Mdm. Agaration goes on a holiday...

For the past week or so, Mdm. Agaration and Mr. Worry Too Much was on a holiday in Taiwan. Hence, Mr. Robotic, Mr. Songwriter Wannabe and Mr. Annoying Orange were left at home to fend for themselves. It's only these little getaways by Mdm. Agaration that Mr. Robotic realises how important she is. Maintaining a house is no easy feat and Mr. Robotic hereby salutes all the mothers out there, especially the working mums! However do you do it on a daily basis?!

Well, Mr. Robotic and the gang did managed to survive the household chores. Thankfully! However, what really strikes a chord with Mr. Robotic is how he misses the little gestures of Mdm. Agaration when she is away. For instance, Mdm. Agaration will never fail each morning to wave at Mr. Robotic from the window while he is about to catch the bus to work. And for the past week, when Mr. Robotic looked up at the window, she ain't there and a wave of sentiments hit Mr. Robotic. To think, Mr. Robotic actually said to Mdm. Agaration that it is a silly gesture of hers that mimic Grumpy Gran. Guess, its the silliest things that are close to one's heart.

Now now, although Mdm. Agaration was not at home, Mr. Robotic still gets to have some home cooked meals. The following are some of the simple fare that Mr. Robotic made for the past week...

Cha Soba (not sure why it ain't that green in the photo) and luncheon meat. Ms. Marble shared a good method of having "deep fried" luncheon meat less all the oil. That is to put the luncheon meat in the toaster oven. Mr. Robotic presumes that this is a healthier choice too.

From left, stirred fried Angel's hair, Potato Soup, Canned beans and Tomatoes with Eggs. Mr. Robotic is horrible when it comes to pasta. Tried different combinations but it just doesn't seem to work. As for the soup, thanks to the secret ingredient - packaged chicken stock, Mr. Annoying Orange thought the soup which contains potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and spring onion, to be pretty decent.

Mushroom soup that comes with meat, tofu, 2 kinds of mushrooms and vegetables. Mr. Robotic originally wanted to cook a few dishes after work. But it proved to be too ambitious. After spending more hours in the office then he had planned, he rushed home and decided on the quick recipe... dumped all the ingredients together with secret ingredient - chicken stock. Balanced and healthy dish? Mr. Songwriter Wannabe had two large bowls of the soup and was surprised that its good.

So if you are home alone, remember to stock up on canned food and chicken stock. :P

Mr. Robotic behind the steering wheel...

For those who had challenged Mr. Robotic to a race at the Daytona machines in the arcade, you would have known how "spectacular" a driver Mr. Robotic is. For the clueless, well... let's just say that Mr. Robotic usually carrying out defying stunts with the race car (e.g. 180 degrees turn). So for Mr. Robotic to take up driving and be behind the steering wheel of an actual car... road users beware!!

So how did the first lesson go?

There were loads of introduction on the different controls of the car. Supposedly, it is nothing new to Mr. Robotic as he had took the final theory test but somehow when it comes to practical, Mr. Robotic's mind just go into a blank. Does he need to look right, left, rear or in front? Does he depress the brake, the accelerator or turn on the signal? Information overload and Mr. Robotic's spatial awareness is almost zero. Thankfully, the instructor was besides Mr. Robotic all the way and helped to steer the car whenever Mr. Robotic is not doing it right. Sigh of relief~

Guess it will be sometime before Mr. Robotic can drive his dream car... well for both reasons, the driving license and the hefty price tag. Till then... a picture to look at.. :)

Belated Happy New Year 2011!!

Cheers to the new year 2011. It's been a busy start to the year for Mr. Robotic which explains for the late update in his blog... So what have Mr. Robotic been up to for the past few weeks?

For a start, Mr. Robotic has been getting physical! Lest your mind runs wild, Mr. Robotic has been starting on a gruelling exercise routine to squeeze some meat (5kg hopefully?... no results yet though) onto his tiny frame. The workout per week consists of one day of upper exercise, one day of lower exercise and two days of body conditioning. Each exercise day left Mr. Robotic so winded that there just isn't much energy to do anything else.

And of course to kick start the growing, Mr. Robotic got himself a blender and start mixing different items with the protein powder to make it more delicious. The above picture is a mix of blueberries and yogurt. Sweet!

Another goal which Mr. Robotic set for himself this year is to pass his driving. Yes, this is long overdue considering that Mr. Robotic passed his basic theory test like 5 years ago. But Mr. Robotic hates taking test as it gives him the jitters, no matter what kind of tests. Even taking IPPT, Mr. Robotic will feel nervous. Maybe a little bit of anxiety is good... cause it keeps one on his or her toes. Mr. Robotic is glad that he passed his final theory test today on his first attempt. Mr. Robotic is keeping his fingers crossed that he can clear the driving test on the first attempt too so that he can keep the expenses low. Yeah, learning driving is expensive! A thing to note is our technology had advanced. 5 years ago, Mr. Robotic was still taking the basic theory test via sheets of question and answer paper. Now, the tests are taken using the computer terminals with sleek touchscreen monitors. The person besides Mr. Robotic has a unique way of "interacting" with the touchscreen i.e. flicking on the screen to choose his answers.

Lastly, one very important issue to follow up (especially given that Mr. Robotic is moving in to the big 3) is to plan for his retirement. Mr. Robotic had ran through his insurance plans and realised that he had duplicates in his plans which he had ridiculously paid for the past 2 years. Well, better realise now than later. More fine tuning for the insurance plans are in order and Mr. Robotic will be working on that area. Another area Mr. Robotic will need to schedule time to explore will be CPF and investment as part of the retirement package.

So there you go... the above 3 areas are and will continue to be the areas that will keep Mr. Robotic busy for year 2011. Wish him luck!