budget airline craze is here! following the liberalization of sg-kl lucrative route is the second in the rank: sg-jkt route. tiger airways is flying to jakarta soon, and air asia starts as early as next month. it even flies direct to bali and yogyakarta. it's having free ticket promotion now, and we've secured our tickets for the next trip home - way in advance. it's $50/pax for return ticket. how could I resist that..

'Our Lady is not some magical being out there somewhere, like a fairy godmother. She's not the statue in the parlor. She's something inside of you. Do you understand what I'm telling you?'

'Our Lady is inside me,' I repeated, not sure I did.

'You have to find a mother inside yourself. We all do. Even if we already have a mother, we still have to find this part of ourselves inside.'

...

'When you're unsure of yourself,' she said, 'when you start pulling back into doubt and small living, she's the one inside saying, "Get up from there and live like the glorious girl you are." She's the power inside you, you understand?'

'And whatever it is that keeps widening your heart, that's Mary, too, not only the power inside you but the love. And when you get down to it, Lily, that's the only purpose grand enough for a human life. Not just to love - but to persist in love.'

(The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd)

went for team lunch this afternoon at lemongrass in siglap area. it was just a normal lunch, really, but it's worth mentioning considering it was the first team lunch I had after more than 2 years working in the company. to be more specific, it was a project team lunch - so it's with users and vendors too. and the boss wasn't there. neither were the two PMs.. *funny*

went to mac ritchie reservoir this morning and walked through the 11km yellow trail. met salamanders, lizards, monkeys, butterflies. unlike last time, I carried enough food with me - bread and some snacks. turned out I wasn't that hungry :p

started quite late on 10am, we reached the open space under the scorching sun. luckily it was cloudy soon after, and rain started to pour after we reached the final destination - the nasi lemak gazebo.

I'm now dead tired.

we're now officially out of smota choirs' psalmist roster. just received a confirmation that from this coming palm sunday onwards, the choir groups will no longer be responsible for psalms and gospel acclamations. I suppose the newly formed psalmist ministry will take charge.

this was in a way our own decision, as we chose not to be included in the training conducted these past few months. we're just being lazy bums, and there was only one available slot left. under the newly implemented regulation, only certified psalmists are allowed to psalm and/or cantor, and they have to also be ready to get called for other liturgies.

it's been about 6 years.

so long, farewell..

i'm furious.

i know one day I'll look back and wonder why it's such a big deal.

a warm welcome to baby Kathleen Isabel Wang, and heartiest congrats to the proud parents :)

ps. puas2in makannya yah, bu.. :p

I always wanted to try bakerzin’s warm chocolate cake, but somehow never really go there to try it out. so this evening we tried the cake at suntec’s branch. but not before pea soup, homemade bread, ham & bacon aglio olio and macarons. they are currently having promotion - $1 for one macaron. curious, we tried it out and liked it. the pink one was sakura flavour and the blue one was blueberry. two or three pieces would be just nice, as they're sweet and creamy. the warm chocolate cake was satisfying, served warm with chocolate sauce oozing out from its center. topped with vanilla ice cream and a mint leaf, it was also decorated with strawberry, blueberry and raspberry. yum!

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just finished another mary higgins clark's suspense novel: all around the town. I guess so far this must be her work that I like best. it is gripping and unputdownable. brilliant. I was practically looking forward to my bus journey to and from office, just so that I had the chance to read the novel.

it is a story about a girl who got kidnapped at a tender age of four and got victimized for two years before she was returned home. 15 years later after she lost her parents, her alter personalities who helped her to cope during troubled times started to come back. she was then accused of murdering her professor, with all sorts of evidences, although she did not have any memory of the crime.

finally baked pineapple tarts this evening. and I made my own pineapple paste, instead of just buying the ready-made as usual. the paste tasted great, although I discounted a few 'inconvenient' items, haha.. it definitely involved more work. and the timer in my oven didn't work properly, therefore the last batches were overcooked.. *sigh*..

tried blue ginger today with a group of friends. it’s one of the shop houses located in tanjong pagar area. since there were 7 of us, we ordered various dishes: duck salad, fish head curry, ngo heong, kangkung lemak, ayam panggang ‘blue ginger’, ayam buah keluak and babi hong, followed by desserts afterwards. the portion was alright, in fact the fish head curry and babi hong were big. my faves were the ayam panggang and ngo heong. the gula melaka dessert was a tad too sweet.

when we arrived, I didn’t understand why my friend made the point to reserve a table earlier, but a while later, it was full house. we were even seated next to archbishop’s table, and I saw my ex-lecturer there as well. wow.

took this personality types test. it says I have an ISTJ (introverted-sensing-thinking-judging)- the examiner personality.

ISTJs are responsible, loyal and hard working. They have an acute sense of right and wrong and work hard at preserving established norms and traditions. Because of their deep sense of duty they are dedicated to everything they do and are very dependable. ISTJs care deeply for those closest to them.

ermm...