance for warmth

Dance Dance Revolution swept throught the ah beng and ah lian community like a storm. It was what they were all waiting for to show their dance talents. I had always secretly admired them dancing in coordination twirling their hands in the air with purpose and feet like Gene Kelly; except this will be probably how looked as he danced away from the fashion police.

Well, in secondary school I never had the self-confidence to try such a game.

Now, times have changed.

I borrowed mats my colleague's bought from Taobao (淘宝), downloaded Step Mania and Voila! DL and I spent the last two weekends swaying and John Travolt-ing to Ace of Base's All that She Wants and Kylie's Locomotion. It left us panting and gasping and tired calves; but definitely warmer than before.

Warm and fun beats miserable and cold!

Smoke and strawberries

It is now so cold that you see 'smoke' coming out from your nostrils. For the two years I have been in Shanghai, this must be the most wicked winter - snow has already invited itself three times (not that heavy though).

Strawberries on the other hand, fluorish with pride with their sweet taste while we are languishing like icicles.

Unphotographable in Shanghai

Trying to avoid bumping into little dwarf people (children) as they cross the road in front of you, forming a human barricade. Then having a little girl notice that you both have stopped for them and saying in cheery english with her toothy smile "sorry!" (after being delightfully observant that your partner is angmoh).

***

After watching a movie for 150min and while leaving the cinema, realising that one seat away; a rather largish ginger coloured cat had been stuffed into a canvas bag that barely fit it.

Cruel and unusual.

A week that names days

Got this in a company email informing us about holidays in Philippines.

April 5 – Maundy Thursday
April 6 – Good Friday
April 7 – Black Saturday
April 8 – Easter Sunday

Comes as a coincidence as I have been naming my days too! Finally Friday, Frisky Friday, Wild Wednesday, Hump Wednesday, Terrible Tuesday, Moody Mondays...just to name a few.

UPDATE!
Wednesday is often referred to as "hump day" because of its position as the middle day of the work week. If the work week were a hill. Then Wednesday would be the crest. It is all down hill from there. (Whether the down hill ride is a coast or a descent into a swamp is left to the individual.)

More information on hump wednesday can be found here.

Haven´t had time to go back to my apartment to grab anything Spring savvy. Going to feel silly walking around in my winter coat when everyone is sporting lighter coats in exchange for the warmer weather.

Something strange about me

There was a niggering feeling that something was just not right as I ordered my usual sausage Mcmuffin with warm ginger honey tea. Only as I bit into the soft buns did I realise in my horror that they are NOT the mcmuffin muffins! Being such a creature of habit, things like these just escape my notice most of the time. As much as trying new things scare and excite at the same time, the same Clementi popiah can be eaten with great unwavering gusto for a whole month or more; with no signs of abandonment.

Been having dreams of ...

...translucent, all-mighty powerful military men who now use their powers to capture dangerous sharp-teeth baring fish (delicious though!) for the village...

...having a deadline (which I am preparing for a credential meeting in 3 hours and updating my blog now), while at the same time trying to come up with a brilliant salad for a party this weekend...
*note to self: tomato, chilli/mango + coriander tastes mighty fine!

...being so suffocated by a cousin that I shouted at her to leave me alone...
*in real life, there is little familiar feelings from me to her, it jolted me awake and left me a little worried how intense it felt.

***

"I dreamt of giant crabs attacking the city and they were dropping bombs against them."

"Wouldn't they be bbq crabs then?"

(ignoring previous comment) "...it was unsuccessful, so they tried luring them to a building that was a full of flames."

"Wouldn't they be bbq crabs then?"

Surprise

It seems that looking through a tourist's eyes sheds another glow onto Singapore. This time I find myself less likely to kick and scream if fate sends me back here again.

And my mom says I have grown a belly. DL and I CANNOT begin to look like belly twins.

Never caught much of Friends when it first aired back then, but being confined as bacteria girl for the past few days means its my main form entertainment. Thank goodness I'm done with the whole series because it has come to the point that I'm checking out Wiki to casually find out about the cast. Rehab. Rehab.

Me no love washing dishes.

You know it's winter when...

They say if you get Seasonal Affective Disorder you are depressed, sleepy and lose appetite.

1 out of 3 symptoms. I'm still perky from buying my cat ear hoodie shirt and munching on Macau ba kwa & almond cookies. There's no way I have SAD. But boy, am I sleepy.
Alarm. Snooze for 9 min. Alarm. Snooze for 9 min. Alarm. Snooze to infinity.

Working from home and the whole time during the day I can barely concentrate! Or is it due to working on my magical couch (noone is immune to its powers to induce sleep)? hmmmm....

***

It's gonna be a series of fucking cold days ahead hovering around 0 -5 degrees. I only have cold, very cold, fucking cold and fuckity fuck cold. All measured by the degree of how much my parts of my body shrivel. Nipples are cold to very cold. Add frozen fingers are very cold to fucking cold and then followed by aching ears and sniveling & numb nose.

Where am I going by this? Not much except to complain how cold it is. Shanghai must have extremely cold apartments; even very posh ones, because it seems all the women have congregated into Alexander 'atas' gym to celebrate inner-heating by walking around the gym toilet in their birthday suit! Yesterday going for a trial Jurlique moisturizing spa treatment with A has treated me (cannot resist pun!) fulfilling my quota of spotting other women's pubes & boobs. Boobs I don't mind so much, granted mine are smaller but at least they don't look like they're hanging onto the sides. Some just look like Moses parted their cleavage abit too much to the sides. Didn't spot any boobies I really admired even though they were all hanging around me (ARGH, again!). But the pubes....they are just toooo much for me. Fuzzy, springy, bushy, eeeewwww. Go on and call me prudish, but I'm a quick drop towel and pull up panties kind of girl. They just sit around in full glory and sight to blow dry their hair, pat body moisturizer, prep their skin and whatever for ages! Buay tahan.

Murder at 68

Another one bites the dust. I have managed to murder a cactus in the impossiblest of manners - dehydration. Plants are not safe around me.

Cactuses of the world, defy and die!