The Art Of Regifting

Maggie here…

Let me say upfront that all gifts (no matter how strange) should be accepted with gratitude. That doesn’t mean though that I haven’t gone “EH WHAT IS ERR…THIS???”

So what do we do with presents that we have no use for or too many of? Well, a little searching on the internet has thrown up some very interesting answers.

You CAN regift without getting caught as long as you follow these few simple rules:

MAKE A NOTE OF WHO GAVE YOU THAT GIFT
Remember the person who gave you the present (simply by putting a note on that prezzie) so that you don’t end up giving the gift back to the giver!

REMOVE ALL EVIDENCE OF IT BEING A REGIFT
If the present comes in a box, take EVERYTHING out to check for any notes or gift tags that may have been placed in between the gift. Someone once gave a regifted photo frame without removing the personalised note that was buried under the frame…oh-oh…

DON’T GIVE WITHIN THE SAME CIRCLE
To reduce the chances of giving a gift back to the giver (following so far?) give your regift to another batch of friends. Advice from L.P. (thanks!) “When u receive gifts from relatives you give to friends and when you receive from friends you give to relatives. Because these two groups dont meet normally”

REWRAP REWRAP REWRAP
Don’t regive a gift in it’s original wrapping. Won’t take you more than a dollar for a new wrapper. This way at least no one recognizes the wrapper and goes “Hey wasn’t that what I gave you???” Adeline (thanks!) says “Free gifts 2 give as gifts still fine so long wrap with skill.

So go forth and REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE and now REGIFT!

Merry Christmas!

Tropicana Nights!

Women in Singapore rejoice! We now have clubs where we get served by the male kind. Nice. I imagine these clubs are posh with a good looking brood of men to hang on to our every last words.

But what, just WHAT IF some fella thinks this is a great way to make a quick buck of some tired, under-appreciated married woman. Could we be facing a club like this one…???

The Wonderful World Of You-Tube

Sorry for the delay in getting back to The Gold Breakfast Show’s blogging. Hope ya’ll been good!

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, it’s always a hoot to trawl you-tube. You get the good, the bad and then the down right “WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT?”

Here’s one such example…

Away For Too Long!

“Hi guys, sorry we haven’t blogged for eons! Lots of things have been happening; like my kids having their exams, and new challenges coming our way and this whole we couldn’t take white rabbit sweets fiasco (ok so the last reason is really lame but it worked for a while…)

Promise to blog more from today onwards. Keep checking back for more updates!”

A&W Wherefore Art Thou?

On my recent to Bangkok, round the corner from my hotel was a restaurant I hadn’t seen in AGES!

Tuesday was Coney Dog Day! The frosted Rootbeer Floats! And the curly fries! Plus their waffles served with ice cream! OMG! A&W!!!!

Now those were burgers man! The beef patty were thick and juicy and best of all greasy! The greasier the better I say. I remember there was one at the old Woodlands Checkpoint right in the corner (where the Sheng Shiong Supermarket now stands). Those were the days! My mum would take me there for a treat ever so often. Yum!

That got Hamish and I talking about the “good old days” of food – when Kentucky Fried Chicken was a restaurant that had waitresses that led you to tables and you ate with real cutlery. A time when chilli sauce and tomato ketchup were served in bottles and NOT in satchets.

Or how about Dunkin Donuts? The outlet at Far East Plaza, remember? Before all the other names we’re seeing now, Dunkin Donuts RULED! More names popped up when we mentioned it on air on the Gold Breakfast Show. Wendy’s and their shrimp burgers! Ooooo…

For now I guess if I want a coney dog fix I have to head further up north with my white card ready.

Strange Is As Strange Gets!

Maggie here. Hamish and I went away to Bangkok recently. As buddies would 🙂

In a country where English is not the primary language; spoken or written. And sometimes, the most innocent of signs can leave you wondering. Take this for example…hmmm…how improper are we talking about?

In the lobby of a hotel where renovation was being carried out, I guess just to make sure everyone knew what to expect in terms of noise, the management had this sign put up…

😛

Spring Springs Forth More FOOD!

Maggie here 🙂

I fear for my waistline! I fear I may never find it again after all the eating I’ve been doing. But it feels so good to be pampered with delicious cuisine. Afterall, I am Singaporean. Must be true to my roots. It was off this time to savour authentic Min cuisine. Where the dishes are delicately seasoned so that you don’t get some over salted or over gravied dish. The location was at Amoy Street – Spring JuChunYuan. An off shoot of the original restaurant in China that has been in existance for over 140 years!

I couldn’t wait for the food to come! Yum Yum went my tum tum! And true to their promise, each dish that was presented to me was to say the very least unadulterated. My personal favourite was the prawn fried in red tea. succulent prawns that had been soaked in red tea and then fried till the shells shone a bright red but the flesh was bouncy and sweet from the infusion of the tea!

Another favourite (and this is only if the stuff) was a plate of freshly fried liver. Reminded me of my dad’s dish whenever we had exams. “Brain Food” he called it. Not everyone knows how to cook liver; it has to be cooked thorougly to remove the icky smell but can’t be left in the heat for too long or it’ll get tough. So SpringJuChunYuan scored a 100% from me for this dish. I happily tucked away into this dish at my table since everyone had some adversity towards liver.

I forgot to mention the cold dishes! While other restaurants might serve you jellyfish, popiah (how that can count as a cold dish still boggles me) and mini octupus dipped in the signature red sweet sauce; the treatment was far different at SpringJuChunYuan.

They have this specialty made of thinly sliced bittergourd on a bed of ice; it’s so crisp that many have mistaken it for green apples. My mum used to say, “a person must be able to eat both the sweet, sour and bitter of life”. Me? No problemo!

Oh! Oh! I must tell you about the famous Heng Hwa Noodles! These are special bee hoon flown in from China (because the Singapore variety isn’t springy enough) cooked in broth that has a tinge of wine. The chicken pieces served in the dish soak up the flavour of the broth and the wine and leaves such a warm feeling in your tummy!

Before I knew it, 8 dishes had come and gone from the table. Because the dishes are so light, I didn’t feel sluggish like I normally do after an 8 course Chinese meal. Usually by the 3rd dish, I’m about ready to throw in the chopstick.

Have a look at the rest of the dishes and tell me that this doesn’t wet your appetite! SpringJuChunYuan, Amoy Street…pass the name on ok?

FHM Girls…Err…Women

How many women past the age of 35 can say that they’ve had the chance to be in FHM (For Him Magazine)? It’s usually reserved for svelte, perky and way younger women. But 10 years ago and NOW 10 years later, I made it onto the pages of the gentlemen’s magazine.

My clothes firmly on…hey! I’m aware of my limitations.

A decade ago, I appeared in the first issue. In a double page spread called On The Couch. Basically 4 women were called together and asked our views about men and what they really wanted. A female’s perspective on men and what makes them tick (in our eyes). And I must say that 10 years ago, our views were idealistic and persumptious. Hahaha…

In the upcoming anniversary issue, the team at FHM have reunited us to find out if our views have changed. So, Deborah Abraham (formerly from AM Singapore), Ong So Chin and Sharon Lim (both are regular names in magazines and newspapers) together with me were gathered together.

BOY WAS IT A RIOT! Quite ear piercing for the photographer, the interviewer and the senior editor who had to put up with our cackling for the next 2 hours. *Sorry guys.

“Are men still obsessed over things with buttons? What kind of women do men want? Are men really that easy to read?” After 10 years, had our views changed. Yes and No is all I can say for the moment. I’ll let the interview do the talking. Be sure to pick up the August issue of FHM yes?

Cool! 🙂

Who Is Jazzo?

Maggie here…

Hamish threw another humdinger at me recently with a name from his past…JAZZO. I’m like “Who the heck is Jazzo?” Seems he’s a lion from Singapore’s past. Yes, we’ve got the regurgiating lion standing at the mouth of the Singapore river; the pantless courtesy lion who’s latest pet project is getting Singaporeans to put their food trays back (good luck!)

For fear of bieing lynched again for being “un-Singaporean” because I didn’t know who JAZZO was; the sms and phone lines burned with listeners trying to educate me on who this JAZZO character was. All I could gather was that he and Gurmit Singh (yes, Mr Yellow Contstruction Boots) were an item.

Here are some of  the smses…

I was a starstruck pre teen when i first met gurmit and jazzo at my sch’s sports day in 1990. They were a singing duo, gurmit had hair! – dt

I think the lion Hamesh mention is the character from lion king

Singa the Lion mascot was donned by the then not so famous Gurmit Singh. I also recall that was the only lion then. Emma

I think Jazzo is one of the courtesy campaign lion bro.

Thanks for the info guys…and now for the photo please…

Bargain Me Please!

I (Maggie) made a confession on air this morning. I do not know how to bargain!

*GASP! HORROR! FALL OFF CHAIR!”

So went the listeners of Gold 90FM and Hamish. Ok, ok I really dun know how to  bargain down the price of anything. You ask me to pay $10, I’ll pay it. But since a group of us are heading to Bangkok soon, I have been reminded that if I don’t want to be laughed at, I must haggle the price.

It’s not that I don’t want to; it’s just that I don’t know where to start? They never taught me this in school. So the very helpful Gold 90FM listeners came to my rescue and gave me some starters tips.

I’m sharing some of them here if like me you’re a “Bargain Virgin”

How to bargain.
Price – start with discounting the price by 50% and 50% again.
Set an upper limit that you are willing to pay.
Important to tell yourself that ihe item that you want is available in many stores other than the one that you are in – Marilyn Ling

When you offer then your price, make sure is below 50% of their price. It is not safe to say NO when he says OK. People got beat up saying NO – Anonymous

1st things 1st: Ur mentality must be right… U MUST be THICK-SKINNED. Tell urself that its the 1st & last time u’ll see the stall-owner… Then go for it! – Anonymous

30 percent off wld be fine – John

GOOD LUCK!