Happy Halloween!

It's the ang-moh's ghost festival and along the way to the bus stop after knocking off...
I saw little kids decorating their homes with cotton wools and fake skeletons...

I've nv celebrated this occassion like them before...
So interesting...

Snapped a pic of the pretty house outside MC...

See the "spider webs" and pumpkin-carved jack o'lanterns...

Wanna know the origin of jack o'lanterns?

Here

The Chinese have their superstitions during the Hungry Ghost Fest...
The Ang Mohs have their myths too!

Source
• Going in for dumb supper, meaning that nobody will talk while having supper, encourages the spirits to come to the table.

• It is believed that if an unmarried girl keeps a rosemary herb and a silver sixpence under her pillow on Halloween night, it is quite likely that on that very night, she would dream of her future husband.

• It is said that if you hear someone's footsteps behind you on the Halloween night, you should not turn back because it may be a dead following you. And if you commit the mistake of looking back, it is likely that you might join the dead very soon.

• People believe that if on the Halloween night, a girl carrying a lamp in her hand goes to a spring of water, she will see the reflection of her life partner in water.

• People have a superstition that if an unmarried girl carries a broken egg in a glass and takes it to a spring of water, she will be able to catch the glimpse of not just her future husband, by mixing some spring water in the glass, but also she can see the reflection of her future kids.

• There is the old saying that "black cats are bad luck". It was once believed that black cats were the devil, or consumed by evil spirits.

• People used to believe that Satan was a nut-gatherer. Nuts were also used as magic charms on the day of Halloween festival.

• If you put your clothes on inside out as well as outside walk backwards on Halloween night. At midnight you will see a witch in the sky. People used to believe witches were the devil, or that they were consumed by evil.

• There is also an old saying "if the flame on your candle goes out on Halloween celebration; it gives you the meaning that you are with a ghost".

• If you ring a bell on Halloween it will frighten evil spirits away.

• Many people used to consider that owls would dive down to eat the souls of the dying on Halloween. They used to think if you pulled your pockets out, and left them hanging, they'd be safe.

• It has been said if a bat flies into your house on Halloween, it is a sign that ghosts or spirits are very nearer, and maybe they are in your home and let the bat in.

• People used to believe that if bats are out early on Halloween, and they fly around playfully, then good weather is to come.

• If a bat flies around your house three times on Halloween, death is very soon to come

• To ward off evil spirits on Halloween, you can bury all the animal bones in your front yard, or even put a picture of an animal very close to your doorway.

• People used to believe you could walk around your house three times backwards before sunset on Halloween, and that would take care of all evil.

• It could be the spirit of a dead loved one watching you if you watch a spider on Halloween.

Hmm... Actually, some are pretty similar to the chinese ones....

The most expensive properties in the U.S...

Photos courtesy of forbes.com

165 million

135 million

125 million

125 million

I personally like the last property...
Your own lawn and beach!!
Although the rest probably have those too...

By the way, that's Donald Trump's house...
He bought it off a bankruptcy auction in 2004 at a price of 41.25 million!

These rich people...
Pure madness...

I guess the owners wun even know if some illegal imigrants decide to stay for good in some insignificant corner of the property...

You can read this interesting article here

Went lunch with ah ling yest after a last minute sms from her...

Glad she signed the contract and they didnt cheat her pay =)

Speaking of pay, it's less than 10 days to salary day and I'm really pleased!
My pockets are really drained with a majority going to the stupid school fees...

I envy the ppl around me who dun have to worry a bit bout paying the hefty fees... even my own bro who didn't have to worry about his last time...

Sigh...

I can totally understand the feeling about getting all desperate during the week before pay day...
The few dollars left in the bank...
Asking your fren to transfer a few dollars to ur acct so that you are able to withdraw the minimum amount of $20...

How I wished those pennies were spent on me

(maybe shopping? So I can prevent dementia hahaha)

Nah, I think my savings would have reached new highs if not for the fees...

Savings have been stagnant for more than a year which is scary and the worst part is, I dun see it increasing anytime soon with all my debts uncleared...

Calculated my debts with him last weekend and it seems I would need to continue working non-stop for another yr or so to settle them...

*gasp*

Tough choice....

Actually, I'm really spendthrift for someone with a few thousands worth of debts...
So my boy, be warned...

Really hope they will do something to my pathetic pay and hopefully, I will get the bonus which will certainly tide me over for some time...

What's more, I've got plans for driving lessons and braces!!

I've always believed when one's really desperate, he/she will do something to get himself/herself out of that dire situation in ways which one will nv think he/she could do in normal circumstances. And that, includes having a financial crisis...

I've done that and I believe I will find ways to do that again! :)

Quote of my day:

"Money talks...but all mine ever says is good-bye." -Anon.

Went to colleague's chalet last Saturday.
Could have enjoyed more if not for the fact that I was feeling unwell...
I'm thankful for nauti boy who joined me in lugging that console to the other side of the island and taking care of me while I wasn't feeling too good.

Still, I played with the rest, shouted, screamed and laughed!
Their reactions were damn hilarious la...! =)
Even Gladys who didn't wanna play couldn't resist the temptation!
Heh!

More of the chalet details in the next entry (I hope)...

Chalet aside, met up with Ah Kang and Ah Ling for a session of K!
Been quite some time since I last K...

Singing our hearts out hahahahah





Photos Photos time!

Ah Kang sang her Xin Yue Tuan song till she went coarse... hahhahaha...
Curb the temptation and put that as your last song next time k Ah Kang!? Haha!

Then Ah Ling had her whole list of songs lined up...
She sang and kept urging us to push our songs to the front... wohahaha...
Miss LEE LI, your 乌龟 song accompanied me to sleep last night leh...
Oh ya! I'm still hurt by what you said =(
Wahahhahahahahahahahhahahaha



Took quite alot of "unglam" (quoted from ah ling) photos...

Then this little girl went for class!!! And she didn't tell us about that!! *Roar*
So Ah Kang and I sang till we were asked to leave...
We enjoyed singing lots of S.H.E songs! wahahaha!
So Fun!

Shopped around and had our dinner @ "中间" hahahahhahahahah


The 4 Treasures Noodle Soup and 3 eggs something... silver fish fried rice...
hahahahhaha!

Not too bad =)

Chatted till the shop closed and planned to go home when Ah Ling finished her classes...
Met up with her for her dinner at Mac...
Continued our gossips.. ahem...

Hahahha

Ah Kang: Thanks for the comic! Heh! yeah! You revived my interest in comics again!
Woohooo! =)
I love Girl Girl comics! hahahhaha

We sing more SHE songs k? Heh!!

Ah Ling: Although you hurt me yesterday (wahhaha), but still, thanks for your drinks treat! =)
More outings k?! And pls, check your HP regularly! =P

Nearly everyone in my block gathered downstairs yesterday night for a meeting with our MP, Dr Vivian...

All because of their plans to build a childcare centre right in the way of our main passageway...

Protests (in the form of a petition, of course...) began last week and nearly all the units in the block has signed it, alerting our Mr MP.

Thus, he called for a residents meeting last night and to his surprise, we were a one huge group!

Even the police were alerted!

I didn't know my block had this many people!

HAha!
Call this unity or what...

How often do u see your neighbours, all (literally) at one go!?

And probably some for the first time in the past decade of living together in the same block!

The poor MP and his committee outnumbered...

And wow... Just saw a news just in...

Dr V is in Shanghai.. Haha

How exciting, we got to talk to him a day before he flew away...

I must agree he's quite a good speaker (an MP afterall...)
Started with an apology (which can never go wrong) and then continued to pacify the residents..
Starting with the nature of our estate (a young one with lots of young couples)
Moving on to stress the need for affordable childcare services for the young mummies around... At the same time, promoting "more babies"...
And finally, moving to the crux of the problem...

An interesting dialogue session we had with discussions on the future plans for the estate... Made Mum very happy (with the planned sports complex, MRT etc which eventually equates to a rise in property value = good house investment = good money = happy mummy)

Nothing's promised with the discussion like what he said "I never make promises" which is understandable...
Just hope they would do their best to settle this matter...

But I liked how he said it's his karma (for being MP) to step on some toes and have residents unhappy, scolding him etc...
And how ppl in the residents committee (volunteers) should not be reprimanded unlike him who is paid to get scolded... Lolx!
Funny how he mentioned that...

Anyway, an interesting fact I learnt...

Do you know our void decks will not be left empty?
The space would be used for "communal activities" eventually (maybe in the span of the next 30 years or so)
Communal Activities could mean offering facilities like childcare, elderly care etc...

But it's kindna sad right...
Then void deck can't be called so cuz it's not void (as in empty) anymore...
Maybe it should be called communal deck or something... =/