Today is Pompster's last day as he is leaving us for a better opportunity. We were extremely busy as it is also a cut-off day for the period. Everyone was trying to get stuff done before the year end closing. Since we were the only ones working during the one-week Christmas shutdown, we felt pretty deserted in the empty building. As I was heading out around four thirty this afternoon,I still saw some cars in the parking lot that do not belong to anyone in the Finance department. I wondered what those losers were doing on a Friday night right before New Year's eve --I could think of ten million better things to do off the top of my head. Pom have been pestering me to go out for a drink with him, I declined the offer cos I didn't want him to take it the wrong way. But I will definitely be missing you, Pom--especially your hearty laughters and occasional flirting. I am sure the feeling will turn into a writhing fury some time next week when we are pulling our hair out trying to get the year to close without any help on your part. Cheers, traitor. I ended up having drinks with my friends at a bar and later went to an Indian place to grab something to eat. Tomorrow I will be going to Times Square to see the ball drop. It's a shame that I've been living in this area for 10 years and have never seen the ball dropping. I heard it is quite a chaotic event but I am excited.

Happy Holidays everyone! May your holiday be full of joy and the New Year be prosperous and healthy. My heartfelt thanks to all of my wonderful friends--cyber or real life--for taking the time to read my blog. *Hugs and Kisses* Although we have not met, I hope some day we will.

I spent a quiet Christmas eve at my local church and then went to have dinner with my friends. I was feeling pretty down and was certainly not in party mood. My parents are thousands miles away and I missed them terribly. Plus, the recent corporate announcements and changes in my company made me wonder whether more drastic changes are underway and whether our department would be left intact. We hugged each other before we left the company on Friday morning holding the gifts from each other. I don't know about other people but at that moment I felt this might be the last Christmas we spent in each other's company as colleagues. "Changes are inevitable" as I recalled what GM said during our Christmas luncheon presentation. He also explained in length about the four stages people normally go through when being faced wiht changes, which made me feel like I was in an organizational development class back in college. In today's ever-changing world, nothing is certain only change is inevitable. Another thing for certain is: Job security aside, in its relentless pursuit of cutting costs and maximizing profitability at any cost in corporate America, loyalty will soon to be a thing in the past.

看一部好戏如同读一本好书，让人有如沐春风之感。看到精彩处，还会不禁拍案叫绝,心被牢牢抓紧着，不能松开。最近小女子看的这部大陆翻拍的台湾经典“京城四少”就属于这种类型了。 “京城四少”讲述的是由一件二十年前发生的劫匪腥杀案引发的一系列的动人故事，记载了两代人，四户人家的血雨腥风及悲欢离合。 整出戏故事情节紧凑，丝丝入扣，实属一部难能的好剧。令人惊奇的是，卡士中除聂远稍有点知名度外，其他的都是影坛新秀，但演技方面却丝毫都不逊色，给人种耳目一新的感觉。这里要特别一提的是扮演古人杰的段秋旭。小女子承认对此俊男存有偏爱之心，但段秋旭在里面的表现确实无可挑剔,一双深邃的眼眸不禁让人心旌摇荡，浮想联翩。而于他拍对手戏的宋茜(饰雨桐) 虽没有傲人的容貌，但从气质外型上却也十分清新可人。

聂远饰演的铁蛋是本剧的主力，而演小混混这种角色也是其初次的尝试。不可否认，聂远此处拿捏的的确滴水不漏,恰到好处。当然其他演员如扮演立寒的常铖及芽儿的柏雪等等对此剧的成功都功不可没, 但让刚从大牢里假赦出来的刘小庆扮演九姨娘，并让她占有太多不该占的戏分，难免有利用她大作炒作之嫌。刘的演出给人的感觉有点过火，甚至有时有些假。若把整套剧比作是条龙， 那么宋茜及段秋旭则是龙的眼睛，乃本剧的真髓所在也。大有看头!

The girls I work with Look how festive they look



Me and my boss in the crowd

The company Christmas luncheon was really nice. We had great fun and laugh. I had an antipasto salad followed by veal piccata and finished it off with vanilla ice cream as dessert. Some people had wine but I chose not to. We didn't go back till three in the afternoon. Whoo...

Too tired to write. Shabu shabu for dinner with my close friends. I didn't eat much cos I was not in a good mood the whole day. The cornish chicken soup base with dry anchovy was hmm..hmm...delicious for I have let it simmer for four hours. I ate so many brownies I was afraid my teeth were gonna fall out. But it was quite Ok since you are supposed to get fat during the holidays.

It's been three weeks since I moved into this house and it's still a complete mess. Boxes, clothes and paper are strewn everywhere. After taking up every little space in the living room and dining room, now they are making their way to the foyer and the kitchen. I guess I have kept putting up this "house cleaning" process as I have millions of things to do every day... I am too busy and stressed and feel like I am behind schedule every morning I wake up. After pacing through room to room just now, however, I felt the burning need to speed up the process since the house-warming party is scheduled on this Saturday. I started to visualize the house without the clutter and ponder the solution to this messy house situation. The quick fix in sight? Move all the boxes and clutter to the closet where nobody can see them. How smart I am, no?

Spent my Sunday in Flushing along with a couple of friends. We went to this Malaysian restaurant called Sentosa on Prince Street. Since my Singaporean friend Paul had highly recommended this place,we decided to give it a try. I was morbidly embarassed by my "Bahasa Malaysia" and I could swear, the only word I knew for sure from the menu is "ayam". The waitress who took the order intially used Malaysian to address me. However, after having me repeat a couple of times of what I had to say and still not sure what I uttered, she gave up and switched to English. (sigh)*All these years of studying was given back to my teacher.* I ordered a Nasi Lemak and a seafood casserole and was wondering the whole time why Paul gave props to their food. After lunch,I went to Korean town to have my hair highlighted and cut. My hairdresser's name happens to be Junny too. She speaks little English and our conversations usually contain very short and simple phrases, such as "cut my hair","highlight" and "a little bit shorter please". I tipped her generouly and she gleefully gave me a calendar as a promotional gift. I picked up some grocery on my way back which concluded my Sunday trip.

Got to go to work even on this very snowy day. That sucks. We had at least 8 inches of snow today. I headed out for work around nine this morning and didn't get there until nine forty. Some of the roads were not plowed at all, hence they were very slippery. I was driving slow--very sloooow like an old woman. When I got there, my boss was like, "You just got here?". Yeah, didn't I call you this morning to tell you I was gonna be late for work and you said "take your time"? On a crapy day like this one, some companies didnt open until two in the afternoon. I am sorry, boss. No matter what you said, I have to look after myself. But he was nice enough to allow me to leave twenty minutes earlier this afternoon. So I got home safe and sound. Nothing feels better than sitting at home sipping a deliciouly rich cappucino enjoying the rich flavor of a Tiramisu cake. That, I believe, is the true meaning of life.

今晚真是好乱。吃饭前的心情还极爽，直到饭后麦克从衣袋里拿出一只包装精美的珠宝盒，在我面前打开。里面放着只很美的蓝宝石戒指，灯光下熠熠地发着光。
"This is for you." 他用英语温柔地跟我说 (他一直是个好温柔的男人)，声音轻柔得让我想到夜晚喃喃拍打礁石的海浪。我的心跳顿然加速。
“But why?" 我下意识地用英语回答。心里一下子想到了许多。
”因为看你最近那么忙累，所以特别的买个礼物送给你。当是我送你的圣诞节礼物
吧。请你收下”
“从朋友那里收到那么贵的礼物还是第一次哩。礼下于人，必有所求。说吧，要我帮忙什么呀”我故意放轻松地说。
“只为博你一笑罢了。没有别的。”
噢？真的吗？天下真有免费的午餐吗。
吃完那顿饭到现在，我一直很矛盾，不知如何是好。博我一笑，。是哭给你看吧。