Late night webcamming with my godkids

Edited on 5 December:
The trio are heading back to sg for stronger dose of chemo. The docs there proposed that a few days ago instead of to continue with the one they suggested before. Not too sure about the exact details though. We'll have to wait for cyn to come back to fill us in.

Two nights ago, I was talking to cyn over msn about char's cancer progression. It really sucks big time coz char's been so energetic recently that we really thought/hoped that the latest scan results would show some signs of improvement.

Cyn was really devastated. Whenever she looked at how cheerful and active char was, she couldn't understand how the cancer could have gotten worse. It had been a nerve-wracking 3 days while awaiting the docs advice on the next step.

At least there was other advice from the docs at MSKCC other than strong and damaging chemo and so char would be put on that trial for two months to see how she would react to it.

She would be having a minor operation this coming week on the other side of her chest to put a temp line in where a stem cells could be harvested. There would be a tube hanging out from her chest after the op and it scares us just having the thoughts of a tube dangling out. A lot of care has to be taken to ensure her safety at all times.

Later, the kids wanted talk to me on video (we haven't done so for ages!) and so cyn left me to entertain the kids over msn while she got about to do other things. Indeed, it's really tough for a single mother to be looking after 2 kids in a foreign land, shuttling to and fro the hospital and school. She often doesn't have time for herself at all.

Char was wearing her checkered dress. Recently, she seems to be wearing that a lot. Seeing how similar it looked to one of my checkered shirt I got recently, I immediately rushed to my wardrobe and put that on over my t-shirt just to amuse her.

She was rather amused and agreed we should both stand up so that she could see clearly if our outfits were indeed similar.



That's her watching cartoon at the same time talking to me. This young lady could really multi-task!



Telling me about the cartoon



Drinking liang cha (cooling tea)







Soon, it was time for them to attend the Thanksgiving lunch organized by RMH. Cyn and I got to talk for a while.



I find her expression really cute here! It was fortunate she did that for a few seconds and I managed to do a printscreen of it.

Jo: Your expression is sooooo CUTE! I'm so gonna do and printscreen and send this to you!
Cyn: ...



and when she leant over to switch off the webcam, I couldn't help but feel that it was such a sexy pose. *LoLz* My good friend here is such a beautiful mummy even though she had been crying buckets the past few days. Truly, beauty shines from within a good heart.



Hope to catch them at the right moment on msn soon!

Charmaine needs your prayers now. Please pray that her operation would go smoothly and that the trial woud work miracles on her. Thank you!

MY BACK! MY BACK!

Facebook status at midnight:

"Midnight run with the hubby is cancelled due to backache... MINE! =( I've never
experienced such ache before... feels like there's a taut string running down
and connecting my left back, hip, butt, thigh and every move seems like I would
snap the string. Anyone knows what this condition is? So painful that tears
streamed down when the hubby tried to move me."

I feel like Peter Parker in this video:



Alright serious stuff.

My usual nice lady doc said I must have sprained my lower left back such that the muscles are inflamed and pressing against the nerves that go all the way down to the back of my left thigh. It was rather fun feeling my lower back myself. I could feel the right side being soft and flabby while left is tight and much harder. I wouldn't have known this had she not told me.

It was rather embarrassing when she asked me to lie down and she tried bending my right leg, then my left. My left leg could not even go half as much as my right when I started yelping... Seriously yelping. Next, she asked me to roll over to my right side so she could administer further tests on my left. I tried my very best to roll over but couldn't. She decided to stop the test.

I got a 3-day MC to recover.

Yay! coz who doesn't like MC? =D

Boo! coz I have lots of work to clear and those are work that can't be brought home. =(

The hubby had to add to my agony by lauging so loudly. He told the doc that it was the first time I accepted my MC so willingly and not complaining about going back to work coz I couldn't even walk properly and perform simple daily tasks, much less make my way to work.

In the meantime, the evil hubby enjoys pressing all the painful points and hearing me yelp like a helpless puppy.

A Package from ClubCouture

A while back, I received a registered package from the lovely people at ClubCouture.



ClubCouture is an online fashion label that offers contemporary ladies wear in a wide range of fashionable and chic apparel. Unlike blogshops which are sprouting like mushrooms every other minute here on our sunny island Singapore, ClubCouture is a local company which has gone international with the US, UK and Australia under its belt.




What I like about ClubCouture is their range of clothes. Upon browsing their user-friendly site, you would be greeted with an ensemble of elegant evening dresses, sophisticated work attire, dainty dresses, funky streetwear right up to the basic tanks and bottoms. They have really chic accessories too! Whatever your style is, I'm sure you would find something you like at ClubCouture.

I was rather impressed with their packaging. Firstly, the clothes came in a box with the brand name printed on it which I felt was very professional. (For the environmentally-friendly me, I could reuse the sturdy box to store my knick knacks.) Each of the dresses were individually wrapped with tracing paper and additional apparels are packed neatly and separately.

What's in my package?

My choices of 2 lovely dresses -- the monochrome toga and the audrey layered dress kindly sponsored by the lovely people at ClubCouture. Aren't they simply gorgeous?



The audrey layered dress is a soft layered dress in earthy tones which comes with a floral brooch and a braided belt. I really love the layered look so I'm pretty much in love with this dress.





The brooch with its netted and tulle-like layers gives a whimsical feel while the twisted rope design belt consists of 2 separate belts which you could wear in any way you like. I twisted both of them together after the knot as you can see from the picture above. No fraying at the ends of the belt! Me likey!

I recently wore this dress to Char's solemnization earlier this month. (I will write more about it in the November updates.)





The audrey layered dress is still available on their site! So if you like this dress, click on the link to purchase it.

Have I already mentioned that their stocks for popular items run out quite quickly?

To ensure exclusivity, ClubCouture manufactures their clothes in limited numbers. The good of this would be to put your mind at ease of not spotting someone else in the same outfit as you. However, the bad of this would be that THE STOCKS RUN OUT QUITE QUICKLY. Hence, if you spy something you like at ClubCouture, make sure you place your orders swiftly for your sizes may be snapped up in a flash, just like the tunas at Japanese fish auction markets.


I had initially wanted this sexy black number in the form of the pleated one shoulder dress.



This classy little fitted number features a one shoulder neckline with pleated detailing at the shoulder and a hidden side zip. Made from 50% cotton and 50% polyester, the dress would stretch to fit.

There were so many dresses at ClubCouture which I absolutely adore and took some time in narrowing down my choices. When I had finally decided on the pleated one shoulder dress, I realised to my disappointment that my procrastination had led to all the size S being out of stock. Sizes M and L are still available though.


I chose the monochrome toga dress in the end. This lovely dress is already sold out on their site!



This outfit consists of a fitted strapless black dress and a removable white pullover. The inner black tube dress features a sweetheart neckline and a hidden side zip. Similar to the dress above, it is made from 50% cotton and 50% polyester and would stretch to fit. The white pullover features a ruched shoulder.

I haven't worn it out yet as the white pullover looks a little poofy on my smaller frame. I will alter it and update on it as soon as I wear it out the next time so you could see how it looks like. =)

While I sometimes encounter clothes with many loose threads, clothes that don't turn out as depicted in the photos or clothes with not so good quality fabric or stitching on other blogshops, I had no problem with the clothes from ClubCouture at all. Their clothes came almost exactly as depicted on their site and their workmanship is excellent!

Those of you who have been here long enough would know that whenever I do write-ups or reviews, my opinions are always honest and I would only recommend good stuff to my friends and readers alike. =)

Now, I've got a good news for everyone. All my blog readers are entitled to a 15% storewide discount. Just key in the discount code JOLENE15 (all in capz) to enjoy this offer.





ClubCouture has launched their autumn and winter wear. Despite our tropical weather, I really love chic capes, parkas and aviator jackets, don't you love them too? I absolutely adore the trenchcoat with a twist above.

Excuse me now while I continue my online shopping voyeur at ClubCouture.

Unfolding June's Folder

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Octa Hotel after work

I met up with reg babe after work one day at Octa Hotel. It was my first time there as I didn't join her and karen the other time.



Octa Hotel is a misnomer since it isn't a hotel. Instead, it's a cafe cum shop à la Japanese-Parisian fashion.



[Photos courtesy of karen who snapped them the other time]

The place looks so quaint and pretty, it's definitely a cute little hang out for the gals to bond over delightful tea and cakes. Once you set foot in there, you could almost assume the role of an aristocratic lady (or an atas tai tai in local lingo), sipping fine tea from exquisite tea cups and adopting an accent so high class the unseasoned ears cannot discern.

With the atas tai tai in mind, Octa Hotel offers in-house designed apparel, intricate accessories, unique bags, homewares and many others imported from all over Europe in their boutique section.

The menu isn't extensive especially since we were there for dinner instead of tea.



I forgot which main dish belonged to whom for we shared them. The Parisian hotdog looked so good but never judge a hotdog from the way it looked. The taste was alright and the bread was so hard, it was impossible to slice through it with a knife. I kept sawing at it only to penetrate till the crust. Hence, I tried biting bits of bread off, feeling pain in my incisors thereafter. The triangular piece of bread up there was very hard too but at least it was thinner and easier to bite off.

I feedbacked to the staff about the bread and I really hope they do something about it.

reg said the mushroom soup was good the last time she tried but it wasn't as good that evening. The royal milk tea was frothy and creamy. I liked that quite a lot, only that I accidentally added too much sugar.


A parting shot of us




She gave me a belated birthday gift in the form of a comme des garcons T shirt.




While I usually see people clad in the iconic single heart logo T shirt, I actually like the play bird series with black birds which resemble the crow --a bad omen-- leaning a little towards the unconventional which I'm absolutely fond of.

Thank you babe, for knowing my taste!


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The Cellar Door with bei & xtina

xtina wanted to meet us and have a last group photo taken with us before she shaved her head for the Hair for Hope event the following month. We decided to meet up at Vivocity for dinner and bei suggested The Cellar Door.



As its name suggests, The Cellar Door is a supplier of wine and is also one of Singapore’s top cheese and gourmet food wholesalers in addition to having its very own acclaimed restaurant & delicatessen.

We didn't have any wine coz we weren't really in a wine-sipping mood. The food was deliciously healthy. Who says health and taste do not go together?



I lurve the shaved ham and the sauce that drizzled in between. The bread was a tad hard though. After encountering an aching incisor the night before (from devouring the hot dog bun), I wasn't quite ready for another round of bread biting. Have I already mentioned that I've got very weak teeth?

When I feedbacked to the waiter about the bread, bei giggled at me and said the bread was meant to be like that and that I should not have asked them not to toast it too much the next time. But, my teeth seriously could not take it.


My teeth would crumble like dinosaurs' bones after this.




bz bz bei on the phone for work




xtina trying not to look sad




We decided to arrange a lounging and dipping in the pool session at bei's house during the day time for we haven't once been to her place in the day. That would be the very last time we would see her beautiful house for her family would be shifting.



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The impromptu prawning session

One Friday night after work, I checked my hp only to see 2 of my bimbos asking if I was gain to join them for a late night prawning session.

Thinking that the whole jin gang was there, I hurriedly rushed home to change into comfy T-shirt and shorts and scooted off to Hai Bin U Enterprise at Bishan even though I had to work early the next day.

The whole jin gang wasn't there but half of them were, plus two other of gera's frenz who were friendly peeps.

It was a fruitful prawning session. Tiffy caught so many prawns; she was practically casting her line and plucking prawns from the hook every other 5 minutes while jq and I who were flanked on her left and right respectively just stared befuddled at the whole scene.



After that, I got lucky and started catching quite a few. I even caught the biggest one. [Refer to the one with the biggest head in the photo that says "prawn monster".]



From experience, freshwater prawns NEVER EVER tasted good when bbq-ed at the place itself for there was no seasoning available. However, nobody wanted to bring the prawns home so we had to bbq and eat the prawns there and then.

Fortunately for us, someone left a packet of salt by the pit and so we had a fun time "marinating" and cooking the prawns. The prawns were sooooooo good! That was the best bbq freshwater prawns I've ever eaten.


jq always does funny things when we least expect...




The dog there gave birth to a litter of 3 and I managed to "catch" one innocent-looking puppy which could remain still and not appear blurry for the camera to capture w/o flash. I strongly believe in refraining from using flash on animals.


Smiley puppy left its dirty paw print on my thigh





It is obligatory that I post this coz tiffy and gera said I had to announce on my blog that wet tissues are definite life-savers in grimey situations like catching, bbq-ing and eating prawns.




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Father's Day dinner

It's funny how mummies are always pampered on Mother's Day and birthdays but daddies are conveniently forgotten.

My dad is one no frills man. Whenever we want to arrange an elaborate dinner, he would insist on eating zi char at some smokey hawker centres or coffeeshops.

Everyone loves eating zi char so nobody would insist otherwise too. We ate at this place which my parents termed as "Serangoon block 151".



It was such a long wait that every dish tasted delicious due to our sheer hunger. As usual, I would always call the shots for greens and so my favourite dishes are the simple stir fried dou miao with garlic and the broccoli with scallops. Oh, but I do love the toufu minced meat and beans as well as the salted egg crab too.

My dad used to look sleepy-eyed for flash photography so he decided to deal with this by opening his eyes real big and asking whoever's behind the camera if he looked sleepy before snapping. The result was looking like Joker from Batman.

My dad wanted to pose with a thumbs up to say that the food was good so my mum had no choice but to follow suit. *LoLz*



While my 2 sisters didn't wanna join us coz they think it makes no sense taking photos at the "Petwalk" sign.

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1st ever departmental lunch at New York New York

It was the first time the dept was at its biggest and so we requested for permission to have a longer lunch out to hold a farewell lunch of our temporary 小弟 and 小妹 staff.

Sigh... The longer I work here, the greater the age gap between the temp staff and me. The next batch would be born in the 90s! My gawd.




I feel so blessed to have such nice colleagues in the Eng Dept.




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A splashing good time

The long awaited R&R day has finally arrived. I can't believe how we could all meet up on my weekday off! Thanx bei and xtina for arranging your schedule to fit.


Lounging around indoors... being surrounded by water and lush greenery all around really soothes the soul.





Love you gals!




Attempting a quirky arty shot... bleah... failed miserably.




After that, we went to chill on the jetty in the backyard. Only then did I realise that the water was crystal clear and small fishes could be seen darting about the rocks. I guessed we talked and laughed too loudly for the next moment, people opposite came peeking out of their windows. This ang mo set up his deck chair opposite and spied us spying on him.







Time for splashing fun! It was just the 2 of us as bei had to prepare for a dinner event in the evening.





Could you see that it was an infinity edge pool on the other side? It looked like we were swimming in the jetty!






What fun a fallen flower could bring!




bei was all dressed up...



... while we warmed ourselves and got ready to shower




After that, we went our separate ways and I met up with tiffy at vivo for a very belated birthday dinner.


We decided on Marché.




I haven't had Marché in at least 2 years and I miss their rosti and savory crepe. Yes, I know that it's really easy to make rosti but I just wanna eat rosti can? Tiffy recommended their pork knuckles which was supposedly good but I personally don't quite like pork knuckles after taking a few bites of it. For drinks, we ordered root beer for it seems to me that it is almost a ritual to wash your food down with Bundaberg rootbear at Marché.




My camera battery died and the following shots of us were taken using i-phone photo apps


BFF since 7 years old!




She bore an uncanny resemblance to Ah Ya (阿雅) that evening with her hair all tied up.



I know she doesn't like to be called 阿雅 but she's really cute and funny as a host in Guess Guess Guess (我猜我猜我猜猜猜). The show is just different w/o her around.





My reaction when I opened the bag was "WAH! Why you gimme so many things?"




And she said something along the lines of coz I deserved it and that there's no price tag to friendship.

[Tiffy, what exactly was it that you said?]





I lurve how smooth Estee Lauder Perfectionist makes the skin feels.

The coach lanyard is currently strapped around my neck during working hours.

I haven't used the Slatkin & Co Island Margarita as well as the CyberWhite mask but the refreshing lime cocktail scent of the former is currently perfuming my wardrobe unwittingly.


2nd batch of gifts which she gave me the next time we met up after her Japan trip. I think she's really crazy but I do love crazy people.




Outfit for the day



I paired the edgey print shirt reg gave me with a girly frilly skirt. It's a clash but do I look as if I care?


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The story of EOA Day & the kitties that accosted me

Whenever I walk to the bus stop, I would cut across the playground in the estate.

And whenever there were these 2 particular cats around, I would be accosted by them.


Here goes the 1st part of the story:



curled up on the sit up bench

leapt down

"goreng goreng" my feet

leapt up again

purred non stop in a cute gurgling manner

gave an affectionate rub to my hand

and then pretend to look so cute

Then, it decided to follow me as I walked, stopping as I stopped and trotting along as I walked.




2nd part of story:




cutie



After that, "moo moo cat" followed me till the road and I had to run when there wasn't any car. Usually they won't cross the road but they did once so I didn't want to take any risk.

And so, I was super late to meet my eng dept colleagues to make a very quick "banner" for our 小弟 and the other 2 HQ temp staff in the same team.


Behind the scenes...










The finished products


Let the games begin...




Our company's version of Don'f Forget the Lyrics




Blue is good...



Not sure if you can view the gif which shows pass and fail in Chinese characters.


Some highly entertaining copy-the-leader game.




A series of obligatory group shots...










Look alike? I drew that, so please tell me they look alike.




When I returned home that night, out popped these 2 sneaky little cats again, from the drain this time. No doubt, I was accosted by them once more.




outfit for the day



My mum-in-law is so cute. Sometimes when she comes across cheap (definitely less than $10) but somewhat fashionable clothes which she thinks would suit me, she would grab them.

Her mentaity is:
Buy first coz so cheap.

She always maintains that even if I do not like them, she will find some use for them and it's no harm buying since they're cheap. Most of the the time, I would wear them but there was once or twice they didn't fit me. She very easily found someone who could give the clothes better days.

Unfolding July would have to wait coz I've not even started on editing the photos. There are really other more important thngs to do.