Spymama @ Mamakshop

So this time I had wasted money on printing my photos at the shop. Hrrmmph. Never mind. I think I’ll just hop down at the Popular book shop and get my own photo paper instead. Maybe I can print from those online softwares that allows one to make cards after downloading your own photos/images on them. Have you tried them? There are several online from those popular camera brands like Canon, Fuji, i think. Otherwise, there still is picnik or something like that. Maybe I should give that a try. I remember my best friend did some Photo Christmas Cards online but she ordered it after downloading her images. And she got it sent to her home, it was just as lovely, maybe better than the shop near my home…

I thought getting my images to the real brick and mortar print shops means my photos will be even more professional and that these shops have good quality paper. But I was wrong.. the prints came out very ugly! The colours are not brilliant at all, compared with what I printed from my home inkjet printer. What a disappointment.. sigh. I probably should have just asked them to transfer my photos from the memory card to a CD rom the other day… I was terribly worried that my memory card might be infected with virus when I brought it to the shop.. i think not.. maybe the next time I better use a thumbdrive instead. And perhaps I might as well also shop for promotional usb drives to store all my photographs before my laptop decides to call it a day… it’s showing signs already… aiyo. Too many things on my mind.. all computer related. I’m bursting…

When I was growing up, I wanted to learn riding on a bicycle. No one was free to teach me the basics and no one was around to help me balanced in the hand-me-down two wheeled bike from sis. Persistent as I was, I sacrificed my afternoon matinees (which I never never missed!) just to learn to ride it. I could still remember it clearly. Yes, it was on a Wednesday, I was 9 years old and it was about 5.30pm. Yes, details like that are very clear to me, because at that very day and time, I triumph in riding the bike while my mom and sis were watching a Cantonese TV movie on the telly. I felt proud of myself, thus this day was a great milestone and something that was etched into my brain for this indefinite time.. that was so many decades away! The only thing different from last time and now is that parents are more involved in their kids, buys nice bikes and even get those helmets and protective gears that matches with the bike theme/colours… How lovely to see young kids in them, actually. But if it were me, I think I’d go for those equestrian helmets… they are really the coolest helmets ever! Can one wear that riding a motorcycle too? They are protective gears for our heads too, right?

The year of the Rabbit is suppose to be a much relieved year. The past two years hadn’t been too good; economically and this year looks set to improve. I certainly hope so. A fresh new start for a good year, filled with more blessings, prosperity, health and wealth. Just before the Chinese New Year, it had been pouring, really rained and rained hard. Perhaps it is a way to wash away all the old and bad things in the past few years so that this year is now fresh and totally new.

According to fengshui masters, there will be a lack of water this year so it is wise to place a bowl of water in the northwest area of your home. I had that fixed *wink* just before the Lunar New Year starts… of course I believe in fengshui… but it would have been nice to be living near a water park… look at this pic I took while at Sentosa recently… how I wished my garden could be just like this! I’d have kois in ponds, lots of water fountain, crystal moving balls.. lots of lovely lotus and lilly buds and all the beautiful chinese vases too..sigh..

It was raining so heavily two days ago that I had to turned on the hazard lights because visibility was so poor. Somewhere along the Bukit Timah road, the traffic then crawled to a stop. Apparently an accident had occurred. Seems like it is usually the case on a wet day. We really need to drive with extra care and lots of patience on weathers like that. It is really handy to carry a camera with you nowadays so that you can take photos of emergency situation like that. I had an accident last year and had no camera with me. The other party had. Lucky for me, my mobile still have a basic camera although it is merely 3.2mpx. At least I’d have some photographs to make sure some part of reasonable doubt exists. In the old days where old fashion SLR cameras and camcorders were apparent is now taken over by mostly digital cameras and hd type mobiles, smartphones and the like. I’d love to get a good smartphone though.. maybe need to shop around for a while..

After the Lunar New Year, I have a big hole in my pocket. They say if you spend during Chinese New Year, don’t worry because you will get back double, triple or quadrupole the amount you have used. Huh.. is that true? Because I am feeling even more ‘broke’! I need to supplement my income and I have been looking at the Classifieds section to see if there are any job that can be done part time. The classifieds look thick but when you scrutinize it, there aren’t many jobs for me. Other that sales jobs and admin, I don’t really know what else can I do.. Most require some sort of specialized skills like accounting or childcare educator’s certification or some papers to show proof or qualification. I hate to think that I’ll have to settle for a job in the kitchen… haih… Maybe in the service line on the front line.. if they don’t mind someone older for this type of job..

Today’s paper has a little bit of educational information about LED, LCD and Plasma TVs in the market. I read about the sharpness, quality, heat emitted and how the price of these gadgets have gone down and that LED TVs may surpass sales of LCD this year. One can get a good price if one is willing to wait. That goes without saying for computers too, right? Frankly, I do not know what materials they are made of, how good each may turn out to be and how long these TVs may last. Why, because I am still watching from a large bulky television that is probably going to be a little more than a decade old, by now! Yes, I am as outdated as ever but my faithful Toshiba is really lasting. The only thing that I have of some LCD quality are my computer monitors. Also I wonder if LCD, LED or Plasma TVs can last a decade old like my big and bulky old Toshiba? I love you Bulky Tosh..

My momma always told me that it is very important to get a good education. I agree. Every parent wants their child to grow up, get an education to the best they could so that they would lead a better life, earning a good salary and be at least a white collar professional. But did you know that many of those people who are successful businessman and rich tycoon in their own right are not even those who had a proper eduction and that some were flunked out of school at very young age?

They worked hard to get to where they are. It’s totally work. And we should not really snuff at many schools who give any working adults who gives people like them for a second chance of eduction, including some who may want to choose an online business degree because of their heavy working schedule. I know some friends have doubted and if an online business degree equals to a degree earned from the brick and mortar university. Frankly, I believe that if you get a good fundamental in education, it is equally important as these are supporting elements for a successful business person, not because it has to be some well known expensive university that filters only the cream of the crops. It is the education process where one LEARNS and not the end product that one receives in the form of a name in a scroll. Everyone deserves education, at any age.

National service would never do for me.. As much as I’d like to be enlisted, I think I may need extra training because I don’t have alertness in me. I’m as blind as a bat.. If I had to carry with me any kind of gadgets or weapons, most likely I’d have to gear up totally, with lots of enhanced gadgets like the eotech magnifier and any special extra sensitive scopes.. Then again, I’d be so weighed down, I might not be able to move much. I’d then be mounted on the spot and be the most useless armed soldier that will be a liability to the rest of the team…sigh. Do they train such invalids like me? Best to leave me right at home..

The luxury smells of cigars is just addictive. But I cannot afford to enjoy fine brands as they are very, very, very expensive. Sometimes, I ask my friend to get them for me when she is in transit on international flights or just buy a small affordable box from the duty free shop when she flies over. I do not smoke them but I enjoy being a passive cigar smoker when hubby smokes on one. Chilling out with a glass of red in a nice cool rainy night is perfect. Just like the current wet spell we are having now. My friend recently bought me one of the la flor dominicana brands and I do really like them so much. She told me that if I source online, I can actually find them being sold in individual sample packs of singles too. How convenient.