MINT

Was really excited about this office event to the Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys (better known as MINT) Museum of Toys cos i've always wanted to visit but found the admission fees slightly steep for a small museum. Anyways, i took the trouble to bring the cam to office. When i flashed it out to take the really nice basement restaurant, to my horror of horrors, the battery icon is flashing at me!?!? i forgot to check the cam last night and the cam died-ed on me after 3 lousy shots. Crap. :(

Did u know that the museum is owned by one person and the toys on display here is only 10% of his whole collection? He is rich!

2 lessons learnt from the curator Richard this afternoon. One: Collect toys in their boxes. And don't play or open them. Mint toys fetch more $$$. Two: Collect ugly toys. Cos most people play with the heros and throw away the baddies. Big mistake! Imagine the most expensive toy on display is an ugly British Mickey Mouse with teeth. Worth US$35,000!

Sporty Weekend

Yesterday was the office cohesion finale. Attendance as usual was dismal. So all of us had to participate. i like the games actually. Cos i've never tried them before. All the 6 segments were on those huge inflatable "balloon" structures. There's the obstacle course, the bungee basketball, the rock climbing, gladiators, street soccer and sumo wrestling. And i'm proud to say that i played them all. *wink wink* i liked the obstacle course the most cos that was our first event and also the only event i won my competitor. But how could i win the other events when i'm up against stronger male competitors. And nope, we were not given advantage. Anyways, winning is not everything (sounds like sour grapes i know), i'm just very happy that my small sub-group of 5 stick together and even uncles are taking part so sportingly.

So after a sporty Friday, i pulled out of bed with aching muscles for a 3hr aerobics workout at the WDO. Crazy. Massive signup. i'm elbow to elbow with the person next to me, in front of me and behind me. There's just no room to move. Talk about spinning, kicking or even sashaying. Anyh0w, i managed to survive the 3hrs under the hot sun (again).

Most meaningful cohesion

The office does seem to have excessive cohesion/team building/welfare activities. Especially when you belong to so many different entities. But today's especially meaningful cos it's at a school for people with special needs.

We were split into our 4 houses - i'm in blue - and were joined by the students. Together, we danced to the crazy ditty Nobody, played games, cheered and clapped till the day is over. Although the games are very simple, such as, balancing bean bag on the head, transporting balloons, rolling hula hoop, etc, they were fun! Happiness can be so simple. Seeing the students giving their best in playing the games sure put alot of the adults around to shame. The easy chatter between the students and the teachers also made me wonder how long did the teachers spent with them to build such a rapport. i think you need lots of love and patience to be a teacher nowadays, much less to children with special needs. i really salute them.

The most touching moment was when the principal asked the students to give us a "thank you" clap. They have a special applause for guests. i almost teared when i heard it. It's just a simple and common clap but it's the thought that matters. Can see that they really enjoyed themselves as much as i did.

Oh did i forget to mention that blue team won today! We were the underdogs again. Won by a dance step! :p

Food Race

Yet another office event. And i swear this would be the last time i'm organising one!

The big boss gave us a budget of $10 per pax to plan for cohesion day. Nearly fainted when i got the arrow. What can you do with $10!? You can't even find a decent restaurant to eat in. Don't even talk about cohesion or teambuilding! Luckily, thanks to a very constructive idea from DT, SL and i cracked our brains and thought of a very simple but brillant plan. And most important of all, very budget!

Split the office into groups of 5. Make them go to designated places to buy specific food items and go to an assembly point. Then everyone eats the food that they bought! What a simple plan!

To get to the designated location? Solve a jigsaw puzzle which we DIY by going on-location to take photo, print on office printer, home-laminate fully sponsored by SN and cut into puzzle form! :) Luckily there were 5 shopping malls near the office. Just nice for the 5 teams.

What food to buy? Crossword puzzle developed by SL which got even us cracking our brains!

And from which shop? Fill-in-the-blanks hangman style.

Where is the end point? Yet another jigsaw puzzle but this time it is a giveaway in the form of a map. Yet another "free" venue which we managed to get by a stroke of luck!

Since we didn't spend a single cent on the teambuilding part (the solving puzzles portion), we can spend all the budget on the food! Most importantly, we got the teams to buy food that WE wanted to eat! Cos we (the organisers) planned everything we can't participate so this is at least one part that we can manipulate! hehe. :p

[Sidenote] Got to know one week ago that another office took the "initiative" to suggest to the big boss to use another bank account for their cohesion. They engaged an external event organiser and spent $86 per head! WTH! i was real p*ssed when i heard this. Really don't know what the big boss is thinking of. We highlighted to my boss and took the "official" route to "inform" the big boss about the inconsistency in his execution but to no avail. i had hoped to twart their plans but haiz... When we first got to know the budget, we had asked my boss if we could request for more money but my boss had told us not to cos the big boss had only allocated that amount. So we listened to instructions and worked within budget. To hear some people taking "initiative" really turned us speechless.

Anyway, moral of story is, we are so creative we can do anything with even a small budget. At least i can proudly say that we had planned and organised an event that i think my colleagues enjoyed. It was really fun looking at them trying their best to solve the puzzles which i must admit was challenging. We could afford to give everyone a survival pack and prizes for the winning team and the first runner up. i had fun organising it though i hoped we won't have to organise next year's!

Thanks to SL and SN for sharing the arrow and cracking their brains with me! :)

Amazing Race (Office Edition)

Super long and tiring day even though it is not at work. :p

Morning - woke up earlier than usual to journey to the east coast for office event of the year. Discovered that east coast park is really huge. Especially since we spent the whole morning covering only half of it. It was raining all the way from the west but thank our lucky stars that the sun was out at the east.



Afternoon - went ktv but was too tired that i lost my voice. :(

Evening - dinner with the girls. Went back to Okinawan Diner @ Liang Court. Ate back the same old ginger pork set meal. Portion is as huge as ever but the peanut tofu seemed not as nice as the last time.

Jurong Bird Park

Although i stay relatively near to the bird park, i've not been here since primary school (?). Office events are so much more fun when you are not the organiser. :) You can literally eat and leave. hehe. :p


And i found out that birds are really hard to photo. (-_-") Except for this pink little cutie who stayed still while i take its picture and it even started climbing the fence for me to take more shots. :) Most of the birds are left out to roam but some like parrots are enclosed as they are more prone to hurting people as they get aggitated easily.


Children are a really curious and daring lot. Alot of them were raising their hands and volunteering for the bird shows even though they only want adult volunteers. This is the only kid who was chosen for a last item. He is really cute. The trainer put an owl on his arm. i think perhaps the owl was too heavy for his little arm so he had some problems keeping the owl up. hehe.

晚晴园

First office event of the year. i'm very happy cos i'm finally not the organiser! Things are so much more enjoyable when someone else is in charge. :)

Underdog Rules!

Today is the finale of the Sports Days. After combining the scores from Day one, two and three (the frisbee which i missed), my house colour started today with the lowest points, trailing the leader by about 200 points! There were 4 events in today's finale. Kite making and fly kite, tug-of-war, "hamtala" (dunno what name is that...) and a telematch of various games.

For kite making, we had to make 3 kites and fly them. The house who can fly all 3 kites for max 20mins wins. None of the 4 houses manage to do that. But one of our kites manage to fly the highest although it got caught on a tree. So we came in 2nd. And that was 150 points.

Next, tug-of-war. There were 2 semis, 1 finals and 3rd/4th position playoff. We won the first semi which brought us to the finals. The finals was the thriller and climax of the day! Since our house won the first semis, we were more rested than the other finalist and more confident. But when we started, somehow the momentum kinda lost and we were dragged almost halfway towards the opponents' side. We could not afford to lose this match cos we used our triumph card which gives the winner of the game double points. If we lose, the triumph card would be useless. So we HAVE to win the tug-of-war in order to get a faint chance of winning the whole sports day thingy. Somehow either the opponent lose steam or our team managed to pull our socks up at the very critical moment, we managed to pull the opposite team all the way to our side! YAY!!!! Double YAY cos i was one of the pullers!! hee... (cos each teams has to have 2 girls). So we earned 200 x 2 points. And this was the start of the turn of events.

Third game for the day is the "hamtala". Basically, there are 5 pails inside a circle. There are 3 cans stacked on top of each pail. 5 defenders will have to guard the cans to prevent them from being knocked over by the attackers. The 15 attackers are standing outside the outer circle and would have to knock the cans down using plastic balls. The rule is that the defenders cannot step into the inner circle to where the pails and cans are. And the attackers cannot step into the outer circle to where the defenders are. One team will defend first and the other attack. And switch roles.

The game started off normally. We are in the first semis again. We won by managing to hit down the cans faster and block off the balls better. Then the 2nd semis and that's where the controversy begins. One team started to think outside the box. They started to defend the cans by putting their hands right next to the can, literally building a wall around the cans. The referee opined that the team did nothing wrong as they did not step across the circle. So, from then on, all the teams started adopting that tactic. So anyway, during the finals, we were the attackers first. The other team managed to save 3 cans so my team needs to save 4 cans in order to win. We couldn't let them win cos now this team had activated their triumph card. oohhh.... After 2 minutes of enduring balls raining on them, our defenders lead by my heavy-weight house captain with the very strong horse stance and big strong palms won!! YAY!! We saved 4 cans, got 200 points from it and managed to block a win by the other house. By now, my house is leading by 200+ points! (^^,)v

Since we already have the trophy in the bag, we didn't really fight all the way in the 4th game. But we still finished the game sportingly. i think we came in 2nd or 3rd...

Anyways, i enjoyed myself as it has been a long time since i played such schoolish games cos i always like sports days for feeling the class spirit. But it was also kinda sad cos the turnout from my dept was very very bad. Coming from schools with strong class spirit, i kinda saddens me that people now just don't bother to make an effort. Work hard. Play hard! That's the rule. And for today, the underdogs rule! :)

2nd Sports Day of the Year

Why Wii... when you can bowl for free?? Been seeing this poster on the back of the toilet cubicle day everyday for almost a month after the first event... i must say the committee are really creative this year. After being brain washed by the poster, my sub-conscious mind had programmed me to walk over to the bowling alley this afternoon. However, the powers of the poster is not strong enough to turn my prowess in bowling into reality... hee... the drains looks extra clean today... :p Fortunately, despite my mastery (lack of) in the sport, my house still managed to turn in 2nd! :p

First Sports Day of the Year

This year's sports day is split into four parts. Yay!! More half days!! Though i must admit it really do seem a little too much. But even so, i'm looking forward to the next few sports days. Heard there would be bowling and frisbee?! Sounds fun. Voice now coarse from all the cheering. Think i have to decree a no-talking day again.

Oh ya. i realised my house colour got a few cute guys!! hehe. now even MORE looking forward to the next sports day!

Bottle Tree Park

It's my office family day (again!) and we went prawn fishing!!! Caught 2 prawns in the first 15 minutes. Yippie!! But it went downhill from then after. :(

Didn't realise there's this place in Yishun. They have vegetable and fruit farm on the premises as well. But i didn't have time to explore. Besides prawn fishing, there's also longkang fishing for kids and fish fishing during weekends. lol. :P Oh ya! There's also paintball here.

Total time spent = 3 hrs under the hot sun
Total prawns caught = 6 or 7 (i forgot)
Uneven tan (sun burn) and sandal imprint on my feet = priceless

Quack quack quack quack

One of my catch with one of my chivalrous colleague who is helping all the girls unhook the prawns. :p

On the dinner table

Decided that there are sufficient office events to warrant its own category! :p

Last Staff Day for the FYear

Oh am i glad that the day is over! Didn't have much time to think about today's event. Considering the budget, the over-optimistic response and uncertainties in the number of people turning up now that it is near closing and the pressure to spend all the money before end of the year (financial, i mean), i think it was quite a success!

About 10% didn't turn up for the movie even though they had said they would. 2 had made me walk out of the movie halfway to pass them the popcorn voucher. They didn't want to watch the show. (-_-") Thank goodness i was seating right at the back. And did i forget to mention that i love the legroom at GV Vivo? i could extend my legs out in the massive leg room which makes walking in and out the cinema easier without having to hurdle over others. haha.

Part 2 of the day was a tour at Tigerlive which was St James by day. By now the numbers had dwindled by half. It's a good use of space but i wonder who would really go for the tour other than tourists and corporate people. At the end of the multi-media show, you get to tap your own beer and drink it. The icy cold beer was quite well received by the girls especially. It taste nothing like the yucky broth out of the can. Cheers, am i glad that my big arrow is over!

~glad that i live am i, that the sky is blue~

The Spiderwick Chronicles

3 siblings and a creepy old house. Slow start but it gets better as the story builds up. i think the show is quite good and nail-gripping. Something scary, something humane, something funny and something touching. Best part is it's on the house! hehe. But it's a bit scary for little children. Even i was screaming at some scenes. *blush* Hope my big big boss' daughter could sleep well tonight! If not, would i get a red mark in my record book?? :p

First Loi Hei of 2008

The whole dept had a CNY lunch today at Imperial Herbal Restaurant @ Vivocity. We booked the whole banquet hall but i think there were not enough seats for the latecomers... Some of them left without eating i think... The food was quite alright... Some good some bad... 8-course Chinese set meals usually taste about the same anyway. i quite like the sharks' fin soup. the rare walnut cream dessert turned out pretty disappointing... too diluted and starchy. But of course the BEST part was that we were all given the day off after lunch! yippie! huat ah!

v(^_^)v

First Dept Event of 2008

It's our cohesion day. We had a food race, "amazing race" style and ended off with a dinner and lucky draw. For the food (foot) race, we had to go to 7 food stations located around the Marina belt to eat designated food at every outlet and to complete some tasks. After completion of the tasks, we are given a clue to the next station.

First stop, Munchy Donuts @ Millenia Walk. we had to eat 5 donuts and guess the number of M&Ms in a box. I chose the Choz O' Cream. Yummy! Or maybe i was hungry as i had only beancurd for lunch and it was already 3pm! hehe.

2nd stop, Juice Station @ Marina Square. i think due to budget constraints, we were given only 2 cups of a celery-like juice to down. Since there are 8 people in our team, this is easily accomplished. Afterwhich, we had to form a line and walk together with a balloon between our thighs.

Next, we ran to the 1st cinema in Singapore - Capitol Building. Yucks. we had to eat bitter gourd, lime and chili. i can't take spicy food so i ate the bitter gourd which luckily is not bitter. hehe. i heard the chili is very hot!

Our 4th stop is the Makansutra Gluttons Bay @ the Esplanade. During our race, we had meet alot of other teams running around and we knew that New York New York @ Citylink was one of the stations. Someone suggested that we eat at New York New York before proceeding to the Esplanade as it was on the way and since the game master don't really seem to check. hehe. But being people of the highest integrity and good sportsmanship, our hesitant feet could not bare to bring us to the challenge and so we missed a chance to grab the lead. hehe. So we sprinted to the Esplanade completed our task of passing rubber bands with a straw in our mouths, ate up a plate of kaya toast and made our way to MOF (aka Ministry of Food).

We happily crossed over to Marina Square but to our horror, there was no one there. gasp!! We went to the wrong MOF!! We raced back to the small MOF counter at Raffles City and ate a big tub of frozen lime sorbet.

Finally, our next clue brings us to New York New York. When we reached there, there were a few other teams waiting for their food to be served. OMG! What a waste of time! We completed our task of matching countries to their capital cities in no time but the food is still not ready! I think we waited about 15 minutes for our food to come. When we passed by the restaurant earlier, there were piles of food waiting for contestants but now it is the other way round. While waiting, we overheard other groups saying that this was their 4th or 5th stop. We were patting ourselves on the back secretly cos we are going onto our final stop next. hehe. After a huge struggle, we managed to finish up the oversized chicken burger and headed next to Old Chang Kee @ Suntec City.

Another challenge awaits us. We have to finish up a box of OCK snacks. By now, I can only manage a cold and oily spring roll. With our task of separating a bag of green, red and soybeans done, we made our way back to the pitstop which is also where our dinner will be served.

After about 2 and half hours, we turned in 4th in the race. There were at least 20 teams i think, so our results are not that bad. The consolation was that we were the first to arrive from our House Colour so we were able to bring in some points for our House which eventually came in as the runners-up house. :) Oh well, the fun is in the process. We all had a wonderful time racing around and i'm really impressed with the energy and zest of one of my teammates. This grandfather of two was running and eating with us that makes some of the younger teammates pale in comparison. hehe.

The buffet dinner and entertainment was entertaining enough but i didn't win anything in the lucky draw... :( My colleague won a web cam but since he already had one so he passed it to me.

This is a super lonnggg post. I was completely exhausted when i got home so most of it is written on Saturday morning. Work accomplished! Now gotta clean up my room for CNY! :p

Sakura Buffet and iMax movie

My office went to sakura for lunch today as part of our family day celebration (it's more like a staff day imo cos usually no one brings their family along. keke.) i think the food is quite good for the price. (Dunno how much cos we didn't need to pay but the web says $20+++). The salmon sashimi is one of the best i've tried recently in buffet spreads. Two thumbs up!! One of my colleague ate so much i think he would have eaten one whole fish! i think other than the cold soba which is horrendously tough and the bbq-cum-grill-cum-stir-fry counter (the one where u need to order and they will serve you), all the other food i've tried are pretty decent. But my fav has to be the ice cream bar!! They have 10 different flavours!! i've only managed to try 4 of them.. Hehe. And they are all nice! Rum and raisin, mocha chips, nata de coco and mango. The last two have small bits of coconut and mango in them. The funny thing is they don't have chocolate ice cream... i thought that is the no. 1 must-have flavour in every ice cream bar! Lol.

After the satisfying lunch, we watched Hurricane on the Bayou at the Omni Theatre. Nothing really spectacular cos i was hoping for some really nail-gripping, mind-blowing effects. my only vivid memory of the theatre was being "ran over" by a train while i was in primary school. Hehe... None of those today... Was kinda disappointed in fact... Still, the show's pretty decent. One good thing about watching on IMAX is that everything looks so real and vivid. Almost like you are there yourself. :)

Since it was still early, some of us popped over to the Science Centre for a visit. Have not stepped into that place for yearssss... It has changed a far bit but still packed with noisy kids running and screaming around. The only highlight of the day was catching the Tesla Coil Demonstration which is a highly dramatic and electrifying live demonstration of high voltage electricity. This 3.5 million volt coil generates spectacular five-metre long electric sparks that is akin to natural lighting. We saw the sparks blew up two hydrogen inflated balloons into flames right under our noses!! But after a short browse around, we decided that shopping malls are definitely more interesting to us and so off we go! Haha..

but why, oh why did i forget to bring my camera for this occasion?? bash !$#%&@!

Ratatouille

A well deserved 4 stars!

This animated adventure of a rat who aspires to be a cook is full of fun, laughter, love, warmth and (what else) food! Makes me wanna eat!!! Yum yum! It's definitely more than a cartoon. Don't dismiss it as a kid's show! It's amazing how they blend in the complicated real-life themes and emotions in this animation. Just watch it! :P

Disney Ratatouille site