MooPig & The Babe

Another post filler.

01. Coke or Pepsi?
Coke, cos Pepsi's too sweet! Coke has more varieties too. And also Coke's everywhere over here.

02. KFC or McDonald’s?
It has to be McD in UK cos UK has awful KFC. (sorry LB) At home, it has to be the other way round. Hot & Spicy KFC... mmmm.. yum!

03. Häagen-Dazs or Baskin-Robbins?
Haagen Dazs! I have a tub of Pralines and Cream in the freezer now. Fancy some? Strawberry & Champagne is my ultimate favourite but I don't see it anymore. Baileys, Strawberry Cheesecake, Vanilla and Brownie are also my favourite. Baskins are too sweet to my liking.

04. Coffee Bean or Starbucks?
Starbucks. Cos they don't do Coffee Bean over here.

05. Nike or Adidas?
Adidas. Cos Nike is unethical. Say no to child labour! Having said that, I have a pair of Nike trainers. *hides in shame* BUT, I bought that before I realised how unethical Nike is.

06. Mercedes-Benz or BMW?
BMW. Few years ago, my cousin brother told me "In Germany, Mercedes are taxis so I'll never drive a Mercedes". Somehow, it's stuck in my mind.

07. UK or U.S.?
UK. I'm just being biased cos I've lived here for 5 years. Never been to the US.

08. Paris or Rome?
Another biased one. Paris. Because I've never been to Rome. Or maybe I have, when I was 6. I could hardly remember anything from my first Europe trip.

09. Céline Dion or Mariah Carey?
I have to say it's Mariah.

10. Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera?
I don't like either. But I definitely prefer Christina to Britney cos she's less insane.And she sings better than Britney.

11. Brad Pitt or David Beckham?
Brad Brad Brad! David's just an overpaid henpacked husband footballer.

12. Dad or mum?
Umm.... a real tough one. I can manja with Mummy but joke with Daddy.

13. Movie or music?
Music. I only go to the cinema when the boyfriend suggests a movie night.

14. Windows or Mac?
Windows. I'm hopeless at Mac. Tried once. Never got around to understand it.

15. PC or lappie?
Lappie! The smaller, the better. Enough said.

.... and I'm still awake. How now brown cow? And I gotta get in by 7.30 in the MORNING!

Posted by MooPig at 01:35 | Permalink | Comments

Remember the Project 200?

Well...well...well....

I thought I could manage it. I really, really thought I could do that. Alas, it was easier said than done. It was harder, much harder than I thought.

Too many 'unexpected' events. Too many temptations. I tried to resist some. I really did! But there were situations I couldn't avoid at all. Like, the 'reunion' dinner. The dinner I promised K I would buy him when I got my first pay cheque. (He just decided to surprise me for CNY- the dinner was supposed to be next month!) Like, the friend who came all the way from Japan. I treated her to lunch and bought her a little present. And the final blow?
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My impromptu trip to Brussels tomorrow!

Don't hate me. I couldn't resist. A double room at a 4star hotel at 62.50Euros. Return tickets with Eurostar at a slightly steep £69. Belgian chocolates. Belgian Waffles. Mussels.

I'll be back on Monday. I promise!

and I'll show off my chinese new year goodies and ang pao from home.

Posted by MooPig at 01:04 | Permalink | Comments

Wish You a Prosperous Chinese New Year!

May the Year of Oink Oink bring you.... good health... good luck.. good wealth and good everything-lah.

Gong Xi Fa Chai

Love,
MooPig
oink oink

Posted by MooPig at 19:10 | Permalink | Comments

As usual, I went in to work today. Last week, I promised the 2 kids that we'd bake chocolate chunk cookies today and baked we did.

While waiting for the trays of cookies to come out from the oven, we were chatting and messing about.

"When I was moving, I think I had like a million stuff with me. And I told my friend that if I can sell everything for a pound, I'll be a millionaire. When I'm a millionaire, I won't have to work here anymore." I said.

The 2 kids laughed. MrA continued "Then we'll pay you more!"

"Why?"

"Then you will continue working here."

Awwww.... ain't that sweet?

Posted by MooPig at 20:43 | Permalink | Comments

I worked the morning shift today. MrA was the earliest to get up and about 15 minutes after I arrived, he was in jeans and t-shirt and was ready for breakfast. He had 3 pieces of Weetabix with milk, 1 plum, half a grape fruit and a glass of smoothie for breakfast. (So healthy okay!) Since he had about 15 minutes or so before he left for school, we talked. He's such a morning person!

MissK came down for breakfast before A left. She was pretty much like me- grumpy and quiet. She ate her breakfast while I did my crosswords and she left.

I prepared a packed lunch of carrot sticks and cucumber with hummous, bread and cheese and a banana. At 8.20am, I went to wake MissR up. This is my second time waking her up since I started. I can never be like her. She doesn't kick up a fuss to wake up and doesn't laze in bed much. She smiles when she gets up and wishes me good morning. She's always in a good mood to talk to me.

And I asked myself: Why can't I be like her? That 11 year old doesn't snooze her alarm for 14987372 times before getting up. She doesn't laze in bed for hours. She's cheerful when she gets up. And me? I'm the opposite of her.

When I have something to do in the morning, I can be good, i.e. not laze in bed for ages and don't snooze my alarm clock. But if my morning is free, I can laze in bed for hours and hours. Sigh.

Must try to get up early everyday. And be cheerful in the morning.

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It's really weird but I'm not in the mood to celebrate V'day at all and I'm not at all depressed that he's not with me on this so call 'special day'.

I guess I'm too stingy dingy to spend extra money today. I don't see a need to have overpriced meal and buy overpriced presents and receive overpriced flowers today. Bring me fine dining anytime, anyday but not today. Buy me tulips anyday, anytime but NOT today.

And actually.. I'm a little thankful he's not here in London with me today. Because I really am not in the mood for celebration.

But I am very, very thankful, that he's coming to London on Friday to spend Chinese New Year with my friends and I. =) That, I think, is more meaningful.

Do you agree with me, love?

Posted by MooPig at 10:41 | Permalink | Comments

Anyway......

tata!

Labels: job

Posted by MooPig at 13:13 | Permalink | Comments

2 weeks into the job, I'm more comfortable with the children.

The eldest daughter went to school in the evening so I had to stay back for another extra hour. The 2 kids wolved down the chicken and vegetable stir fry dinner and disappeared after putting the plates and cutlery in the dish washer. I washed the pot and pan. It wasn't part of my job but I chose to do it anyway.

I'm less comfortable when the eldest daughter, MissK, is around. She's a little snobbish and doesn't talk much. She was away today. The 2 young ones went up to the room. I was bored so I walked into the music room and played the piano. The 2 young one came down. MissR, the 10 year old girl was hiding behind her 12 year old brother, MrA. MrA said "We heard you play and it's really good.' He's the sweetest in the family. He never complained about the dinner and always thanked me for cooking dinner. I blushed. They left soon after.

I decided to go to MissR's room after that. She dressed up as a punk rocker and she put on an Afro wig which really looked good on her. I stood there and was shivering. MrA asked me to sit on the sofa bed. I declined but he insisted. Little MissR went to switch the heating on. We had a good time talking about stickers, their art class, dressing up and lucky and unlucky colours.

I didn't realise it was past 7.30pm already. MrsC rang up to apologise because the meeting ended later than expected. I stayed back until MrC came back, about 8pm. I didn't mind at all. It was good fun with the kids.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow already! MrA and I are baking scones! =)

Last week, I felt I had the most boring job ever. Between after school and cooking, I was bored to tears. I called my friends to chat and I read whatever's on the dinner table. Today, I wouldn't say this is my best job, but I'm doing something I enjoy. And they pay ain't bad for a part time job! :P And this will probably be the only job that allows me to do Sudoku when I'm free!

Labels: job

Posted by MooPig at 00:43 | Permalink | Comments

Call me superstitious if you want to but before that, read on.

I remember I attended my very first 'real' interview in London. Well, I say it's a real interview because it was formal and it didn't involve questions like 'So, tell me what does your father do?' and 'How many siblings do you have at home ah?'. That morning, when I put on my contact lenses, my eye hurt. Like something sharp poked into my eyes. No, the lenses weren't dirty. And the outcome of the interview? Unsuccessful.

And then I went for another interview. I was late by 10 minutes! Well first I left home late-lah. Then the traffic was horrendous. I was so nervous. I called the HR to tell her I'd be late because of the traffic. Thank goodness it was chaos at the office. They didn't have a proper procedure, I supposed, and no one realised I was late! I guess because they were trying to save time by having 1 group of people doing the tests and another group of people attending interviews. It was a miracle- I passed that round. And oh, when I put on the contact lenses in the morning, it didn't hurt at all. Good sign, I thought to myself, and it turned out to be true.

Then came the final round. I was dressed in my lucky colour- blue. I realised pink is my unlucky colour so I stopped wearing anything pink to interviews. The journey to the office was smooth sailing. Interviews went on well but I wasn't good enough for the position.

Forward to many many weeks later, I was lucky enough to attend another interview session. Since the office is out of London, I deliberately planned my route so I'd be early. But....... my hair just *had* to give me trouble yesterday morning. It was all curly and nice when I came out from the shower. After putting on some gel to set the curls, I started blow drying and ta-dah! they became half straight, half curly. It was hideous. I tried to make them straight but to no avail. They looked even worst. God knows how much time I spent on my darn hair. Then I had to put on some make up. By the time I left home, I was runnning 15 minutes later than my planned time. Half way walking to the bus stop, I realised I left my mobile phone on the bed and the ipod on the bookshelf. Great! I missed the bus by 10 seconds. The next bus came few minutes after that and I was actually on time to catch the train BUT Miss Silly Moopig went to the wrong platform! I was in a rush and missed the sign. Thank goodness the train didn't break down.

And you know what? I got an invitation for the final round.

I. am. speechless. I really don't know what to say.

Labels: Interview

Posted by MooPig at 00:40 | Permalink | Comments

£163.28

Posted by MooPig at 20:01 | Permalink | Comments

"Your currency is not Pounds, not Euros. Your currency is LV"

Classique

I burst out laughing when he said that last night.

Everytime I pick up his dirty laundry or handwash his clothes, I nag "for every shirt I handwash, you're getting me Chanel bag" or "for every meal I cook, you're getting me an LV bag". I am kidding, of course. (At this stage, I still don't think I deserve an expensive present from him yet. Seriously.) I guess that's how he came up with that statement. What a classic.

You can never deny my passion to own a designer bag or a pair of designer shoes or hair clips or jewellery. I can never not look into a designer store and think of what to get when I have enough money. I'm drawn to these stores like ants to sugar. But I'm never brave enough to walk into the boutique and pretend that I have the money to buy everything in store. I'm happy to look at the window display and dream a little.

I remember the first time I bought my very first designer bag. My heart was thumping. I felt guilty yet I wanted to have it so badly. When I gave the sales assistant my credit card, I hesitated for a split second. Should I back out now? That was the question I asked myself. When I marched out of the store, I actually felt good but guilty at the same time. Guilty pleasure, it was. My parents never spoilt us with expensive stuff, you see. Until today, my parents still don't know about that bag because I never brought it home.

With my pay cheque coming in every week, it's time to do some homework to decide which one to get, aye? I'm sure I will feel very proud everytime I use that bag. After all, I bought it with MY money, not Daddy's. :P

But we'll see how it goes. Money definitely don't come easy.

Posted by MooPig at 22:33 | Permalink | Comments

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£170
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This will be the challenge of the month. I'm challenging myself to live on £200 this month. This money excludes my rent but includes everything else I spend- phone bill, monthly bus pass, groceries and other stuff.

I did a calculation last month. I should be able to live comfortably but not lavishly. After all, after deducting transport costs (About £50 a month on a monthly bus pass) and £30 on phone bill, I'll have £120 left. Groceries will take about 1/3 of the £120 so I should have about £80 to spend on shopping(cough!), eating out and what not.

The credit card and debit cards are evil so they are out of the wallet for the month. From today onwards, I will only carry cash when I go out. I aim to make this blog a diary to keep track of my spending this month.

Let's see if I'm up to this challenge! ;)

Posted by MooPig at 08:17 | Permalink | Comments