One stark contrast between my husband and I is that I am a procrastinator while he is a go-getter. If he says he is gonna do something, then you can expect it to happen fairly soon. Just like last year, when I told him I might like to join him at golf. Before I could blink, he had bought me a golf set as Christmas present. I have learnt my lesson, so whenever I mentioned something like I did a few months ago that I was interested in photography and am thinking of getting a DSLR camera. He said he would get one for me. The next day I quickly called him on the phone while at work because it suddenly dawned on me that he could go buy me a camera during his lunch hour. I stopped him in time. I love to say things in passing and it takes me forever to act on it. I might say I want to do something but I am hardly serious especially if it means putting in a lot of effort. Anyway, that golf set has been collecting dust in my store room since last Christmas.

In my last post I mentioned that hubby suggests that I should take up golf with the kids and like I said, he hardly procrastinates, so we found ourselves at  the  driving range yesterday. Hubby has arranged for a pro to coach us. Looks like there is no backing out now. What's surprising is that Lorraine seems really good at it. She has a natural swing and for a first timer I think she did really well. Ok, I am her mom so my opinion could be biased but I have just nicknamed her Tigress Woods!

We leave for Macau early tomorrow morning. We'll be there for three days before heading to Hong Kong. This will be my kids first trip to Macau and HK but it's gonna be my fifth trip there. I am looking forward to the food and of course the fabulous shopping. See you all next week!

We went to The Marina Barrage and had a steamboat dinner at the 7th Storey restaurant with my in-laws. The picture above was taken with my phone camera as I have forgotten to bring along my camera. It is a night scenery of the city. It reminds me of The Bund in Shanghai.

The weekend was hectic. My Indonesian maid fell sick. She was having severe abdominal pains for many days. Our family doctor suspected appendicitis and referred her to the hospital. I spent the entire Friday afternoon at the A&E before she finally got warded. The CT scan showed that it was not appendicitis, thankfully, otherwise she would have to undergo surgery. That would have been a double whammy for me cos not only would I have to do without a helper for a month and I would have to take care of her instead. The estimated cost if she had the surgery was $4200 as she is a foreigner and hence not entitled to any government subsidy. The hospital made me pay in advance $4200 upon admission. Anyway the final diagnosis was severe UTI (urinary tract infection) and she was warded for three days and that cost me $1200. Thank God for insurance. Luckily I did get her medical insurance. Health care cost in Singapore is very expensive so make sure you are adequately covered otherwise you cannot afford to be sick. The $1200 was for two nights stay in the hospital, blood tests, urine test and a CT scan plus some antibiotics. No wonder some people say it's cheaper to just drop dead. I have spent all morning filing in insurance claims.

For me , one of the saddest things in life is to witness the process of  a dying friendship. I mentioned a few months ago about  a joint venture with some friends in business. The business was dying a slow death and to cut a long story short, it has created some riffs between us the sleeping partners and the guy running the show. We were all very close friends but for almost two years now, the friendship between us and him was slowly dying. The problem arises because he does not wish  to be forthright with us about the state of the business. We do not mind losing the investment but I think he owes us a closure to this whole messy business by giving us a lowdown on exactly where we are now.

A few months ago, he told us out of the blue that he had disposed of our business. The company is not dissolved but the business has been sold. So we kinda have like a shell company with some debts. Today he asked me to sign some documents and I told him frankly that I am not comfortable with it, just because I have no idea what is going on with the business and the company. I am open to discussion if I am able to get an update but I will not be signing anything otherwise. I think my reluctance is the final nail in the coffin of our friendship. He probably thinks that I am not sympathetic to his predicament. I know that he is struggling financially and I am not lending a hand. It feels like I am turning away a friend in need. I am so saddened by this and almost consider signing the documents just to preserve the friendship but I know that I cannot afford to be soft here.

I want to help but I need to know the situation. I do not want to be digging a bigger hole. I need to protect myself and my family from any legal implications. I hope he understands that.

I did learn a very expensive lesson from this and I want to share it with everyone and that is never ever go into business with friends nor family if you want to preserve the relationship.