Spymama @ Mamakshop

Singapore finally hits the headlines when I read that it is considering asking it’s pilots from the cargo arm to take unpaid leave in a bid to cut costs. I think this is a better move than axing the staff to keep the airlines operating costs sustainable with such a gloomy economy. Retrenchments are everywhere lately and everyone is worried about losing their jobs.

I read a few weeks ago that SIA did not plan to cut the salary of their staff but guess this time around they have finally made a decision in their employees taking unpaid leave. But perhaps the paycuts could be the next on their agenda if the costs are not successfully cut.

As long as no one loses their jobs.. lets pray for a better 2009.

What did you all received for Christmas, folks? Anything interesting to share? I received some cute stuff mostly of X’mas themes. I also received a beautiful gift from my ex colleague. It was an Amethyst Spirit Quartz. It is suppose to be a calming and protective stone and is an excellent emotional balancer. I am thinking of either putting it on my desktop or perhaps in my car. Which is better? So what other gifts should one expect to get for Christmas? Socks, candy, chocolates, stationary products and lots and lots of mugs and photo frames are the kind of stuff I’ve received over the years!

From loved ones, sometimes we get practical gifts and some of them are a little more daring. Have you ever received gifts like a piece of sexy lingerie for Christmas? Although it is more suitable for Valentine’s Day, I received an edible rose coloured panty years ago by some cheeky colleagues. We had to open our gifts in the office and what horror it was! But it was good fun. Now that I’m not working, guess I do miss my old colleagues. Some have emigrated, some are stay home moms and some are busy building up their career still. Few of them have even gone abroad for work prospects.

Wherever you may be, my dear friends, Wish you a happy happy 2009!

The news about the Singapore Flyer that got it’s passengers stuck is something that had been something I dread happened. And it did. Lucky thing, I wasn’t inside! You see, Spymama is very very very afraid of heights and if it had stopped there and got stucked, I think my weak bladder will probably take the hardest blow.

Last Tuesday, the flyer had some power problems and stop to a halt. Can you imagine that the passengers in there were stuck for almost 7 hours! They were there about 4ish or so and they only managed to get out at about 11pm-ish! Poor people. By 6-7pm, I’m sure they must have been hungry since it is almost dinner time but they had to wait till 11pm. How did they empty their bladders then? Plastic bags! Apparently, some who couldn’t hold their bladder had to do it in plastic bags! Gosh! Just imagine if you were out on your first dates and you have to do it in front of your date! How embarrassing!

Anyway, lucky there was not casualty though a granny was reported admitted to hospital and a young boy vomitted because he had not eaten since lunch.

I’m not going near the Flyer…. scary!

Spypapa and I drove around town to search for his favourite bak kut teh yesterday. As we were slowing down at the traffic lights, I saw a cyclist on the road. This was not a cyclist riding a bicycle but one with a motorized one. It is something in between the pedal bicycle and the motorbike. If I remember correctly, these motorized bikes are not allowed on Singapore roads. Why, because they are too slow and might be dangerous causing harm to the riders and also cars and other traffic on the road. Spypapa said, well.. at least she is wearing a helmet. But I thought, it is not about protecting herself when it happens but it is still dangerous to other road users. Also, these bikers do not pay road taxes, insurances either. Should they be allowed on the road or on the pavement then? They are too fast for the pavement and is a nuisance to pedestrians walking on it. I hate the idea of having to watch the ‘traffic’ while walking on the pavement for fear of these riders hitting me from behind. They sure will cause injury that is greater than a pedestrian walking into you.

What can I say. Should they be allowed on the roads? Ponder a while.

I have a wonderful mini Christmas tree at home that I take out during this occasion. It has lighting fixtures on it so I do not need to bring out any fairy lights nor buy any of those lights to drape on it. It is battery-operated and is sound sensitive.

How does it work? Well, if it detects a sound that is much higher than the level of anyone talking, the tree will be activated. When the tree is activated, a Christmas song is being played, bells rings, and the tree opens up in the middle section and little figurines of Santa, Reindeers and a Snowman comes out and goes around the middle section of this tree! Cool, huh? However, the Santa in his sleigh is missing, and some Reindeers are also missing. I think I probably need to look for them in the box. Must have dropped out!

See, the ’sticks’ that holds the reindeers are bare. And where is Santa in his sleigh? He is missing too. Probably busy sending gifts?

Then when the song ends, a Santa sings ho ho ho and wishes a Merry Christmas, the tree close up and the tree is back to its normal state.

I’ve had this tree up for 3 years in a row. It is a small tree but it doesn’t take up space and I don’t dread taking down ornaments because they are all part of the tree. Just pop it back into the box! I believe I will be using this tree for a while… well, until it gives up! It’s great to hear the tree being activated even at the sound of someone sneezing too! I place it near the front door so when someone is nearby and calls out the tree will activate!

Spymama had a peaceful Christmas, staying home this year. There were few visits from friends, close friends and it was nice. We had a family dinner, nothing lavish. We didn’t gorge on too much food, cooking just enough for a dinner for the family. We didn’t get any Christmas logcake but we had Christmas Cupcakes from Prima Deli. It was simply a very simple X’mas. In this 30 days alone, there are Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year celebrations and in 3 major celebrations, an average probably spends as much as 3x the amount of what he or she would do on any normal month.

With an economy that is kinda bleak, perhaps we should be watching and monitoring our expenditure. Even our Singapore Flyer gave up on us just before the New Year starts… and had so many people stuck for 6 hours! Poor things… lucky Spymama had never wanted to go on the Singapore Flyer for these reasons:

1. Spymama is afraid of heights
2. There is no toilet and Spymama worries that she may not hold the bladder
3. It is quite expensive
4. Spymama feels that she may fear being locked in a cubicle high up with no Prince Charming to rescue her. She has no long long braided hair either.
5. Spymama has seen a bird’s eye view from the SIA planes so what difference is there..

So, not that the Singapore Flyer is that bad but these are solely her excuses. And for those who have experienced it, well done. Anyway, I do hope it gets to working order once it has been deemed safe to run. Never mind the length of time. However, according to the newspapers, the poor retailers and businesses there had a drastic drop of 90%.

Anyway, it’s only 2 days to a New Year. Have a wonderful one and may 2009 brings you endless Happiness, Joy, Love, Fortunes and whatever you wished for, come true.

I was out for two days at the chalet the last couple of days. I had a great time with the family swimming and stayed soaking in the sun. Luckily there was no rain on the two days we were out. It only rained after we were back home and had been raining non-stop since morning!

However, when I came back this morning, I couldn’t connect to the internet at all. I checked all the power points and found that everything was connected but why was my Linksys router off. It was so frustrating until I found out the power extension that supplied power to my router was faulty. I hurried and changed it and found it working fine. Phew!! That was a close call otherwise I’d have to spend some money for repairs or trouble shooting or a new router! Thank Goodness! And I don’t think I can do without the internet connection at all!

Tomorrow lunch, I’ll be having a simple lunch with a good friend. We have not decided where to go because we are so sure everyone is going to markup food prices and limit menus for Christmas. We might just pop by the neighbourhood for a vegetarian meal and nice cup of tea and hang out.

I remember how expensive Christmas meals can be. They usually are, and you end up getting to pick just a few selections of main course… gosh Christmas doesn’t give you much choices. They add frills like Mint or Chocolate, a glass of champagne or non alcohol drinks and the staff worked themselves out. I didn’t think it was expensive back then because I had more spending power and never bat an eyelid on those wait staff who worked hard on Christmas Eve, Day and Night.

But looking back, this should be a day where we should be enjoying and understand the joy, love and history of Christmas. We should be taking time to spend with our love ones indeed. But guess it will aways be perceived differently. Businesses need this time to make or break their business too. Sigh..

Before we spent too much, please remember to spare a little thought for the unfortunate and those who have no idea where their meals come from the next few days. Before you spend that extra 20 quids, 20 dollars, or even 20 sing dollars on something you don’t need, perhaps you can pop that into the charity box and fill that hunger pang on any ordinary day.

Salvation Army is going around collecting donations in all kinds.

God Bless.

Gosh, I just popped by the supermarket this morning and it was like madness! People were rushing to do their last minute shopping and you can feel the urgency like there is no tomorrow! When i was at the supermarket, you see people buying in trolleyloads full of stuff. I stopped and think for a while. Yes all the merry making for tonight, tomorrow and the next few days for Christmas. But I wonder if they every stopped to think that it is the time to spend wisely SPENDING with your loved ones more important or rushing out to BUY BUY BUY? Gosh.. Can you imaging the excitement building up in preparation for Christmas, then in a few hours of tearing away giftwrappers, binging and drinking, it is then back to normal. Of course celebrate Christmas is such a jolly affair but when you break it down and lookat the amount spent within the short short time, it is a little be overwhelming… If you freeze the time for  a second and everyone just stop, think, breathe a little bit that would be nice. It is the rushing about this morning that got me panicking away if I missed out anything. Then I ended up just getting some necessary stuffs like a chicken, some carrots, brocolli, potatoes, salmon, garlic, onions.. I didn’t bother getting those nice roasts for carvings because I think for many years I’ve had it, so much food is wasted. A nice roast chicken and grill salmon dinner is very ordinary but if you weighed the cooking time and then the amount of time spent having dinner and enjoying the company of family, that is just so nice.

Aaahh, then for a cup of hot coffee the marshmallows to sweeten the bitter coffee is perfect to me.

It is Christmas eve. I have to complete one more gift and I’m done! Today, most of the shops will be closed by 6pm as in Singapore, majority of the people celebrate Christmas. Orchard Road will be closed to traffic as well. But I will stay away from Orchard Road as it will be congested with people! The MRT is going to be packed like sardines! I’ve had this experience before when I used to hang out with buddies when younger and you can’t really move around much. If you have not an oune of energy, you won’t even fall as you will be propped uprights by all those who are around you!

I remember when the Singapore Swing at Orchard was going on and people were dancing on the street on festive occasions. It was fun when you are younger, single and hangs out with lots of friends.

This Christmas season is going to be a quiet time for us as this year. We should be counting our blessings for the food we have on the table. I didn’t order a large log cake this year either. I am going to get a small one. Too much food is being wasted the previous years so this year will be a simple one. Cherish our loved ones, food on the table and some simple gift exchange is good.

Merry Christmas Everyone!