Body of Lies..

Caught the movie today with K at The Cathay Picturehouse... As usual, had free tickets so we used the money we saved and spent it on popcorn (and parking) instead..

I didn't really like the movie.. wasn't interesting enough to keep my attention. Kept fidgeting throughout the movie.

Nonetheless, i was pretty amused by how DiCarprio looked in this show. So different from the lead character in Titanic, which i remember him most fondly for. In this show, DiCarprio looks completely screwed up either as an American CIA agent posing as an Arab, or just as an American CIA agent who is accident prone and thus often seen with bruises, stitches on his face and blue black eyes. Totally not charming at all.. = )

When it comes to shows with terrorist-related plots, i still think "24" is the best!



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Banking Woes..

12:31 AM by Adeline Woo 0 comments
These days, i seem to keep running into problems with the banks.

I was home early last night.. had to rush to the AMEX counter at Tangs Plaza to pay my credit card bill by 530pm, otherwise i would get charged for late payment. At least that was what the customer service person told me over the phone. Which i thought was very silly, because the bill had stated the "Date Due" as 9th Dec 08. I had called AMEX to ask some questions on the amount i had to pay, and the girl on the phone had informed me that i need to pay at the AMEX counter at Tangs by 530pm. Any other form of payment (internet banking, AXS machine) would be considered as late payment because they needed at least 2-3 working days to process the payment. And only the AMEX at Tangs would work. If that's the case, then they shouldn't put the due date as 9 Dec right?? Cause from a consumer's point of view, as long as i pay the bill on the 9th Dec, then i am not late! It all boils down to the definition of the words "Due Date" printed on the credit card statement.

Today, i received an email reminder from Citibank informing me that my credit card bill was due in 10 days. Then i realized that i had not received my statement. Apparently, they had gone online, and i don't even remember being asked if i wanted to view my monthly statement online. So then i went online, and had to search through my files to find the stupid pin number for internet banking. But it didn't work cause my PIN expired or did not match with my card number or something. So then I called Citibank, and asked them to send the physical statement instead.

When one bank is trying to save trees by going online, another bank is trying to kill the trees by sending too many statements to their customers. 2 weeks ago, i received a statement from HSBC. There was no due date on the statement, so i called the bank to enquire. That was when i found out that HSBC sends reminder credit card statements to their customers about a week before they send the actual statement. I asked to be removed from their mailing list for the reminder statement, but was told i could not exercise that option. So i will keep getting 2 credit statements for my HSBC credit card. How dumb..

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Deck the halls with boughs of holly.. fa la la la la..

I've been having loads of fun recently buying new Christmas decorations to add to my past year's collections..

Yesterday night, i was home early so i decided to deck my living hall with boughs of holly and plenty more..

So i took out my big bag of Christmas ornaments from the store room and went to work!

Here's my ultra-modern looking Christmas tree which i have been re-using for the past 2 years (a gift from my mother in law).. I have been asking for an artificial pine tree for the past 2 weeks, but K refused to let me buy one.. = (

The red ornaments hanging on the tree are actually Santa ornaments from Las Vegas given to me by a colleague. At the two sides of the tree are a reindeer and a mini Christmas tree - gifts from B when he went to Japan last year..







The hallway with red and green tinsel and a little mistletoe hanging in the middle.. whoever's caught standing underneath with somebody else would have to kiss! I'm having a hard time keeping the tinsel stuck to the wall, stupid thing keeps falling off!




My big empty white wall in the living room. I bought two big red socks today to add more color to this wall.. = )


How can i forget my folks from the Hundred Acre Woods? Bought them each a Santa hat to wear, although none of the hats fit their big heads.. Don't they look so adorable?? Eeyore seems happier in this picture.. = )

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Another crazy sale..

I met up with B on Saturday morning to engage in most Singporeans' favourite past time: Queuing up for a sale.. = )

This time round, it's the Fossil sale at Suntec convention center. Up to 80% off time pieces and accessories. I didn't buy anything in the end, but let's just say it's one of the worst sales i've been to. Much worse than the Crocs sale at Singapore Expo..


When we reached the convention room 30 minutes before the doors open, there was already a snaking queue. Which was expected. Except that we didn't realize the people at Fossil were so stingy that they booked a really small room with a really small queueing area.

It was so bad we couldn't even find the end of the queue and had to walk around the sea of people just to find the end of the queue. It took us about 40 mins to get in.. and then the squeezing and pushing began.

The watches were tied to cardboard egg trays with cable ties, and placed on the tables. So only the people at the first row could see the watches. Those at the back (like myself) just had to hope and pray people in front will leave soon, and then squeeze our way to the front. Problem was, there were a lot of inconsiderate people at the front row who just take their own sweet time looking at the watches, staying rooted to the ground..

So there i was, being sandwiched and pushed around.. when this couple came along and stood behind me on the last row. The guy came so close i could feel his crotch pushing against my back.. The problem was, there was nobody behind him! So i got irritated, turned back and said to him: "Excuse me, could you please move back a little, i don't feel too comfortable." His girlfriend pulled him away from me after that..

That was not all. When i finally squeezed my way to the front row, the Fossil staff was already totally pissed off that people kept pushing the tables. So this lady shouted: "Can you all please move back and stop pushing the tables?!" and without warning, gave the table a hard push. Before i could react or move, the wheels on the table had run over my right foot. I was wearing my Crocs mary janes then, so the wheels went over the top of my naked foot. I almost died. But since i couldn't really move anyway, i decided to continue browsing through the cardboard egg trays.

After an hour of madness, B and I decided to stop shopping and proceed to the cashier. The process was like this: If you see a watch you like, the staff will issue you a sales memo, then you go and make payment, and then join another queue to collect your purchase after payment. B bought an Armani watch (at 80% discount) so we went through the whole process. So we had to queue again to pay.

Then after paying, we exited the room and realized the queue to collect the watch was super long. I met my friend from university while queuing to collect B's watch. She had collected hers, and told me that the wait took 2 hours. Mainly because a lot of watches were missing and the staff had problems finding them. By then, i was hungry and pissed off at the inefficient people at the collection counter, and the people who had organized this sale. To me, the entire process was bogus. How can there be 3 seperate queues just to buy one stupid watch??

The worse thing was, the notice in the room said goods sold were not refundable. My friend kinda reinforced that fact when i asked her if we could get a refund and get the hell out of here. So B and I were stuck in the queue for the next 2 hours because we have already paid. 50 mins into the queue, and i was starting to get pissed off. I was hungry, and the stupid girl behind me was so fidgety she kept"carressing" me (with her hand, her hair, her bag etc..).

By then, K had been waiting for us for the past 30 mins to have lunch. So when i told him the collection will take another 2 hours, he told me he would head home.. I was actually quite sad, cause i wanted to meet K, but couldn't bear to leave B alone in the queue, even though i didn't buy anything myself. So i asked K to go home while I waited with B, cause i knew B would do the same for me. Then K suggested that i go to the front of the queue and check what's happening. Which I did.

There were like 10 people at the collection counter, but all moving extremely slowly.. it was as if they don't care there was a 2 hour queue waiting outside. I walked down the queue near the counter and began asking a few people how long they waited to come this far. The answers were like: "Very long!!" or "about 2 hours". So i walked back to B and told him the bad news. B was already super guilty by then. = )

As the saying goes, desperate times calls for desperate measures. So i had to think fast. One of the Fossil staff walked past me and i grabbed her and asked her to help me get a refund. She asked me to follow her and referred me to her supervisor at the collection counter, who was looking flustered from all the mess. So I put on my sweetest smile and voice and asked her in the most polite way to help me get a refund for B's watch. I told her I had to rush off to somewhere and simply could not afford to wait for the next 2 hours for the watch. And Viola! Ask and you shall receive. = )

Because of me, we did not have to waste another 2 hours queuing for a stupid watch. In the end, we got to meet K for lunch, and we had porridge buffet at Joaquim.. = )
Don't think i will be going for another sale anytime soon.. felt like i had been queuing the entire day on Saturday.. totally claustrophobic!!

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Christmas @ Fullerton

6:00 PM by Adeline Woo 0 comments
I saw this cute Christmas table centerpiece at Fullerton Hotel yesterdy at the Wedding lunch.

They actually have real biscotti and lollipops as part of the decoration.. very nice touch indeed.. = )

Love the little Santas and Reindeers on the rooftop!






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Star Wars Santa?

5:43 PM by Adeline Woo 0 comments
Saw these two at the entrance of Raffles City on Friday.. They were posing for the Salvation Army for donations..

Thought this was a good idea.. rather than have two people standing beside the donation box and ringing their little bells..

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Stand Chart Marathon & Fullerton Wedding

5:06 PM by Adeline Woo 0 comments
Yesterday was the annual Standard chartered marathon.. K and I were on our way to a wedding lunch and we drove past the runners.. actually i should call them walkers.. cause ALL of them were walking!! Not sure if these are the 21km or 42km people.. but they sure looked exhausted!

We participated in the 10km run 2 years ago.. how time flies. K says he want to go for the 21km next year.. we shall see ! = )



Our wedding lunch was at Fullerton Hotel. Seems like wedding lunches are becoming the "in" thing nowadays. This wedding we attended was for one of our friends in the MX-5 car club, and his Thai wife. Prior to their wedding, we had been playing a few sessions of badminton with this couple, so i guess that was the reason that got us invited. Cause we were the only ones from the car club in his guest list. So it was one of those weddings where we knew nobody at our table, and had to keep each other company throughout, hoping that neither of us had to go to the washroom or make a phone call during the meal. = P

Nonetheless, i thought it was a good wedding. The groom was so emotional that he cried during the solemnization while he was saying his vows, and then again during his wedding speech.. Such a sweet guy. Made ME tear too during the solemnization! There were a few unique things which i thought made the wedding one of the more memorable ones:


* The wedding was held on the same day as the Stand Chart run, when all roads leading to the hotel were closed until 12pm. the solemnization was at 1130am. We were late but fortunately, did not miss much.


* Location of the solemnization was at the roof top garden of Fullerton Hotel: First that i've been to..


* The groom cried - TWICE!

* There were 3 emcees during the wedding lunch speaking in 3 different langugages: English, Mandarin and Thai


* The couple hired a pretty good Irish guy to play some love songs on his guitar and harmonica throughout the lunch


* The Maid-of-honor and Best man gave speeches (usually it's just the married couple)


* The couple did a slow dance in the ballroom (very Westernized..)


* One of the flower stands along the aisle nearly caught fire (one leaf was lighted up but the fire was put out almost immediately) !!


This couple nearly had to cancel their wedding because of the closure of the Bangkok airport. They didn't know if their relatives were able to attend, and they almost couldn't collect the bride's wedding gown in time cause the gown was in Bangkok! Talk about a memorable wedding !

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