Hiccups

What I'm talking about is not the usual hiccup babies or us get sometime, is the hiccups we face in life at times. One moment I was happily planning for my no pay leave, overjoyed that it was approved, the next moment I was devastated that my dept was going to be CLOSED DOWN!

Heard of some rumor about it but it turn into fact overnight! What a joke they had cracked on me. I was even happily planning to move nearer to my working place and was thinking that if I could settle down, maybe I may cut short my no pay leave! Ha! people is coming to view my house this weekend and I even sign the contract to buy over my friend place. What is happening now is really what we say in mandarin "人算不如甜算"My partner and I was called for a short meeting with the administrative head to break the news to us. Luckily our HR manager did sound us off the night before and we was quite composed during the meeting. But I broke down and cried when they mention the fate of our precious equipment if nobody adopt it, CONDEMN ! She is still in great condition even though she is not that young, is not that she is not working and no one is using her! For 10 LONG YEARS, she (we always refer our dear machine as a "she" as "she" was quite temperamental like a woman) I'm sad to leave my colleagues who has accompany me for the past 13 ++ years, but this machine has accompany us hours and hours for the past 10 years from the first day she was send to us, she is a baby to us both.

We have our hay days and of course frustrating moment with her. I almost felt that she would cry if she is with us now...it seems like the composition we used to write in our younger day, the" biography of something". The composition would start with either "I am a book "or a doll or even pets.. it would be well love and care when they first came, and when they are old, it would be dispose as a piece of old rubbish... I almost can hear my machine whimpering in silent... behind the buzz and hum...

Is not that the machine is not functioning well, is not that no one from the company is using it and in actual fact, it has been churning some income to cover the overhead and maintenance cost. The reason of closing sound kind of lamed, "keeping it is not feasible".???? Till date we can only make some wild guesses what is the real reason.

Our poor HR manager was so upset, I don't blamed her, she is really hand tied, there is really nothing she can do actually. Fighting for better benefit for us is out of question. Actually quitting was in mind before I took my no pay leave, is her who had suggested to take no pay leave first to keep my position. Permanent staff in the market is as rare as White tiger now. When the opportunity came that my colleague Mr Sleepy want to sell his place, I felt that maybe is really a way out for taking no pay leave, I could stay nearer to my in law place and could go back to work. I can settle my move during my no pay leave and try to go back to work if things work out. What a wonderful plan. Too bad, this is not going to take place but still, I will move back, this time the reason will be a good school for my sons ;).

That same evening both of us received the official letter to tell us the machine will be close in 1 month time. Our fate? My partner, Tonic, who work in this company for 14-15 year will have 1 month to transfer out of this company to other "branches" . My fate? I will have to call them 1 month in advance before my no pay leave end to ask if they have a post for me if not...... what do u think? Ha! No compensation was being mention in the letter. We did suggest to the management about retrenchment but was turn down. We start to wonder what is the use of us being the permanent staff? what rights do we have as an employee? Who can protect us as an employee? The most ironical thing on this whole event is that the decision maker for this closure and our fate came from a person where his own country always cried out for HUMAN RIGHTS ! What a great joke.

All our colleagues are shock over the harsh treatment, some mention we should seek higher authority...After some soul searching and brain storming.. we knew is going to be fruitless fight. Even the highest authority of the country could not do anything about it. Why? It will be too big a trouble if they sided us, they are also in a difficult position. Well, I'll leave some imagination over this matter, I may get into trouble if I go into further detail. I am almost out of job now, I won't want to have more trouble. Anyway the option of quitting was in mind if my no pay leave was rejected, so it does not matter now. That is how a typical person would react if they face this kind of problem in my country. Complain to friend and family about it, weep a bit and cool off. Now I am withdrawing my no pay leave, why wait for a year to face the same fate, I may as will face it now. 长痛不如短痛。Well, I'll closed down the dept together with my partner for my past 13++ years, is the dept we set up together and is time for us to close it together. Maybe it will be the last time we work as a team...if she took up a new post found by our very concern colleague.

To Tonic if she read my blog: Thanks for being such a great partner for the past 13 + + years, there are time we quarrels and don't see thing eye to eye but I soon realized that you are the greatest partner I ever had. We shared so much happy moment as compare to those downtime: our first skiing trip...the ohs and Ahs at keukenof garden.. the bazaar days..shopping trip....ZZZZ time and many many more. I'll keep those fond memories in my heart. Thanks for everything.

That's the realistic side of the working world... so the solution? BE MY OWN BOSS! :)

This is a fiction, all names and places are cooked up. I am learning to cook as well as cooking up stories! Maybe I want to be a writer one day. Thanks to all who read my story today.

Sorbet

My 1 year no pay leave has been approve! Is a relief but was kind of worrying too. Wonder will I be able to cope as a SAHM. You know is hard to have personal space and time when u have 2 kids around.

Although I have a maid but she does not cook our local dish very well. We can't make ourselves eating Indonesian food all the time. So most of the time I have to do the cooking myself. Anyway, I love cooking and now with the maid I can mess up the kitchen without worrying to clean up later :) Thus, I must make full use of this period of time when I have the maid.

I love cooking for family and friends and I love to make dessert coz I have a sweet tooth. My hubby and Sam love sorbet but is so expensive to buy outside, 1 small ball will cost S$2.50 ~ $3! so, I decide to make it myself. Here is a recipe to make sorbet for those who may be interested. This recipe come from various source, some from the cooking program I had watched and some from the blog I came across. I make some changes here and there and viola. Is healthier as compare to ice cream.

Mango Sorbet

Ingredients:

2 big mangoes
50ml water
40-50gm sugar (depend how sweet u want it to be)
2 tbsp lemon juice or lime juice (add more if u prefer it to be more sour)

1. Boiled the water and sugar till sugar dissolved. Leave it aside to cool.

2. Puree the mango and add in the sugar syrup and lemon juice, blend the mixture.

3. Pour into a flat tray. the mixture should be 2-3cm thick.

4. Freeze the mixture.

5. Used a fork to scrap the frozen mixture to crumbs. This will create the sorbet texture.

6. Used a plastic bag to cover your hand and knead the crumbs to balls. Do it fast coz it melt easily

Ready to serve. If u like put a mint leave to decorate it .

Shopping Queen

STUFF FROM SPREE! I always has been a shopping Queen. I gain this title when I travelled with my colleagues years ago. I love the feeling of buying load of stuff. Even buying grocery makes me happy! I believed in shopping therapy, is a way for me to unwind other then the other method, baking therapy. Before I was married, I love to travel and shop. I could get thing that is not avaliable here. There is alway excuse to get another pair of shoes and another blouse.. But as the more I buy, I realise that I do not have so much storage space. Soon, I don't even bother to buy things when I travel. Maybe just a magnet to put on the fridge for remembrance. So I find buying grocery is a better way out. At least the whole family can eat away the stuff I bought :) No need to worry about storage space.

After I get married and have a house, I tend to buy lots of thing to decorate the house. My husband and I even bought a elephant craving from ChiangMai during our honeymoon. Is kind of crazy coz is so heavy and huge. After I have kid, I started buying for my son. I learned to shop online for stuff or join bulk purchase and spree from oversea. In that way, I can get unique clothing, books and toys for my son at lower cost. I don't even need to spend time going out to shop. Well I do agree being able to feel and choose the stuff you like is a total different experience from shopping online. But you get another kind of thrilled when you received your parcel and opening it! Just like getting your birthday present. Is great for SAHM. All mummies should know how tough is to shop when u bring your kids along. They need to eat, need to pee, need to nap, even need some time to throw tantrum! For mummies, when comes to sales, food and tiredness is the last thing in the mind. I am very paronoid that someone might kidnap my son who love to run about when we go off guard.

There is even a point of time my husband suggest maybe I could organised spree or bulk purchase full time when I don't work! He offer to write up a program to do that. Ha ! is a crazy idea. Is so tough to organise spree and the return is not much. There is so much coordination involved and when thing goes OSS (Out Of Stock) u have to inform people and get replacement item. Some people may delay payment and ask you on hold. Sometime suppliers will send the wrong things and we have to absorb it or sell it at the forum. So much problem involved and too much of a hassle. What's the fun of doing shopping for people when I have to keep worrying that i cannot deliver the stuff and got scolded by people.

I do buy second hand stuff from forum too. No one can denied that time is getting tough now. All prices form stuff goes up and if we can save a bit why not? Anyway some of the thing like bumbo chair and stroller is not for long term usage. We can get quite a reasonable condition one from the WTS (want to sell) site in the forum. I do get to meet some nice mummies. Of course, I manage to sell off thing I need to clear from my store room to other mummies in the forum too :)
For mummies who come across my blog and interested in shopping, here are some of the website which I visited often to do my shopping and selling :)

http://www.wonderbox.com.sg/

http://www.jshoppers.com/

http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/cgi-bin/forumboard/discus.cgi?pg=topics

http://www.baybsupplies.biz/forum/default.asp