Stopped by the UK sale yesterday (for Warehouse, Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge etc) and happened to chance upon the Valentino sale next door...Came out of the UK sale with just a turquoise clutch and a red silk Warehouse dress which I've been eye-ing for the longest time, and couldn't bear to part with the S$233 then :) And now, it can't be a better buy at S$50!


Valentino sale - pair of work shoes, a tie for R, 2 brooches and a cuff leather watch :) My happiest buy was the pair of mules at S$50, down from the original S$599! :) Also picked up a small leather accessory for mother's day!

jazz on a moonlit night

It was a beautiful night of jazz by Sentosa's Siloso Beach. (Sentosa is where the crowd is these days really. Gone are the days of the dilapidated Asian Village!)

Durrow gal, KS, PB, JY, R and myself headed down to the beach for dinner first at Coastes where I had a good batter of fish and chips. However, the BBQ ribs R ordered were way too tough! And can I just mention, service at Coastes needs improvement too, although being seated next to the tourist attraction 'Sounds of the Sea' meant that we got to see the fireworks at the end of the laser shows even at dinner :)

After our meal, we strolled down Siloso, and met up with Yappy and others at the jazz corner near Rasa Shangri-La where they were playing lovely free jazz tunes for the last Saturday this month :)





"When you have a dream you've got to grab it and never let go." - Carol Burnett

A peep

Just found out that our blinds for the guest room are finally up :)

Makes a world of difference!

Saigon Saigon

Just got back from Saigon this evening :)

Lovely trip with 2 wonderful ladies...had a great time! Food, shopping (tons of it!), manicures/pedicures, nightly drinks...and the lot!



Late-night shopping...just look at our bags!



Chilling out at Temple Club - where every piece you see is on sale :)



Van Gogh's Starry Night replica in one of the galleries



Dinner by the stalls outside the market...Great yummy food for a fraction of the price!



Drinks at Carmen - A Lord of The Rings setting with live flamenco music - we loved it! :P





The beautiful lacquered lamp egg-shell painted with The Kiss :) And up close - Couldn't resist!!



Look at my loot :) Yes the blue orange clutch - is made from the Orangina can!!

It'd be quiet studying for the coming 2 weeks!

Sweet colours

Thinking of checking out Canelé by the Les Amis Group sometime next week before I head to HCM, Vietnam :) Just looking at their lovely Macaroons on display at their site is making me go weak!

R and I took an early start to this sunday and headed down for the Marriott talk. Interestingly enough, I never knew the Bvlgari group of resorts were under the same umbrella group. Well, it didn't strike us to sign up on a 5 yr committment, but we did leave the talk $100 richer...

"Cherish your vision and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements." - Napoleon Hill

Simple

The world is a simple place. Really. With simple food, simple jobs, simple people. We choose to make it difficult, don't we? Why do people always make a racket out of the smallest of things?

If only people say things that they mean, be honest about the feelings that they really feel, everything will be so much easier, you think? If you want pizza, but was unsure of how your date will think of you eating FAT, screw it, just order yourself a pizza. If you miss that certain somebody, call him and stop whining about how he doesn't calls. If you really want to follow your heart, quit beating about the bush about how you're considering all options in your life? Just make a decision and face the considerable consequences?

But you see, the world can never be that simple. It's complex, and I doubt things will ever change in the journey we call life...

Don't we all wish for a simpler time?

"Golf is a game in which you yell 'fore', shoot six, and write down five." — Paul Harvey

The Dream

Dream is a passion where you can rule the world of our own.
Dream is a gift from God which you can enjoy alone.
Dream breaks the barriers of our desires and takes us to the throne.
That is why the origin of the dream is unknown.

Talk : Softly

Walk : Humbly

Eat : Sensibly

Breathe : Deeply

Sleep : Sufficiently

Dress : Smartly

Act : Fearlessly

Work : Patiently

Think : Truthfully

Believe : Correctly

Behave : Decently

Learn : Practically

Plan : Orderly

Earn : Honestly

Save : Properly

Spend : Intelligently

Citigroup to hack 17,000 jobs

Largest U.S. bank announces it will cut about 5.2 percent of workforce, but analysts say move could hurt more than help.

By Rob Kelley, CNN staff writer
April 11 2007: 8:01 AM EDT

NEW YORK -- Citigroup announced Wednesday it is cutting 17,000 jobs in the company's first restructuring in ten years, but analysts say the cuts could be the exact opposite of what it needs to grow earnings.

The cuts make up about 5.2 percent of Citi's current workforce of 327,000 full-time employees. Citigroup CEO Charles Prince is under pressure from shareholders to restructure.

The company also said it will move 9,500 jobs to "lower-cost locations."

The biggest U.S. bank faces intense pressure from shareholders to juice its bottom line, as the company's stock has grown only 15 percent since Charles Prince came on as CEO in October 2003. To put that in perspective, its shares price gained 272 percent during the same length of time from 1997 to 2000.

Charles Prince will hold a conference call with analysts detailing the cuts on Wednesday at 8am.

Prince announced last year that he would review the company's five divisions to create a "leaner, thinner" Citigroup. Revenue growth has not kept pace with spending at the company, putting a damper on earnings.

"We undertook this review to create a consistent level of best-in-class expense discipline in every part of our company," said Robert Druskin, Chief Operating Officer, who managed the review process, in a statement. "We did not simply give the entire organization an arbitrary number to cut. Instead, we looked objectively at each of our businesses and functions based on the opportunities we saw, benchmarking them against their peers."

In a statement announcing the job cuts early Wednesday morning, Citigroup said it expects the move to generate savings of $2.1 billion in 2007, $3.7 billion in 2008, and $4.6 billion in 2009. It said it would record a pre-tax charge of $1.38 billion in the first quarter of 2007 related to the cuts.

The company felt pressure from shareholders eager for a return to the high-growth ways of the past, says an analyst.

"Citigroup over the years has built up an investor base with audacious expectations about the returns the company could generate in the future," said Craig Woker, an analyst with Morningstar. "But times have changed - this company is no longer managed by a team that can go out and get growth through cheap acquisitions."
One analyst said that the company's revenue woes began with moves made by earlier CEO Sandy Weill.

"Business by business, Citigroup stripped cash in order to make large acquisitions under Weill," said Dick Bove, an analyst with Punk, Ziegel & Company. "As a result each of these businesses was failing to grow revenue and lost market share."

Citigroup, which has operations in 100 countries, has over 8,000 bank branches and 200 million customers.

Spanish flava

Presenting...

The Amazona

The Long Play

And my fav - The Napa Aire (but in tan)

Much wanted!!

For now, I can only dream :)

Café del Mar

Can I just say that while the food was average, however my strawberry daiquiri could rival the one I had in Paris at Hotel Costes - amazing and totally yummy! :)

As expected, music totally lived up to expectations and was fantastic...should check it out when there's a chance!

Music to the Sunset

R, Shirl, MP and me are heading to Café del Mar at Sentosa for drinks tonight :) Somewhere I've always wanted to check out for the longest time - absolutely LOVE their music!

More later...

A new addition

Our weekend has been slow and relaxing. We caught the film "The Reaping" starring Hillary Swank last night and it was thrilling. Quite apt given its theme being somewhat religious - good and evil, for this Easter weekend. I think it was really good for R and I to simply soak in the joy of couplehood. Doing so little but yet feeling more at peace somehow. Or maybe the realisation of what may come should our family unit expand for another little one. Ha. (not yet!)

I went to visit Baby Nathan just back from the UK :) My cousin Joyce is beaming from the pride of her first-born son...a little new addition to my mum's side of the family...

I love his blue eyes, with his tan-coloured hair :) How adorable!

"The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. " - Allan K. Chalmers

It's finally the long Easter weekend...R is back till Monday - and the good news is - The Boy no longer needs to fly until his next stop in August / September, which translates into R will be based in Singapore till then :) YAY!

We had a simple dinner - for just the 2 of us - it was nice, and definitely something we should do more often :)

Due to a lack of time, we had prawn paste chicken and spinach with garlic bought back from the shops opposite, and I made chicken soup with carrots and corn :) There's something missing at the table (can you spot it?)...so we added on...

Viola! 2 glasses of our lovely limoncello brought back from the streets of Venice, Italy, mixed with a dash of coke completed it all :)

"Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination." - Voltaire

one, two...

My attempt at training up for the run, as well as commencing my studies have failed...or perhaps it has just been a horrible week.

For reasons which cannot be named, the Old one has began killing me slowly. Every day. Every morning. Some shit will indefinitely be hurled my way. I must try. Perseverance is key.

I think in some miraculous way, some light has been thrown my way. I feel bad when I complain knowing how hard it took R to get where he wanted to be, and yet, I am similarly reminded on how tough life has made me somehow and how small things shouldn't get me down. Really. I've decided to take the FRM and beef up on the opportunity at hand.

GA and I had a nice night...and I just realised how much I miss some close friends. Really quite a lot.

Also, congrats to CT for making it in :) G'night now...

"Security is making the best of the current and paving one's own way to a brighter path."

PS Cafe

Nestled amongst the greenery and hidden within the Dempsey estate lies the PS Cafe. The only tell-tale sign of the cafe's location is a modest wooden sign with its name imprinted, leading to its entrance via a wooden planked path.

It reminds me of how relaxing weekends should be. Akin to the good old days back in Melbourne, and yet similarly resembling a little buzz of activity over a cup of earl grey in a nice green house with other like-minded people on a lazy sunday morning.

Prices were not the most competitive I must say with the bill for us 2 ladies coming up to approximately S$50+, however, I enjoyed the scrambled eggs brunch with my lil piece of haven.

Once again, it's really like how weekends should be - nice, long, relaxing and in a different world :) And, thanks to Yappy for a great find and recommendation!

"A sponge to wipe away the past, a rose to sweeten the present, a kiss to greet the future."