An Embarrassing Moment

Have you ever had a moment so embarrassing that you wish you could just disappear right there, right then?

I had mine today.

I had been going over five different reports written by our Netherlands and Mexican offices to ensure there was no inconsistency in the way the overlapping transactions were analyzed in the two countries for transfer pricing purposes. For those who know me well, I am more of a math person. I would usually take a longer time to analyze reports than when I am looking at numbers. So after poring through the reports for a few hours, I finally came up with my analysis. Feeling confident that I did a good analysis, I went to the manager for a discussion in a small conference room. I sat beside him.

That’s when the trouble started

GROWWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

My stomach began GROWLING almost immediately.

At first, I could just ignore it and pretend I did not hear anything. Then the sound got louder. After a few more growls, I knew it wasn’t gonna stop any time soon. I tried to conceal the sound by pressing my tummy against the table. Of course, it did not help.

With the sound so loud, I could not concentrate on my discussion at all. It was becoming too distracting. I was sure my manager could hear but was too nice to say anything. I couldn’t think straight at all; all the time thinking of bolting for the door. Somehow the few moments the manager was talking felt like eternity. Then whenever it was my turn to speak, I just babbled my way through. Several times, I wished the floor would just open up and swallow me inside. It was so embarrassing!

Finally, I apologized for the sound my tummy was making as it had become too obvious to disregard it. Then I got a most unusual response. Instead of just laughing it off, my manager said that it was his tummy that was rumbling away and not mine even though it evidently wasn’t his. How kind of him!

After that, my tummy just continued rumbling for the longest time. Funny thing was, the moment the meeting stopped, the growling ceased too. Strange but true. I am sure there wasn’t any butterfly in my stomach as I wasn’t even nervous at all.

What is your most embarrassing moment?

White man Butlers

This is interesting. White men waiters in a Japanese cafe treating female customers as princesses.

Friday night

Just when we thought it was gonna be another boring Friday evening, we got an invitation to join Joel and Elaine to an evening of Disney under the stars.

We've been to Hermann Memorial Park, a mere five to ten minute drive from our apartment, a number of times but we were never there for a performance of any kind. So when we heard that there was to be a free outdoor song and dance performance that night, we immediately jumped at the invite.

We brought our mats (finally making an appearance after we first/last used it during our hike down Grand Canyon two years ago), some fruit, and a few bottles of water. We thought we were well prepared but when we reached there, we saw families with picnic baskets full of food, beverages and fancy cutlery; big blankets as mat for the children to roll on (then again many of the kids were rolling down the grass slope - a sight we seldom see in Singapore); many of them even brought foldable chairs. Young and old, everyone was out to enjoy a relaxing evening together wiith their family.

I remembered going to Fort Canning for Ballet under the stars and the screening of Erin Brockovich in Singapore but we had to pay for the tix. I thought it would be really nice if we were to have such free performances regularly which parents can bring their children to. Not only can the children be exposed to some cultural performances, the parents can spend quality time bonding with their young ones.

Then I began to wonder, even if such performances are available in Singapore, would the parents have the time to bring the children there? By the time the parents knock off from work, it is almost impossible to reach the venue in time especially if they have to pick up the kids. I bet even if they were able to be there on time, they will not be sufficient time to prepare a basket full of home cooked food. I am sure I am gonna miss the relax lifestyle here when I leave Houston for good.

This Disney's When You Wish was performed by a group of children with some adults artistes which probably explains why the performance was not as sleek as the musicals we are so used to watching. The showmanship although good, was not spectacular. When compared to broadway, this is really amatuer. It left me with a strong desire to watch a good musical again. If you were to ask me what kind of music I like, I would probably say songs from musicals are my favorite esp since I don't really listen to any particular genre of music and have never owned a music CD in my life. ha.

Good thing Tim just bought an airtix for me to join him in NYC in August. So a broadway show is not there far in sight! Now, what show should we watch? I was thinking of catching the Phantom of the Opera. The movie was a disappointment. So I never really thought of watching the musical the last two times I was in NYC. But one of our NYC frens says that's the best musical she has ever watched which makes me think twice about not watching. Then again, Zing said that it wasn't really that spectacular.

Well, maybe I will scout around to see what other good musicals are out there before deciding.

P/s: No more rattling sound from my car! Yippee! So how was it fixed? Apparently the irresponsible mechanic that rotated my tires did not screw the bolt tightly. When I brought it to another mechanic to check, all he did was remove the bolt from the tire. So now I have bolt sitting in my glove compartment. Not sure if that has to be screwed back anot. hmmm....

Overheard

I overheard this conversation between a Malaysian female hair dresser prob in her late twenties or early thirties with a Taiwanese boy who is prob in his late teens. The nationality doesn't come into play here. I only mentioned it because they spoke in Mandarin and I have difficulty typing the whole conversation in Chinese (I am not Celia. Bet she must be real good at it now). Anyhow, here's how the conversation goes after translation:

Hairdresser: So long never see you. Have you been busy?

Ah boy: Yes, I have been working. In fact, I just knocked off.

Hairdresser: How would you like me to cut your hair?

Ah Boy: 随便

Hairdresser: Ok.

Ah Boy: Is it very difficult to cut if i say 随便? I heard that hair stylists usually don't like customers to say 随便 cos it will be hard for them to do the haircut.

Hairdresser. No lar. You say 随便 then I just 随便剪 lor.

Ah Boy: Ok.

Hairdresser: Hey, you seem to look fatter than before.

Ah Boy: Is it?

Hairdresser: Yes, you were a little skinnier the other time. Why don't you go on a diet?

Ah Boy: Hmm... I never thought of that before.

Hairdresser: You SHOULD go on a diet. At least now it is not that difficult. If you become fatter, then it will be a lot harder to slim down. I remembered the guy you came with the other time. He came by the other day. He was skinny the first time he came. Now, he too has become fat. Now he looks like you but u are fatter. Really, you SHOULD go on a diet.

Ah boy: ...............

Belize Photos

The photos are up! Check them out on Facebook:

Part 1


Part 2

New Hair Style

Tim has been wanting to go for a haircut for the longest time. So at 5.50pm, he called from his client's place to check if I would wanna pay the salon a visit today. When I caleld to make an appointment, I realized the salon closes at 7pm. Nevertheless, when told that we would not reach until at least 645pm, the hair stylist still readily accepted our reservation. The stylist is not the owner of the store.

I ended up getting a hair dye on top of the haircut. Here's a pic of mynew hair style all for the price of US$45 (excluding tips):



It wasm't until 8pm before we left. There were still a couple of customers around. There wasnt a momemt when I felt that the stylist was trying to rush through the haircut. I don't think we will get that kind of service in Singapore where salons will stay open passed their usual opening hours for their customers. Or maybe the owner of this salon is a slave driver. ha.

Travel thots

Typically, I dont cook on Fridays. Then again, I havent been really cooking for the past 2 months! In any case, Tim and I had a feast at Miyako, a Jap restaurant, yesterday. Since I got back pretty late - 8 pm on a Friday is considered late - because of the farewell party for the manager who is leaving for London, we decided to go for the restaurant's Happy Hour special which started at 9. Every weekday from 9pm to 12midnight, everything on the menu goes for 30% off except for alcohol (which doesn't affect us since we are not into alcohol anyway).

You must be wondering where were Neo and Zing, our friendly neighbors. I bet they are frolicking at some Californian beaches right now! Yes, they are on a vacation AGAIN! This time a two-week Western US tour together with Neo's parents, covering California, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and Yellowstone. Did I say they just got back from Costa Rica and Western Carribean cruise not too long ago?!!

Yes, I know, it really seems like we peeps living in Houston are very free and rich; we are always going on vacations. However, don't forget many a time, our air tix and/or hotels are paid for by our mileage and hotel points. Occassionally, the weekend trips are covered by the company. So we dont really spend that much. Really.

I mean, it is not just us Houstonians who have been doing alot of traveling. Take a look at Xtine and GYC (GYC has watched so many live matches where Liverpool lost. ha,); Wen and Celia (they have been doing quite a bit of traveling between China and HK. heh. Not just that, Celia was in Vietnam for training and even had a chance to meet up with her sis there. I think she is flying to Canada for an engagement - not an engagement party but an audit engagement - this July too! In August, they are flying to Hawaii for their long-awaited honeymoon. Why the US? Well, Celia is considered an US expatriate and so is entitled to home leave passage to anywhere in the States. How cool!); LHP and Eugune (they have been to so many weekend snowboarding trips that they are considered pro now); and Huili (She has tonnes of pics on Facebook altho without Jo the Pro.) too! Singaporeans living overseas tend to go on more holidays as we would want to seize every opportunity to travel around the various cities while we are out here.

I definitely wouldn't want to spend a couple of thousand dolars just to fly back to the US next time when I am back in Singapore just for holiday. Without families and friends here, what better way to keep ourselves entertained during our free time. Weekends trips around the region is so convenient. We dont even have to exchange for another currency (at least those in the US). heh. I am sure, but i certainly hope not, we will not have that many opportunities to travel when we are back in Spore.

Oops, I digressed. I meant to talk about about our dinner at the Jap restaurant only (just changed the title from "Jap food" to "Travel Thots" since the original title is no longer apt). Anyway, Tim and I ordered half a dozen of oysters, one plate of fresh salmon sashimi, some agedashi tofu, one sushi-sashimi-tempura bento set, and a bowl of sukiyaki beef don between us. Oh my god. by the time I finished the appetisers I was almost full. Didn't even fmanage to inishe a quarter of my main course.

So here I am eating the sukiyaki beef don on a lazy Saturday afternoon and happily typing away. Yes, Tim is at work again :( It seems that ever since he turned 29, his luck has been going downhill...He got onto the Brockback Mountain job the very day he turned 29 and hasnt looked back since. I certainly hope his luck doesnt stay this way, if not my happy hubby will soon be very depressed or did I say he already is?

Belize, Central America

We are back from our trip! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves even though there wasn't really much to do there. We stayed in Banana Beach resort on Ambergris Caye, one of the many cayes (islets and islands) around the country.

Here's more facts adding to those I provided some time back in April:

1. Belize's Carribean coast is lined with the second longest coral reef in the world (first being the Great Barrier Reef).

2. The roads, including highways, only have two lanes of opposite directions.

3. Despite what the travel books say, there are still pure-blooded Mayans living in Belize today (According to our tour guide, the Mayan people made up 11% of the country's total population)

4. There are Amish people living in the country (we passed one of the Amish villages on our way to Lamanai. I was surprised to see a few Amish teenagers near the bank of the river).

5 The Belizean dollar is pegged to the US dollars. US$1 : BZ$2. (This doesn't mean the stuff are cheap)

6. The Belizean staple is rice with beans (red kidney beans). It is usually topped with stew chicken, coleslaw and fried plaintain.

7. All the taxis do not have a meter. (Then what's the point of them being called a taxi since any vehicle can pick up passengers which, btw, is the case.It costs us US$5 one way to travel about a mile from our resort to San Pedro, a small town on the Ambergris Caye.)

8. Marie Sharp's habanero pepper sauce is found on almost every dinner table in Belize. The habanero sauce tastes better than Tabasco sauce (ok, that's not a fact. This is at least what Tim thinks. I'm sure Keithy Boi will Not agree.)

9. The national flower is Black Orchid; the national bird is Keel Billed Toucan; the national animal is Tapir; the national tree is Mahogany tree. (All of which we did not see). The national beer is Belikin (which we saw everywhere but did not try).

10. The Belizeans love their rum - they have Rum-garita and rum punch.

Hmm... I shall stop here. Too tired to think of more. Now I am dreading tomorrow with the pile of work waiting for me. Tuesday blue....

Well-travelled manager

One of my managers just came back from a world tour. He took a 6-month sabbatical leave to travel in numerous countries in South America, Europe and Asia. Singapore is, of course, one of the countries.

Having visited Singapore several times, I wouldn't have thought he wil go there again at his own expense. Not only did he prove me wrong, I think he is becoming more like a Singaporean than me. He bought an Apple iBook from Sim Lim! How many tourists go to Sim Lim? Or am I wrong again? He told me he was the only ang mo eating in the food court though.

While in Singapore, he found his all-time favorite restaurant - Crystal Jade Kitchen in Holland V. Mind you, he went to several Crystal Jade restaurants including the high-end ones and those in Hong Kong and Bangkok but found the one in Holland V. serves the best dumplings. Not only were they delicious, they were cheap too. Hmm...I'm missing the xiao long baos!

This manager will be off to London for a one- or is it two-year stint in London this coming week.

On a side note, Tim and I will be off to Belize for the Independence Day weekend. This is the last holiday we've planned for this year thus far. Why do I say thus far? Coz Tim is already planning for the next trip - Eastern Canada in Sept- but it may or may not materialize depending on a BIG decision we have to make together.

More on that when we come back from the trip. Until then, keep guessing!

It's the car again

Hmm....my car seems to be giving off a rattling sound when I drive. The sound is especially loud when I drive slowly. The engine light is not on, the tires look ok, there is nothing dangling from beneath. I wonder what's wrong again. Sigh....