I’ve been so dog tired these two weeks.  My working hours are now officially 28 hours per week, with some weeks juggling with more.  While this may sound little to some of you, it is actually a lot for someone who is not supposedly working full-time. 

Suddenly I’m so popular and everyone wants me, asking for my time even in the evenings and Saturdays.  This is good for my ego and pocket of course, but it’s quite a disaster homefront because my life is planned round a part-time schedule with still the domestic chores to take care of. 

Like yesterday,  I came back with hardly any energy left to hug my son, let alone go through his homework.  I had to literally struggle with the bedtime reading and by the time I hit my pillow, I was already knocked out and it was not until much later did I realise that the boy was calling for my attention because he was afraid of the thunder. 

My current work schedule has also messed up some initial planning, especially that of going to the Shichida class with him.  And this is what I feel really awful about, not being there for him especially during his first lesson.  I’m going to finish work around 4pm today.  Let’s see if I can rush down to his class which starts at 4.15pm.  Otherwise, the onus is on the dad, who’s also busy but still has to ensure that the boy doesn’t miss his class and probably accompany him throughout the 75 mins.

Obviously I wish for more time or the ability to go 24 hours a day without sleep.  Unfortunately, the spirit is willing, but the body is always unable.  But it should get better soon.  Well, I certainly hope.

I have been freaking busy as you can most probably tell from my lack of updates.   But something nice I’ve received in my inbox this week which I thought I would like to brag share.

Dear Sesame,

We were wondering if you could add a link to Novica Jewelry on your website?

Novica is a wonderful company if you haven’t heard of us.  We’re associated
with National Geographic and we give artists around the world a place to
express their artistic talents.  In fact, many of our most popular jewelry
designers are women.  Busarin, our most popular artist, lives and works in
Thailand.

Please let me know.  We’d be happy to send you a complimentary piece of
jewelry for your time.

Warm wishes,

Grant Takahashi
NOVICA United

For those who have followed Viva Woman right at the beginning, you may remember that I’ve blogged about Novica’s jewelries and bags way earlier.   As a matter of fact, I already have them listed in my resources page.

So I didn’t quite mind putting Novica’s jewelry link up but I had no plans on putting it on my homepage which is meant for paid links.  And frankly, I didn’t know what to make out of the complimentary jewelry he mentioned.

I sent him an email confirming that I have put up their link within my page on resources and since it isn’t prime space, I thought he might not be too happy with my proposal.  But guess what he replied me? 

Hi Sesame,

Thank you so much!   I noticed that you also posted about the pop-top bags

Here’s a $100 gift certificate from us at Novica.  Just type in
“XXX” during checkout when it asks for Gift Certificate or promotion
code.

CODE: XXX
AMT: $100
EXP: 6/30/07
Purchase of Sale items?  Yes

Would it be possible to do a post on our relaunched jewelry page?  We
totally revamped the navigation and organization of our jewelry. Currently,
we’re offering free shipping on many jewelry items in time for Mother’s
Day.  Let me know what you think.

Best,
Grant

Holy freaking cow.  US$100 worth of handmade jewelries in gemstones for me to choose just for putting up his website on my resources page!   That’s quite alot to me for not doing much.  I know the value of Viva Woman and what’s its worth.   That site has a page rank of 4 and no way can it command a textlink with that sort of value.  And note that this is not tied in to his latter request for me to write up about them.  It was a by-the-way-if-you-don’t-mind-doing-it-thingie.

US$100 is not much but still, my blog has been recognised and that’s a milestone.    So of course I’m over the moon.   Now you know why I’m so shameless in pimping my blog and why I desperately want to win awards?   Wow, just imagine I might get offers from cosmetic and skincare companies to review their products for free.  That would be a blogging dream come true!

Anyway, for what he has offered, I’m going to put up Novica’s link on my homepage for awhile and also do a write-up on his revamped site later. 

But first, I’m going jewelry shopping first!  And if you haven’t seen their site, their stuff are lovely, especially those made by the Thai artisans.

These past few days have been a bit mad for us because of a sudden increase in my workload.  Thank goodness I have the man. 

On top of rushing around to meet his project deadlines, juggling with absolutely crazy schedules for some last minute shipments, dealing with annoyingly difficult people and running errands for his trip, he managed to hold up very well on our domestic front; settled the defunct washing machine for me, covered my role to bring Gavin to school and even accompanied the boy for his first Shichida lesson.

There was hardly time for him to have a proper meal, let alone exercise, and he survived on only a couple of hours of sleep for the past few nights.  With that little rest and all the stress adding up, it was no wonder that he bumped the back of the car two nights ago.  Still, he was in good spirits.    

On our way to the airport this morning, he kept reminding me to take care of myself and our boy.  And he even bothered to stop at the station to top up a full tank of petrol to last me a good few days on the road. 

So despite being quite an occasional asshat himself and not possessing any supernatural abilities, I think it won’t be too much to call him my superman for this once.

Yesh!  A new movie for Takuya Kimura!  This time it is Hero, the popular drama which he starred in as the kokoii Kuryu Kohei, a very brilliant but totally unconventional and quirky public procecutor. 

This is so exciting!  Those who have watched Hero would definitely love to watch this.  It was one of his best drama with very high viewership, averaging 35%.  It’s one of those that you’ll just want MORE!

Apparently, the entire original cast from the drama is in the movie as well, including my not very favourite Matsu Takako.  But okay, I don’t mind her nerdy look that much this time. 

For those who haven’t watched the drama, you can catch it on Youtube here.  And from the looks of it, the movie will probably be screened in the 2nd half of the year.

I’M SO GOING TO WATCH THIS FOR SURE!

Of all the Japanese restaurants on the 3rd level of Central at Eu Tong Sen street, I decided to pick this one.  Marutama Ra-men.  The rest were screaming casual dining but the settings looked too stiff for my liking.  This one seemed cool enough.   It looked like a hip ramen shop straight out from Tokyo with cooks in bandanas.  In fact, it reminded me of a similar Japanese eatery we visited in Taiwan some years ago.

I ordered the Marutama Ramen in chicken soup which by the way, is their best seller.  The ramen was served in a very pretty looking bowl.  The broth was clear and the noodles were springy.  But it reminded me of instant noodles.  Okay, better tasting of course but it was definitely different from the ramen I am used to.   

This Marutama Ramen is a just too light for my tastebuds.  While others have raved about the ramen here with some calling it the best they’ve tasted, I still prefer the ramen at Tampopo with its richly flavoured black pig broth.