House Hunting

Yep, we're doing house hunting now and I know it's not a wise thing to buy any property now but RY is in the mood to house hunt.

Yesterday, we saw a small landed property in Thomson and was rather tempted to commit.
The owner - a couple with 2 kids, are expecting another baby so they've decided to move to a bigger house.
They also have a pair of Siberian Husky and Chinchila.

The house is cosy and nice.
It gives a nice feeling with children and doggies running around.

I know RY is very keen to make the offer and I'm the stumbling block since I didnt agree with the purchase.
I may be out-of-job soon (I'm contemplating to leave my current job) and single source income is dangerous to support a $1+++M property committment.

RY wants to fulfil my dream of keeping a big dog in our house but our current apartment is too small to have such a big dog.

I've a feling that we may buy that house ..........

The thought of the loan committment freak me out ..........

Mid-cycle Bleeding Again!

This is my 2nd mid-cycle bleeding ....... the spotting started yesterday and today there's still light flow .........
Oh my mens came on 9 July so today is CD17.

I'm not sure what's wrong but could be due to the trip to USA which may've stressed by body!

I've done some reseach on mid-cycle bleeding and found this quite clear in the explanations.

http://www.targetwoman.com/articles/mid-cycle-bleeding.html

Spotting or bleeding is very common among menstruating women; almost all women report of a spotting incident during some point in their cycle. Bleeding or spotting could occur just after the full bleeding period or just before a full bleeding period is expected, or in between the cycle. Many a time's bleeding or spotting in between cycles is considered as a normal phenomenon. But it could also be an important indication to some major or small problem with the uterus. Check out the ramifications of mid cycle bleeding. What is mid cycle spotting ?


What is mid cycle bleeding?
Mid cycle bleeding can be defined as bleeding from the cervix, perineum or vagina that is severe and occurring between anticipated periods. It is also referred to as acute bleeding, bleeding between periods, intermenstrual bleeding or vaginal bleeding between periods.

Mid cycle bleeding usually happens 10-16 days after the last menstruation period. The bleeding is usually very little and can last from 12 to 72 hours. If the bleeding is heavy during this time, you must contact your physician for more information on the same.

Mid cycle bleeding happens in almost 30% of the women and is thought of as normal. A sudden increase and fall in the estrogen level during the ovulation period weakens the endometrium thus causing the bleeding. This is considered normal and the patients are usually given estrogen supplements. The most common cause for mid cycle bleeding in a healthy woman is attributed to the change in estrogen levels in the body. Mid cycle bleeding can also occur in women who have some other problems and in such cases the bleeding is a little too heavy when compared. There are two types of mid cycle bleeding:

Intermenstrual bleeding: Bleeding between two periods.

Metrorrhagia: Irregular bleeding that does not follow a pattern, heavy bleeding is termed as menorrhagia and heavy bleeding during this phase is termed as menometrorrhagia.

Possible causes for mid cycle bleeding
- Hormonal changes in the body
- Low thyroid levels in the body
- Miscarriage
- Intra uterine devices (IUD)
- Starting or stopping oral contraceptives
- Starting or stopping estrogen supplements
- GYN procedures like cervical cauterization or CONE biopsy
- Few types of drugs
- Vaginal infection or injury to the vagina
- Stress

Women experiencing mid cycle bleeding are advised to rest during this period. If some other major problem is causing the bleeding then the physician advices on an appropriate treatment.

Mid cycle spotting?
A small quantity of blood that is passed and is adequate enough to spot your toilet tissue is referred to as spotting. A very small amount of blood is passed out through the vagina, this blood spot can be seen only if the vagina is wiped with a piece of tissue. This spotting does not stain the panty and the mucus is usually pinkish, rusty brown or bright red in color.

Mid cycle spotting occurs ten to fourteen days prior to the commencement of the next cycle and is considered to be normal. Mid cycle spotting is considered to occur during ovulation period and is a normal phenomenon, it is in fact considered as a potential fertility indication. As mid cycle spotting occurs right during the ovulation period it helps in calculating the peak period of fertility. Ovulatory spotting as mid cycle spotting is called helps in determining the exact ovulation period in a woman and in turn helps planning pregnancy.

Possible causes for mid cycle spotting
- When the egg bursts through the follicle bleeding occurs and this blood shows up as spotting.
- During ovulation period, the estrogen level in the body rises and thus forces the uterus to shed a lining which shows up as spotting.
- Certain medications affect menstrual cycles and cause mid cycle spotting.
- Vaginal or cervical infection.
- Any intra uterine devices (IUD) can cause mid cycle spotting.
- Low thyroid functions.
- Severe health problems such as cancer can lead to this condition.
- Birth control pills.
- Uterine fibroids or polyps can also cause mid cycle spotting.

Jet lag?

I'm glad that I didnt have any jet lag when I came back from San Franc.

Before I arrived SG, I've already planned on the "anti-jet lag" strategy and apparently it worked.

Our flight arrived SG on last Sunday noon so when I got home, I kept myself busy unpacking the luggage and had a shower to keep the sleepy bugs away.

I managed to keep myself awake till 5.15pm before I threw in the towel to go to bed to zzzzzzzz.
RY went to bed at 4pm and I left him a message to tell him not to wake me up for dinner as I planned to zzzz till the next morning.

So I slept till the next day 3am to relieve myself from the full bladder and I went back to sleep at 4am and woke up at 6+am to prepare to work.
In total I've in total 12 hours of sleep!

Then on Mon to Wed night, I went to bed about 9pm and had about 9 hrs of sleep daily.

Thanks to the good & sufficient sleeps, I managed to stay awake at work!

The "anti-jet lag" strategy is very simple, basically just need to ensure quality and unbroken sleep during night time!
Back in my frequent Europe biz trip days, I applied this strategy and it always work pretty well.

So next time should you travel to a different time zone, you can follow the same!

Lost 1Kg!

Hurray!
This morning I checked my weight and saw the needle of the weighing scale move towards left ...... yep, I'm 49Kg now!
I was at work last Monday and my colleagues commented that I've lost some weight and I didnt believe them until this morning.


I guess the long walks in San Franc had helped me lost some weight despite the large food intake ........
But I wonder how long I can maintain at 49Kg??
Maybe after few weeks of chicken rice, char kway tiao, fried carrot cake etc, the needle may move towards the right .........

But I do hope that it'll continue to move towards left ......... I just want an additional Kg less (am I too greedy?) ..........
I gotta restict my carbo intake and need to do my regular exercise!

What've I been doing in San Franc for the past few days? (Part 3 - End)

Day 8: 15 July Thurs - Presidio, Pacific Height, SFMOMA & Shopping in Macy's

I've decided to take it really easy on Thursday and do what I feel like doing.
So I took MUNI 30 to Lyon St to Museum of Fine Arts and then take a walk of the Presidio Park (the portion near to Lombard St).

Then took a stroll at Cow Hollow & Union St.

After a short walk around the vincity of Cow Hollow, I got on MUNI 45 to SFMOMA (San Fran Museum of Modern Arts).
I saw some renow paintings.
There was a FOC open air concert near to SFMOMA.
The atmosphere was nice and comfy .......

After all the arts admirations, I went to Macy's to help a friend to get her Coach bag which was not available in Gilroy.

I've selected few items for myself and when I was about to make payment, the sales staff informed that there would be a special One Day Sale in Macy's the next day - Friday, so she suggested that I reserved the items and come back the next day to pay for them.

I got back to hotel at about 9pm to pack the luggage as we gotta check out on Friday night to catch Sat 1am flight back to SG.

The packing was tiring and only complete at 12 mid-night.

Day 9: 16 July Fri - Winery Tour, Santa Cruise & Shopping in Macy's

RY's boss was kind enough to invite me to tag along with them to their team building activity - Winery Tour and Santa Cruise.

The drive to the winery venue was 2 hours and we did some team building games there and had lunch there too.

After the team building, we proceeded to Santa Cruise for some Roller Coster rides and walk along the beach.

We managed to get back to SF before 7pm.

So we quickly rushed to do last min shopping in Macy's to pick up the reserved items.
I also picked up additional bag, so we only get to eat dinner at 8.30pm.
By the time we got back to hotel was 9.15pm and we quickly shower and pack-up to check-out from the hotel by 10.30pm.

Day 10: 17 July Sat - Plane

On the plane on our way flying home.

Day 11: 18 July Sun - Home Sweet Home

Well we arrived SG about 11.45am today and we reached home about 1.30pm.
I unpacked my luggage and RY did partial laundry and he's zzzz now\, while I'm sitting in the living home typing this blog.
I'm avoiding the nap now so that I can sleep better tonight to recover from the jet lag as tomorrow is a working day!

What've I been doing in San Franc for the past few days? (Part 2)

Day 7: 14 July - Civic Center, Golden Gate Park & Shopping

This morning I took a stroll to Civic Centre and City Hall.
I happened to walk to the local Pasar Malam in Civic Centre area.
It was interesting as there were fresh products (flowers, fruits, nuts, mushrooms, vegs, seafood & live chicken etc) on sale by the road side.

Yes, "live chickens" were on sale at the open air market which according to a "animal activist" (I guess he's from PETA), it is illegal in San Franc since the chickens were not housed in a proper cage (to ensure faces not contaminate the live stock) and water not given etc.

I've spent quite some time outside/inside the City Hall admiring the structure of this old building.

Next I took MUNI 6 to Haight street to get to Buena Vista Park and then took a stroll along Haight street to enjoy the "liberal" feel of the city.

I just kept walking towards Golden Gate Park to enjoy the fresh air and greens in the park.
Had my picnic lunch at the Flower Conservatory then walk to Japanese Garden.

After the nature appreciation, I took MUNI 5 to Market St to q up for the Cable Car ride to Fisherman Wharf.
Then took the cable car back in the reverse direction to Market St.

RY's colleague had given him a shopping list to complete (baby anti-diaper rash cream & American brand of toiletries which we cant get in SG etc.
So I did some shopping in Walgreens.

To continue.

What've I been doing in San Franc for the past few days? (Part I)

Day 1: 8 July Thurs - Arrival
We arrived San Franc Airport (SFO) on 8 July 8.20pm via SQ2.
The flight was fine despite the 1 hr transit in HK that made everybody get out and then q up for the security check to re-board the plane before heading to SFO.

RY & myself cleared the immigration together and get our finger prints and eye ball scanned.
But at the custom, we were randomly selected to do the detailed custom check.
We were held up at the custom since they cant locate if RY's "confirm check-in" in their system.
So we were brought to immigration counter to check witht the officer that cleared our entry, and after 15 mins of waiting, it was confirmed that he already did "confirm in".
Then we gotta go back to the custom to get his entry clear.
We'd waited for 45 mins and RY was not very pleased so he became rather impatient.
I tried to clam him down for fear that the officer may delay us further if they picked on us.
Finally they cleared us after almost an hour and we took a cab to Stamford Court Renaisance in Nob Hill for our 3 nights of hotel stay (we'll then move out to stay in RY's company pre-booked hotel in Union Sq - Hotel Nikko).
Due to my frequent travels in my previous job, I'd clocked up good points to redeem free stay with Marriott chain of hotel.

Day 2: 9 July Fri - Yosemite Park Tour
We've pre-booked Yosemite Park Tour with Extranomical Tour @USD139 per pax,
The Tour bus picked us up at 6am on Fri morning for the tour.
The drive to Yosemite was 4 hours but a really scenic one!
We saw El Capitan, Half Dome, Cathedral, Yosemite Falls, Ribbon Falls etc
We packed sandwich & sushi for lunch during the toilet stop at the tour guide's recommendation since this would give us more time to do sight seeing then to have a sit-down lunch in the Yosemite restaurant.
We chose a really scenic spot over looking the intersection of the Yosemite & Ribbon Falls for our picnic......
The view was awesome!
The tour also brought us to see Giant Sequoias - a really Giantic Tree!
On our way back to San Franc, we packed Taco Bell for dinner since the guide warned us that we'll only be able to get back to SF at about 9pm.

For info on Yosemite, pls go to this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_National_Park

Day 3: 10 July Sat - Gilroy Shopping
We started the day by walking to O'Farell street to collect our rental car.
The q was really long and we only managed to drive off at about 10am and arrive Gilroy at about 11.30am.
The facotry outlet is so hugh that it's not recommeded to walk since building A, B, C & D are not very assessible without a car .......
Things are really cheaper in US for the American Brand like Polo Ralph, Coach, Calvin Klein etc .......
I didnt manage to cover all the shops since RY got a last min invitation from his US boss to have dinner at his place, so we left early at about 6pm.

RY had too much wine and he forgot that we're in San Franc which is long drive back to hotel (about 2 hrs), unlike SG where the drive home is less then half hour.
He tried really hard to stay awake during the drive and I'd to constantly check on him so that he wont fall asleep ........

Thank god we got back to hotel safe & sound.

Day 4: 11 July Sun - F&E Dive Around
We started the day by walking to Chinatown for Dim Sum breakfast.
The quality was pretty good and we'd Char Siew bun, har kow & beancurd roll.
We then walk around the Russian town, visited Fairmont Hotel, Grace Cathedral etc and then check-out of the hotel to check into Hotel Nikko.

We then drove off to Golden Gate Bridge.
It was very windy & freaking cold there.

Next was Mauir Woods and we stopped by Mauir Beach point to experience the chill of the decending fog.
The drive to Mauir Woods was really scary since the road was winding as we were climbing up the mountains and driving thru the valleys ..........
As we've been used to SG's right hand drive, our eye line tend to fix to the right which make us align the car to the right (USA is left hand drive).
Imagine, we were driving along the cliff with no fence to prevent the car from sliding down and if we were to align too far right, we may fall off ..........

Then we drove to Stinson Beach for a picnic (we've brought potato chips & cherries).
The ang mohs (causians) were very brave.
It was so windy and cold and yet they were in bikinis and swimming trunks sun tanning, swimming and surfing ......

Later we went to find a restaurant for clam chowder & fish & chips for late lunch.
We joined the crowd cheering for Spain as they won their 1st goal in FIFA World Cup Final.
We then drove back to San Franc to return the rental car.

We took our shower then walk to Cheesecake Factory for our dinner.
As the q was terribily long, we gave up (our q would be 9pm slot) and instead went to a Thai place for beef noodle soup.
After dinner, we head back to Cheesecake Factory to tah pau (take away) a slice of cheesecake to eat in the hotel room.
The cake was really yummy!

Day 5: 12 July Mon - Fisherman Wharf
RY gotta work so I'm left alone the next few days to do my own thing.

I started of by walking to Fisherman Wharf Pier 39 to get my SF City Pass @ USD64.
I get to go to 5 sight seeing spot and free MUNI rides.

I started by going for the 11.30am Bay Cruise.
It sailed underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and passed-by Alcatraz.
I also saw the sea lions docking comfortably in Pier 39.
Then I went to Aquarium by the Bay.

I did some window shopping, then Tah Pau In-Out Burger for my dinner.
I decided to walk to Lambard Street to look at the World's Crokedest Street.
It's really amazing to see those car driving along this steep & twisting/ turning street.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombard_Street_(San_Francisco)

Too tired and cant lift up my foot walking anymore, so I took a cable car at the Lombard St to head back to Hotel.
The SF City Pass allows free access on all MUNI transports for a good 7 days!

Day 6: 13 July Tue - Califonia Academy of Science & De Young Museum

I took MUNI No.. 5 from Market Street to get to the Golden Gate Park to access Califonia Academy of Science then to De Young Museum.

The Califonia Academy of Science is equivalent to our SG's Science Centre except that it's more interesting with live animals display.

The De Young Museum's collection of arts were great and unfortunately I was too tired to appreciate the arts.
I hurried to get back to hotel as I was meeting RY for dinner.

We went to Califonia Pizza Kitchen at Market St for dinner.


To continue.

San Franc, here I come!

I just got my luggage packed and all ready to go to airport for my San Franc flight which is taking off at 5.50pm ........

Well RY wants to go early at about 1pm so that we can do some shopping in DFS and relax in the airport lounge ........

I've done some reading and roughly know what I wanna do but I dont wanna stress myself so wont push myself too hard to cover many tourist spots within the 10 days there .........

Next Mon till Fri, while RY is working hard in the office/ conference, I'll be roaming around San Franc by myself .........
I'll play by ear and just do what I like .........

I hope that I wont spend too much $$$ in view of possible self-imposed early retirement should I decide to resign without a job .........

Happiness can be really Simple

This morning, RY brought me to the nature park for a walk in the rain and then we proceed to pick-up mum & sis to Telok Blangah for the famous Lor Mee for breakfast.

Then we brought mum to the temple near in Telok Blangah - 东狱大帝庙. It's located in Bukit Purmei (Near telok blangah). The main god is 东狱大帝.



We've been visiting this temple since I was little, cant remember the exact age.

While driving off from the temple, we saw the sign that says "Mt Faber" and RY decided to drive thru since it has been so long since we last visited Mt Faber (for me is about 10 years) ......

We stopped by a scenic spot over looking the sea and the new construction works.

We were all so happy when we got home!

Happiness can be really simple and you dont need costly meals or go to expensvie places .........
Just to be able to spend time with the loved ones is the BEST experience!

Break-out!

Help!
I've serious break-out and the zips are along my chin ........ it's so unsightly!
I'm going to San Franc looking so horrible!!

I went to do facial yesterday and my beautician commented that I must be very stressed up recently and she tsaid I've digestion issue since there're many zips along my chin.
I told her she was right as I've been stressed up by work due to the pushing back of the back office function to me and I've gastric pain for about 1 month already.

The sign of indigestion is shown on my face and I hope it can be cured asap in view of the San Franc trip this coming Thursday ........

I know I should try to calm myself down and not worry so much.
But this is difficult since colleagues from the Manila back office is leaving one after another and the recruitment is not able to catch up with the brain drain ..........

I think I need to make a decision fast whether to leave this current job or endure due to the high salary & big corner office.
But I cant lead a life full of fear and stress!
So I gotta think carefully ...........

Stress over Work?

I think I must be stressed since I've gastric pain for almost a month.

The stress is not from TTC since I've already decided to take a break from it and not force things.

The stress must be work related.

My company had outsourced the back office function to our Manila office and many staff were retrenched in 2009 during the economy downturn.
In fact the the Manila shared service office was set up many years ago to prepare for the "mass retrenchment".

All I can say is that the shared service was not ready and the move to Manila was too hasty.
The structure was badly set up and has made the fellow Manila colleagues endured terrible long hours, which subsequently lead to high staff turnover.
The previous HOD of the Manila office was an Australian guy and he had tried his best to keep things going despite the limitations.  Despite the limited resources he had (due to high staff turnover), he still tried to ensure the tasks & responsibilities transferred to the back office being completed and not affect the operation units (like the one I'm working).

Sad to say that he gave up about 9 months ago and a replacement of India nationality was found. (note:  this is not a racist post, I'm just putting down facts).
The new guy is very different from his predecessor since his approach is to push all work that the shared service centre cant handle (due to lack of staff) to operation units which already have nobody in the office to perform the back office funtion.

I'm very stressed!
I'm the so called HOD of the the already defunct back office function, so I faced a lot of pressure from the Indian colleague for trying his luck to push all the work back to ME who has Zero staff in my dept.

From what we (fellow operation units colleagues who are in the same position as me), this Indian colleagues is very busy but he's just busy trying to think of ways to push work back to operation units so that he get less things to manage.

The operation units pay monthly management fee for the use of the shared service centre but we're not getting the value .......... we were forced to retrench our staff since we were told all back office functions to be carried out by the shared service in Manila.
But now they want to push the function back here with no headcount given to us ........

I am STRESS!
Time to think of getting another job!!

Excuse me, there're Kar Zar in the Dim Sum!

Today was the death anniversary of my granny.
So this morning we brought mum and sis & family to the River Valley temple to pray to the late granny and later went to our favouraite restaurant for dim sum breakfast.

This restaurant has been around for about 50 years and mention its name to local Singaporean, they'll know since its a famous dim sum place.

Sad to say that we found 2 baby kar zar stuck to the char siew bun skin.
(Cockroach in cantonese is kar zar).


Apparently it got steamed & cooked with the bun and stuck onto it.

The restaurant tried to appease us by giving us 2 plates of egg tart FOC and didnt charge the tea cover for 6 paxs.

Well, we didnt wanna cause a big hoo ha and just leave after our meal .......


If we really lodge a complain, I think the restauran willl be punished by MOE and the worker may be jobless & loss of income for a few months.

Just hope that they buck up on their hygiene!

Is Justice Coming Near?

I saw this headline this morning:  Ionescu trial in Romania
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_548193.html

I hope he'll get the fair justice for the terrible accident he'd caused in Dec last year!