Today I became Aunty...

CNY is coming when... (Pic source: Facebook)

Well, yes, CNY or Chinese New Year is around the corner!!! In less than 10 days, most Singaporean is going to celebrate this big day with their family members. 

Last night I had drink with ST. My hubby joined us after finishing his work. He came panting as he was carrying a carton filled with 30 cans of Coca Cola. Alamak!!!

If 1 can was 320ml, 30 cans would be 9.6 kg. "It is one day offer," he said. "Only $9.95," he continued. And the place we went was just 2 LRT Station away. That was why he did not want to go home first and decided to carry it around.

Our beverage loots for CNY

This morning my hubby asked me to go for breakfast at coffee shop nearby. We had quite a heavy meal (luckily!), before I headed to the shopping mall nearby.

Initially I thought of browsing Uniqlo and buying clothes for CNY. But the shop would only open at 10am. I reached there around 9.20am. So I decided to roam at NTUC, the supermarket where we usually bought our groceries. 

And during this period (before CNY came), they would usually launch "Today Only" promotion, to attract customers to come and buy. 

As I reached the place, I saw people carrying packs of tissue paper. I did not think much though and kept going.

As I went inside, cartons of Pokka green tea stacked up like mountains. A signage was put there, "$4.65/ctn (U.P.$10.80)." Wahhh... what a bargain!!! 

This drink is a must-buy product during CNY because it tastes nice, and the size plus packaging is convenient to be offered to guests when they visit the house.

So other than getting dragon fruits, I carried one carton of the green tea and headed to self-payment cashier.

I carried it back home like carrying a baby in my arms (6 kg was not a joke for walking back home under the hot sun!!!). Hahahaha..  

Reaching home, my mother-in-law saw what I bought and I told her about the offer. She was cursing and swearing as she had already bought it earlier when the price was $6 plus per carton. Hahaha..... It reminded me of my bestie who purchased abalone the other day.

She bought it at $63 for 2 cans, and 3 days later, the price dropped to $28.6 per can (cheaper $2.90/ can or $5.80 for both cans). What to do???? When you thought price had already cheap, the one-day promo offered a much cheaper price than what already been offered previously.

Therefore, you cannot haste in buying as every year, NTUC would use the same strategy, offering "one day" special for their customers. 

Today Only Promotion by NTUC - 23 January 2022

You can check their promotion online by Googling NTUC promotion and click on their "Store Weekly Ads". You would find like shown at the above picture. 

As I saw today's offer, I could not stop myself for becoming Aunty today!!! When I said becoming Aunty, it means, 'Aunty likes to check prices, loves bargain and offer prices, then immediately go to store and shop!!!' Hahahaha.... ^^"

Despite I was just coming back from there under the hot sun, I decided to return back to the store with more purchases. Lol!!! And this time, I got myself well prepared.

A good management skill was required in order to have a smooth shopping experience. Hahahahaha.....

First, I planned what I was going to buy, by looking and analysing the offered price from that slide. Since it was "Today Only", I focused on purchasing only those items offered and required. 

Second, I imagined what to take first as I roughly knew where all the stuffs were usually stored. It means, I planned the route where to go (traffic planning hahahaha....)

Third, since it was going to be a heavy purchase, I did not want to carry it just like how I carried the Pokka green tea earlier. And my 2 hands would not be able to carry so much items. Therefore, I borrowed my mother-in-law's NTUC trolley to shop. Hahahaha....

Fourth, immediately went out from home despite a hot sun outside as it was better to shop early as many people would come later after lunch. Went early was recommended too to prevent items to be out-of-stock.

Fifth, planning how to go through payment without having to queue so long. The self-payment counter would be the faster option for payment but they only allowed a single basket items, as they only had limited space for the paid items to be put. Not forgetting to use my HPB or Health Promotion Board healthpoints reward voucher that I earned from sleeping above 7 hours per day.

My loots from Today Only offer from NTUC

Considering all the factors above, I managed to shop the above in 20-minutes time (from picking until paying). Plus another 20 minutes from and to home journey. Hahahaha..... 

CNY preparation

With 2 sets of promotion tissue paper and the above items inside the basket, I spent a little over $50 (after deducting the $10 HPB voucher). What a satisfying shopping experience!!! And this time, I did not have to carry anything, only pushing the trolley back home!!! Yay yay!!!!

Today is the day...

Wherever and whatever you wanna be (IG: rimareyka.writes)

It is one of the days that many people might have been dreaming of... Where I sit at the bench, in the middle of the busy town, the CBD (Central Business District) area, in one of the costliest countries in the world. 

Instead of getting myself busy like the rest of the honey bees, I am sitting down here sipping my Iced Coffee (bought from local business shop - actually my colleague's shop).

Dressing casually, I am sitting with legs akimbo, occasionally lift down my mask, so that I can sip my coffee. 

Support local business (IG: localcoffeepeople)

Today the weather is really nice. It is a sunny day, but the wind blow constantly messing my hair, from time to time blocking my sight from typing this blog from the convenience of my mobile phone. 

It is one of the me-alone times, among many others. It is almost 12pm. I see more and more people walking in a group - at least in two - discussing what to eat for lunch, or talking about what happened in their working place earlier, or otherwise, their personal lives' matters. 

They are dressing smartly, with the shoes polished shiningly. Hair combed with gel or sprayed and looked tough. Ladies are walking with high heel, with the working pass card hung onto their neck. It is not as crowded as before (before Covid-19), but still, the crowd is slowly back (with 50% of the manpower is allowed to be back to work at the working place).

For them, time is money. For me, time is something I am splurging with right now, as there is no limit, as I have nothing planned inside my head. I just want to be, be here, enjoying my solitary within the busy life that many people have. 

Because it is time for me to rest now. So I am here focusing myself to just be, be here, be alone, be mindful, breath, write, express everything I feel right now. 

No one bothers me too. They walk and treat me as transparent, as if they do not see me, as if I do not exist here. It feels good, really!!! 

Some people came and went sitting at the empty seats beside me. But all was only sitting for a while. No one sit as long as I do, because they have things to do, they have agenda in their day.

Have you ever done thing like this before? Have you ever had the luxury to do this kind of thing before? To do nothing, and not to worry about anything else. 

Because I believe in one thing, that there is always time for every thing. 

There is always time for everything (IG: rimareyka.writes)

And everything happens for a good reason!!! Try it sometimes and you will feel better.

Books read in the year 2021

Book Quote (Pic source: Google.com)

Below please find the list of the book I read for the whole year 2021:

January 2021

January 2021

1.The Travelling Cat Chronicles - Hiro Arikawa

2. The Christmas Swap - Sandy Barker

July 2021

July 2021

1. Burn You Twice - Mary Burton

2. If I Had Your Face - Frances Cha

3. Crazy Stupid Bromance - Lyssa Kay Adams

August 2021

August 2021

1. Somebody I Used to Know - Wendy Mitchell

2. The Last Thing He Told Me - Laura Dave

3. Her Last Flight - Beatriz Williams

September 2021

September 2021

1. A Sweet Mess - Jayce Lee

2. Arsenic and Adobo - Mia P. Manassas

3. Recipe for Persuasion - Sonali Dev

October 2021

October 2021

1. First Singular Person - Haruki Murakami

November 2021

November 2021

1. The Woman in the Purple Skirt - Natsuko Imamura

2. Whereabouts - Jhumpa Lahiri

December 2021

December 2021

1. The Stranger in the Lifeboat - Mitch Albom

2. Beautiful World, Where Are You - Sally Rooney

As you could see above, last year I have read quite less number of books (only 17 per year), a major decrease comparing to the previous years.

It was mainly due to the rising of the new passion towards crystals in the first half of the year - spent my time watching "Facebook live" most of the time (February to June).

Other than that, the part time job had also taken parts of my time. And when I was tired and wanted to distress, I was watching many Korean dramas. Hahahahaha.... :P

Anyway, just take it easy lah!!! Just do what I love doing, I think that is more important ;) ;P (another excuse!!!) Lol!!!

The pattern seems like going to follow the same this year. Just hope that I would not lose this passion! See how! 

For now, I hope you still keep passionately reading books and wish you all have a wonderful year of 2022!!!

Turning Back Time

Happy Blessed New Year 2022!!!

It had been almost a week since we went through the year 2022. No celebration on the Eve, only stayed at home like the other night and had myself a good sleep.

Lately there were many things happened. How to say? Big change? Or not much change? Or back to square one?

What I wanted to say was, unexpected thing happened related to my working place, which forced me to end my part-time working life at the ghost kitchen. 

Fortunately Chinese New Year would be coming in very soon and I was offered to do another part time job, baking kueh lapis at the old working place. So, at least I had things to do and earned some money at the same time.

Resolutions were made to be broken lol... :"D

This New Year, I managed to meet up with my working mates for lunch though, and after that we continued with drinking session. Despite we had been worked together only for few months (not even a year) and I was the only lady there (the rest were 4 guys), we had worked together really well.

It made me thinking into changing my occupation to become the full-time staff, at their newly opened outlet. It happened that the area was nearby where I worked around 2 decades ago, when I first joined my workforce in Singapore.

I visited the area twice recently. I used to work both at Joo Chiat area (main office) and Parkway Parade (one of the outlets). After quitting the job, I seldom went there because the location was quite far away from where I stayed. 

In the past, I could only take bus to reach there. But now, thanks for the MRT development in Singapore, I could reach the place by taking both MRT and bus with lesser time (compared if I solely took only the bus). At least I could arrange the time better (imagine traffic jam when taking bus during busy periods both morning and night).

It was not like this 20 years ago ^^

On my first visit, my hubby and I browsed the Joo Chiat area. We had already married by then and he often went there to fetch me home since he was driving the company van last time. It brought us so much nostalgic and made us amazed on how much the places had been developed and turned into what it was now. 

And on my second visit, I went to Parkway Parade and again, many things had changed there too!!! You could find anything there without having to go elsewhere. It was just, the place could be very crowded when it came to weekends, public holidays, and school holidays. 

20 years ago, my first job, was also related to Food and Beverage. I had to cope with shift time, off days on weekdays (but changed after I got pregnant), and handling the hectic and high demand operations.

And 20 years after, I had this possibility of going back to Food and Beverage company, working as kitchen staff, and again, I had to handle a fast working environment. 

It seemed like a dream to me. I mean, in between, I worked inside the office, working from Monday to Friday (first few years Monday to Saturday), following office hours, wearing suits and heels, and finally I got sick and tired of it after doing it for many years.

Starting from passion, and now it might be a full time job - more responsibility, more demand, and so on. I hoped not much stress added in the process, because I tried my best not to live life stressfully, which at the end, might affect the physical and mental health. 

Anyway, let us just hope for the best. The surrounding area was used to be my playground, so at least I did not feel so alien and knew where to go or how, all sorts of things. 

The rest, let us just leave it to nature, whether I would be accepted and joining the company, or not. Whatever it would be, I believed everything happened only for good reasons. So, what about your life in this 2022 year???

2022 Resolutions ;D

Chinese New Year would be coming very soon, and changed in luck would happen all over again. Just pray that everything would go well and smoothly, and most importantly, all of us could maintain our good health and have more joy and happiness in our lives.

Stay safe, take care, and wish you all, the very best in everything that you do!!