Last day in International SOS!

The post title may have mislead you that I have left International SOS... which is not the intention. I have been thinking what is the best title for this post, and this is the best I can think of. Well, it is the 'last day' for Eunice and Joanne, both 'leaving' on different reasons. Why did I add a '...'? This is coz they are not actually departing the company for greener pastures. Both of them are still with the company. Eunice is leaving Singapore headquarters to take up a new role in Beijing (relocate), while Joanne is leaving to get herself ready for delivery! Both are 'leaving' for good reasons. Wouldn't this cause for a celebration? For Eunice, Diana and I bought a little gift for her, wishing her all the best in her new challenge in Beijing. It's a pink boots-shaped luggage tag and a pretty pink delicate name card case. Both we thought suits Eunice very well. She is such a 'delicate and petite' lady, pink suits her best. As a department, a farewell lunch is a must! Hendrik hosts a lunch at Raffles Hotel-Long Bar Steakhouse... and gosh! we all had a hearty meal. Coincidentally, it was Secretary Week's and each lady was given a token (Molton Brown shower gel and cream) from the restaurant. For Joanne, we didnt really celebrate, but we did have a nice and enjoyment meal at MOF. Joanne and I had the same... Tan tan ramien, tempura hand roll and we shared a chief choice desert! Another hearty meal for this week! Haiz.... have to start going on a lighter meal next week (in compensation for this week's big meal'.

A Birthday celebration at SUN

The colleagues had been talking about SUN restaurant. Despite the 30% discount that sounded attractive, they mentioned the food was delicious which tempted me to try. I have been thinking of a dinner venue to celebrate Jeremy's birthday, now SUN will be one of my options besides MOF. Much of a curious, I have no objections when the ladies suggest a to have lunch there. Indeed, the environment and menu does looks attractive. I had a tough time deciding what to order. The food appears to be delicious with beautiful garnishing. I had a hearty satisfactory meal! Decided! SUN will be my dinner treat for Jeremy's Birthday. To be able to enjoy the discount, I set the celebration date a week earlier from Jeremy's actual birth date (22 March). Ashley was excited when the day came... it happened that she saw a commercial about CHJMES and I highlighted to her that we will be dinning there on daddy's birthday celebration. I was me who instill the excitement in her. haha! Cieran on the other hand, knows nothing about a nice meal awaiting for him. The evening turn out to be a good one with nice cool weather (rain had stopped). It's been many years since Jeremy & I visited CHJMES. Somehow, it reflects back our memories when we are in CHJMES during our courtship times. Now, we brought with us 2 lovely children with us. This feeling is fabulous. The structure of the building remains while our lives changes over the years. It delighted me to see my kids running around the place, having fun. I cant helped taking photos to capture all the wonderful moments, not forgetting a must to have a family photo! At the restaurant, Ashley immediately knows what she wants-udon was her favourite! We ordered quite a sumptuous meal for the family. We have a mango sushi, Chawanmushi, Ebi Udon, Grilled Katsu Set and Teriyaki Set. The kids especially enjoyed their meal very much. Though Cieran had his, he enjoys eating again with us (as usual). After the dinner, we ordered a green tea ice-cream to share. Both kids were trilled over the dessert. We didn't spend as much as I expected. The whole meal cost less than $55. Thanks to the 30% discount on their 30th anniversary (which ends this day). We sure will come again...during their 'discount period'. :-)

Arrival of Baby Chloe - Valerie's Little Princess

12 March 2009, arrival of baby Chole! Received a short email from Aixin that Valerie had given birth. So exciting! Immediately, I send a sms (instead of calling... mummy needs rest mah) to Val to congratulate her new born. Following will be LCS-ing the ladies, asking if anyone is keen to pay a visit at East Shore hospital next day. Haiz... response wasn't over-whelming as I expected. I suppose, I am the only one 'more free' at work. Hahaha... Joan's reply was " I don't know how to carry a baby"... Phyllis's was "Don't think I can leave office, quite busy". Unfortunately Joanne is on leave, otherwise, I believed she will be keen to join me. Nonetheless, I found a interested party-Geneve. :-) Eventually, we made arrangement that rain or shine, we will meet at lobby over lunch hours for East Shore. The morning, I was browsing for the right gift for mum and baby. I can't wait to see little Chloe. It was pouring heavily.. but the excitement to see the little princess overcome the challenge of 'wet journey'. Very luckily, we managed to flag a taxi without much delay of time from the rain. I wasn't aware that East Shore is so closed to Bon's condo...and the outlook had changed so much-for the better! The last time I came visiting was 7 years ago-Suhainah's new born. Time flies.....!!! Geneve and I bought our lunch from Delifrance express at the lobby and went straight up to the ward. Val was breastfeeding when we arrived, thus we munch on our bread while she's busy attending to chloe's feed. We waited not too long to finally see the beautiful little Chloe. My 1st impression : She looks exactly like Val!!! I am never good at judging, but this is a exact mould to her mum. Geneve agrees with me... next, both of us are busy taking photos of the little princess. Of course, chat with Val also.. finding out how her birth took place... the usual mummy's talk. :-p We spent about 2 hours (I think) at the ward, before we headed back to office. As it was a Friday, there weren't much mood to work...(opps!) Instead, I am spending time downloading the photos to share with the ladies. (shhhhh... dont tell boss!)

Congratulations Valerie... & Brandon to your new born!

A "BUDGET yet LUXURY" Lunch??!!

The usual lunch khakis came out with this idea... We love Lei Garden dim sum, but the cost of dim sum is on the 'high end' in comparison to most restaurants. So, we agreed that we will just eat on a budget of $20 each. Joanne was appointed to be the 'finance controller' to monitor this budget, making sure that we will not order exceeding this set amount. We had great laughs over this agreement and yes.. we set a date and go for our 'budget yet luxury' lunch. The date was set on a Fri.. with the weekend mood. We stepped in Lei Gardens with great pleasure and truly enjoyed the dim sums. Of course, not forgetting to keep closed eye on the price each time we placed a dim sum order. Though we have this limitations, but we had lots of fun with it. Upon asking for the bill, we all played a guessing game... to see who guess the closest to the actual bill amount. Result is... Miss P! A pity no one favour taking up the challenge I've proposed. (closest to the bill amount will not have to pay). Otherwise, Phyllis will have a free meal!

Congratulations! We made it a luxury lunch within budget!!! :-D