Sick
The fever comes and goes. The body aches. The ears are blocked. The sinuses are acting up and I'm smelling rotting things (infection of the sinuses). The head throbs and I can't keep eyes my eyes open.
Yet I had to carry on working from home despite being on medical leave.
Sigh. How I *love* my job.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Monday, April 09, 2007
For Always
For Always
Watched the ending parts of A.I. on Channel 5 last night. I just had my bath and was seated in front of my laptop, peering at the TV out of the corner of my eye.
Was not wearing my glasses so I was not getting a sharp image of the screen but I had clear reception of the on-screen conversation.
It was rather interesting when the robot asked for his mum to be resurrected after 2000 years. And the cute little teddy bear came up and produced a strand of "mummy's hair" so that the "creator" could recreate his mum.
Honestly, I am not a Spielberg fan. Never was, still isn't and likely never will be. Nothing tortured me worse than science fiction. I'd fall asleep grading a stack of science fiction compositions. Well, anyone would, since if not for the genre, the poor language would have achieved the same coma-inducing effect(or caused you to put out your own light by testing the hardness of your own head with the wall).
Well, I thought that was interesting since I should start hugging my toy dogs more. Hopefully, 2000 years later, I could come back to this pathetic place called Earth and see if it had become any better or worse. Maybe better. I believe in peaks and troughs. We must bottom out soon; when we stop pretending that global warming is our fault (hey, how much carbon can I produce? A night in Al Gore's mansion would probably produce more carbon than I ever can in my life. Such hypocrisy!) and start living like there is no tomorrow, then we will trough out faster.
As with all systems, there are tipping points. Once we go past the point of no return - event horizon, a series of events will take place. Maybe we will create Shangri La (not the hotel!). What I see now is this: We are on the Titanic with all the floatation chambers breached. Why are we trying to keep the Titanic afloat? Do we think we could keep the Titanic afloat?
We are all born to take the inevitable road to death. Some of us think we will come back to die again. Some of us think we will go to our creators arms. Some of us think we should take some of us together with us on the journey. Some of us like to go up in flames. Some of us like to be flushed apart. Some of us will become the very soil that nourished us when we were alive. But upon conception, our paths have been marked out for us. Every roadsign says "THIS WAY [insert directions] TO DEATH ([insert number] YEARS)".
So while we are living on Earth waiting to die, we think that if we "save" the earth by reducing carbon emissions, the earth can last longer. WRONG. The system called EARTH is in stoichiometry. The number of atoms we started with and the number of atoms we end up with are constant. Think about it. We can't produce any more than we can destroy. And vice versa. What we have done is to change the forms of the compounds. Whereas in the past, carbon was mostly earth-bound, they are now mostly gaseous and freely moving.
Instead of restricting carbon emissions, which is a foregone cause by any measure, why not think of how to harness the free floating carbons and other greenhouses gases by turning them into something useful again? For instance, airplanes that fly through the air suck in carbon compounds and turn them into methane or ethanol and store them somewhere on board. When they reach the ground, they can be burnt again as fuel. Technological advances should be able to achieve this eventually.
Harness rather than reduce because reduction is tough. I mean, if we get the world's population to hold their breaths for 10 seconds every hour, would we drastically reduce carbon emission? Got the picture yet?
Ok, I'm now lost in my greenhouse gases and carbon compounds and forgotten about my initial intent of this blog entry.
So I went back to put on my glasses. Bear looks fake. Robot looks fake. Well, the show is fake. Perhaps that's why it is called A.I. or artificial intelligence. I suspect many people in the world have only A.I., measurable by examinations. Beyond that, there is nothing natural or real about their abilities or intelligence.
But then, as I was about to pour more scorn on the show, a familiar tune came on. Surprisingly, I knew that piece. It was as though I have heard it since the longest time ago.
Curiosity got the better of me. I found out that the familiar tune was "For Always". Josh Groban has sung it. Now I remember. I hear this very very frequently on someone's CD.
Maybe the brain does indeed code sounds and music differently. Perhaps that's why music, unlike movies, have the endearing quality of being remembered "for always". I never remembered most of the movies I've watched but I remember the sound tracks of movies with well-written music. Maybe that's why a band or any musical group can play a theme and people would roughly remember the movie where the song came from.
Now that I figured out that song (and having emitted lots of carbon with my laptop googling for the information and then bitching about it on my blog), I should be able to go back and do the more mundane work.
Oh, before I go - I'll lay a bet here that in 400 million years' time, most of the world's oil deposit would be found in the place where Indonesia used to be now. Whoever's back here or managed to stay on Earth for always, remember to credit me for this discovery!
Watched the ending parts of A.I. on Channel 5 last night. I just had my bath and was seated in front of my laptop, peering at the TV out of the corner of my eye.
Was not wearing my glasses so I was not getting a sharp image of the screen but I had clear reception of the on-screen conversation.
It was rather interesting when the robot asked for his mum to be resurrected after 2000 years. And the cute little teddy bear came up and produced a strand of "mummy's hair" so that the "creator" could recreate his mum.
Honestly, I am not a Spielberg fan. Never was, still isn't and likely never will be. Nothing tortured me worse than science fiction. I'd fall asleep grading a stack of science fiction compositions. Well, anyone would, since if not for the genre, the poor language would have achieved the same coma-inducing effect(or caused you to put out your own light by testing the hardness of your own head with the wall).
Well, I thought that was interesting since I should start hugging my toy dogs more. Hopefully, 2000 years later, I could come back to this pathetic place called Earth and see if it had become any better or worse. Maybe better. I believe in peaks and troughs. We must bottom out soon; when we stop pretending that global warming is our fault (hey, how much carbon can I produce? A night in Al Gore's mansion would probably produce more carbon than I ever can in my life. Such hypocrisy!) and start living like there is no tomorrow, then we will trough out faster.
As with all systems, there are tipping points. Once we go past the point of no return - event horizon, a series of events will take place. Maybe we will create Shangri La (not the hotel!). What I see now is this: We are on the Titanic with all the floatation chambers breached. Why are we trying to keep the Titanic afloat? Do we think we could keep the Titanic afloat?
We are all born to take the inevitable road to death. Some of us think we will come back to die again. Some of us think we will go to our creators arms. Some of us think we should take some of us together with us on the journey. Some of us like to go up in flames. Some of us like to be flushed apart. Some of us will become the very soil that nourished us when we were alive. But upon conception, our paths have been marked out for us. Every roadsign says "THIS WAY [insert directions] TO DEATH ([insert number] YEARS)".
So while we are living on Earth waiting to die, we think that if we "save" the earth by reducing carbon emissions, the earth can last longer. WRONG. The system called EARTH is in stoichiometry. The number of atoms we started with and the number of atoms we end up with are constant. Think about it. We can't produce any more than we can destroy. And vice versa. What we have done is to change the forms of the compounds. Whereas in the past, carbon was mostly earth-bound, they are now mostly gaseous and freely moving.
Instead of restricting carbon emissions, which is a foregone cause by any measure, why not think of how to harness the free floating carbons and other greenhouses gases by turning them into something useful again? For instance, airplanes that fly through the air suck in carbon compounds and turn them into methane or ethanol and store them somewhere on board. When they reach the ground, they can be burnt again as fuel. Technological advances should be able to achieve this eventually.
Harness rather than reduce because reduction is tough. I mean, if we get the world's population to hold their breaths for 10 seconds every hour, would we drastically reduce carbon emission? Got the picture yet?
Ok, I'm now lost in my greenhouse gases and carbon compounds and forgotten about my initial intent of this blog entry.
So I went back to put on my glasses. Bear looks fake. Robot looks fake. Well, the show is fake. Perhaps that's why it is called A.I. or artificial intelligence. I suspect many people in the world have only A.I., measurable by examinations. Beyond that, there is nothing natural or real about their abilities or intelligence.
But then, as I was about to pour more scorn on the show, a familiar tune came on. Surprisingly, I knew that piece. It was as though I have heard it since the longest time ago.
Curiosity got the better of me. I found out that the familiar tune was "For Always". Josh Groban has sung it. Now I remember. I hear this very very frequently on someone's CD.
Maybe the brain does indeed code sounds and music differently. Perhaps that's why music, unlike movies, have the endearing quality of being remembered "for always". I never remembered most of the movies I've watched but I remember the sound tracks of movies with well-written music. Maybe that's why a band or any musical group can play a theme and people would roughly remember the movie where the song came from.
Now that I figured out that song (and having emitted lots of carbon with my laptop googling for the information and then bitching about it on my blog), I should be able to go back and do the more mundane work.
Oh, before I go - I'll lay a bet here that in 400 million years' time, most of the world's oil deposit would be found in the place where Indonesia used to be now. Whoever's back here or managed to stay on Earth for always, remember to credit me for this discovery!
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Parenting
Parenting
Listening to my Country Poughskeepsie (WRWD) internet radio station.
Then Watching You by Rodney Atkins came on (Youtube). It's probably a 2006 song.
Hearing the lyrics of Watching You, I could not help but think of Harry Chaplin's 1974 hit Cat's in the Cradle. (Youtube)
Both point to the immense influence of a dad on a impressionable child.
Although there is a 32-year gap between Cat's in the Cradle and Watching You, the role of a father in a family is that of a model - role model or not is really not important but an existent dad is a model of sorts - and sons, if not the children, will also pick up the actions of the father.
I have also made the conscious decision to end the post like this. The role of a father, his responsibilities and how he discharges those responsibilities are not for me to discuss or dictate. I am neither a father nor if I were, I would a sufficient authority to write. Even as a son, I have my own assessment of fathers: others' and mine. And these are also not for public consumption.
Society may have progressed, things may have changed but has the role, function, and responsibilities of families and their heads changed or has it frozen? Do they need to change? Can lesbian mothers or gay fathers be good parents? Is adoption natural? Many more questions requiring even much more thought.
Expectedly, there will be few answers.
Listening to my Country Poughskeepsie (WRWD) internet radio station.
Then Watching You by Rodney Atkins came on (Youtube). It's probably a 2006 song.
Hearing the lyrics of Watching You, I could not help but think of Harry Chaplin's 1974 hit Cat's in the Cradle. (Youtube)
Both point to the immense influence of a dad on a impressionable child.
Although there is a 32-year gap between Cat's in the Cradle and Watching You, the role of a father in a family is that of a model - role model or not is really not important but an existent dad is a model of sorts - and sons, if not the children, will also pick up the actions of the father.
I have also made the conscious decision to end the post like this. The role of a father, his responsibilities and how he discharges those responsibilities are not for me to discuss or dictate. I am neither a father nor if I were, I would a sufficient authority to write. Even as a son, I have my own assessment of fathers: others' and mine. And these are also not for public consumption.
Society may have progressed, things may have changed but has the role, function, and responsibilities of families and their heads changed or has it frozen? Do they need to change? Can lesbian mothers or gay fathers be good parents? Is adoption natural? Many more questions requiring even much more thought.
Expectedly, there will be few answers.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Chinese All Souls' Day
Chinese All Souls' Day
The exact day of Chinese All Souls' Day is determined the lunar calendar. This year, it is 5 Apr 07. That means prayers can be done 10 days before or 10 days after 5 Apr. Did my prayers last week.
The temple prayers were fine but the trip to clear the wild grasses at the actual burial site in the cemetary and then buring some incense papers was a challenge. It was raining cats and dogs and honestly, the incense papers and dollar notes for my deceased paternal grandfather were largely unburnt.
It is the thought that counts. I have staked out long enough in my friend's car waiting for the rain to stop. The first round when the rain abated, I hired the "gardener" to clear out the grass. He hardly finished with the downpour resumed. And the next round, I tried to finish my prayers. Before I was done, the rain came back with a vengence. I tried to burn whatever I could and I took my leave.
Another year, another round, another experience, another...
The exact day of Chinese All Souls' Day is determined the lunar calendar. This year, it is 5 Apr 07. That means prayers can be done 10 days before or 10 days after 5 Apr. Did my prayers last week.
The temple prayers were fine but the trip to clear the wild grasses at the actual burial site in the cemetary and then buring some incense papers was a challenge. It was raining cats and dogs and honestly, the incense papers and dollar notes for my deceased paternal grandfather were largely unburnt.
It is the thought that counts. I have staked out long enough in my friend's car waiting for the rain to stop. The first round when the rain abated, I hired the "gardener" to clear out the grass. He hardly finished with the downpour resumed. And the next round, I tried to finish my prayers. Before I was done, the rain came back with a vengence. I tried to burn whatever I could and I took my leave.
Another year, another round, another experience, another...
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Random Thoughts
Random Thoughts
Apparently, more teachers were promoted this year after the enhanced career structure was introduced. There is a bumper crop of 10,861 promotees in the Education Service in 2007 (compared with 4,257 in 2006) due to the introduction of an enhanced career structure for teachers and the larger teaching force. However, the workload and the quality of students have not changed.
Australia will send a medical team and more relief supplies to affected areas of the Solomon Islands following the earthquake and tsunami that left dozens dead and thousands homeless. Looks like it may be good to avoid where the fellows down under congregate. They seem to be disaster magnets recently, starting with the Garuda incident in Yogjakarta and the tsunami in Solomons. Who knows what's next?
The American College of Physicians has just added another element to the confusion and debate concerning mammograms for women in their 40s. The American College of Physicians has issued a new set of guidelines today that offer some unexpected advice to women in their 40s. While until now they have been warned to undergo mammograms in order to identify breast cancer at its very beginning, the ACP says there are risks attached to this routine. Undoubtedly, some women would be cheering the news - the mammogram procedure has been described as squeezing the breasts hard between the refrigerator and its door. Some doctors, however, would probably be decrying the loss of income.
Researchers have created a cheap and simple way to convert all donated blood into group O, the universal group that can be given safely to anyone. While they are at it, can they find a cheap and simple way to make all blood repulsive to mosquitoes and other blood sucking organisms so that we can keep devastating illnesses such as malaria and dengue at bay?
Older men may show less interest in sex because they don't get enough testosterone-producing sleep. A new study, published in the April 1 issue of the journal SLEEP, measured the quantity of the primary male sex hormone in 12 healthy men, ages 64 to 74, following a night of sleep in a laboratory environment. Diminished sleep was the best independent predictor of declines in testosterone, the researchers found. Testosterone levels are highest in the morning. Duh, less sleep means less sex, but of course. I'm going to bed.
Apparently, more teachers were promoted this year after the enhanced career structure was introduced. There is a bumper crop of 10,861 promotees in the Education Service in 2007 (compared with 4,257 in 2006) due to the introduction of an enhanced career structure for teachers and the larger teaching force. However, the workload and the quality of students have not changed.
Australia will send a medical team and more relief supplies to affected areas of the Solomon Islands following the earthquake and tsunami that left dozens dead and thousands homeless. Looks like it may be good to avoid where the fellows down under congregate. They seem to be disaster magnets recently, starting with the Garuda incident in Yogjakarta and the tsunami in Solomons. Who knows what's next?
The American College of Physicians has just added another element to the confusion and debate concerning mammograms for women in their 40s. The American College of Physicians has issued a new set of guidelines today that offer some unexpected advice to women in their 40s. While until now they have been warned to undergo mammograms in order to identify breast cancer at its very beginning, the ACP says there are risks attached to this routine. Undoubtedly, some women would be cheering the news - the mammogram procedure has been described as squeezing the breasts hard between the refrigerator and its door. Some doctors, however, would probably be decrying the loss of income.
Researchers have created a cheap and simple way to convert all donated blood into group O, the universal group that can be given safely to anyone. While they are at it, can they find a cheap and simple way to make all blood repulsive to mosquitoes and other blood sucking organisms so that we can keep devastating illnesses such as malaria and dengue at bay?
Older men may show less interest in sex because they don't get enough testosterone-producing sleep. A new study, published in the April 1 issue of the journal SLEEP, measured the quantity of the primary male sex hormone in 12 healthy men, ages 64 to 74, following a night of sleep in a laboratory environment. Diminished sleep was the best independent predictor of declines in testosterone, the researchers found. Testosterone levels are highest in the morning. Duh, less sleep means less sex, but of course. I'm going to bed.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
NTU honours teacher of top students
NTU honours teacher of top students
I don't mean to bitch about life but when I read that NTU was planning to honour an ex-JC teacher and a NTU lecturer who inspired the top student, my heart sank.
As an ex-teacher who taught in a government secondary school (read: my kids as top students in a university? Yeah, right. It's not a negative comment on my ex-students - I think we all know where each stands and it'll take more than human strength to top their cohort. I'll stop here lest I get misunderstood and my remarks get misconstrued and taken out of context again.).
My point is, why JC teacher? Why not primary or secondary school teachers? Are they any less than JC teachers in spurring the student to academic excellence? Why top student? Does it mean that teachers of non-top students actually did less?
My hiatus outside education was meant to rekindle my passion to go back to teach. Yet each day, I see things that plunge my heart deeper and deeper into ice age.
I don't mean to bitch about life but when I read that NTU was planning to honour an ex-JC teacher and a NTU lecturer who inspired the top student, my heart sank.
As an ex-teacher who taught in a government secondary school (read: my kids as top students in a university? Yeah, right. It's not a negative comment on my ex-students - I think we all know where each stands and it'll take more than human strength to top their cohort. I'll stop here lest I get misunderstood and my remarks get misconstrued and taken out of context again.).
My point is, why JC teacher? Why not primary or secondary school teachers? Are they any less than JC teachers in spurring the student to academic excellence? Why top student? Does it mean that teachers of non-top students actually did less?
My hiatus outside education was meant to rekindle my passion to go back to teach. Yet each day, I see things that plunge my heart deeper and deeper into ice age.
Hilarious stuff
Hilarious stuff
Just like hamburger has no ham, the blackcurrants in Ribena has four times the vitamin C of oranges simply means that - the blackcurrants has four times the vitamin C of oranges. No one said Ribena, because it is made of the blackcurrants, has four times the vitamin C of oranges. If I were to change Ribena to a glass or a bowl, are you going to claim that the glass or the bowl should have four times the vitamin C of oranges? Of course not.
But unfortunately for GlaxoSmithKline, they were fined more than NZ$200 000 for making that "claim". And the people who called GSK's bluff? Two NZ schoolgirls.
Go figure.
Just like hamburger has no ham, the blackcurrants in Ribena has four times the vitamin C of oranges simply means that - the blackcurrants has four times the vitamin C of oranges. No one said Ribena, because it is made of the blackcurrants, has four times the vitamin C of oranges. If I were to change Ribena to a glass or a bowl, are you going to claim that the glass or the bowl should have four times the vitamin C of oranges? Of course not.
But unfortunately for GlaxoSmithKline, they were fined more than NZ$200 000 for making that "claim". And the people who called GSK's bluff? Two NZ schoolgirls.
Go figure.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
America Top 40 Country Songs
America Top 40 Country Songs (18 Mar 07)
Heard No.17 and fell in love with it:
It Would Be You by Gary Allan.
Very nice.
And it is so new that even Youtube does not have the MTV yet.
I'm waiting for it.
Heard No.17 and fell in love with it:
It Would Be You by Gary Allan.
Very nice.
And it is so new that even Youtube does not have the MTV yet.
I'm waiting for it.
KL KL
KL KL
Snippets of my KL trip from 15 to 17 Mar 07
Bus journey
Always choose the bus company with a key performance indicator. In this case, choose a company that promises you the duration of the journey. We took a slow coach (pun not intended) and it took us a long time to get to our destination.
Of course, savvy travellers will know the importance of start and end points. Starting or ending at some less-than-central locations often bring additional grief.
Costs
Remember the economic principles governing quality, speed and price. It usually works. Of course, there are instances where the three are mutually exclusive. Don't be surprised if you have something quick and exorbitantly priced but yet is still not good.
Hotel room
If you don't smoke, insist on the non-smoking floor. Or suffer the indignity of smelling cheapo eau de toilettes used in liberal amounts to mask the malodourous cigarette smoke. Makes the entire floor smell like a cheap night joint or worse, some sicko hospital using fragrances to sterilise the place. And while you are at it, wash your clothes (worn or unworn) when you return home. Your clothes, especially if you launder them well, are perfect smell absorbers.
Taxis
Always insist on those whose drivers charge by meters. Jalan Ampang to Bukit Bintang is RM4.10 by meter but drivers would insist that because of the jam, they want RM15. Pudu bus terminal to Jalan Ampang is RM6 - 7 depending on traffic but they will ask for between 15 - 30. Bukit Bintang to Jalan Ampang is also RM4.10 by meter but taxis don't even want your business because they say there is a jam. So they would much rather get stuck in a jam with an empty vehicle than to drive you.
KL taxi drivers should rob a bank. They probably will get rich faster.
LRT
The equivalent of the tube/metro/MRT/BTS/people mover whatever. Each time you move from line to line, you have to exit the station and buy a new ticket to continue the next leg. Just be careful how the prices stack up. Bukit Bintang to KLCC (near the hotel) for two people costs RM5. The cab is RM4.10. Sense and sensibility is a book by Jane Austen.
Prices
Exorbitant does not even begin to describe their prices. I mean, if we go by us and them earning the equivalent salaries, albeit in different currencies, then how can they afford prices twice of ours? Does it not mean that their purchasing power is halved? Although their housing is half or less of ours, but why would one want a cheap house, buy a car to drive and be perpetually caught in a jam and pay all the savings on food?
Commuter etiquette
There is no difference between us and them. They also crowd the door because they fear that the rest of the two-carriage LRT train not close to the door will not stop at KLCC. Funny how the world thinks alike, right?
Touting
They win. Seated at Jalan Alor and ordered some food. Jalan Alor is a food street (pathetic description, if you ask me - we would have many many Jalan Alor equivalents) and thus, there was this element of adventure and food tasting was about to begin when this dour bitch came over and asked for drink and food orders. The cups in the menu were twice the cups they used to serve. I know as much, so I did not order anything. I asked my friend if he wanted Penang char kway teow and he was hesitant. So we did not order. When the bitch repeated the order of one starfruit juice, she added Penang ckt. We said we didn't order that. You could see her face turn shades darker. It almost blended into the night sky. Of course, I won't be surprised if the juice came with sputum. But that's me taking the worst case scenario.
Buffet Breakfast
I went to the egg station and asked for scrambled egg. What I got was chopped egg with excessive metal taste because the chef scraped the flat pan too hard, I think... And breakfast was a all you can eat, eat all you can, you can eat all, you can all eat, you all can eat, you eat all can... but guess what? On the second morning, I found mouldy bread. 4-star hotel serving mouldy bread.
Mdm Kwan's vs Mr Tan
I guess if you drown everything with enough fermented prawn paste, things will taste good. That's a hindsight. But when I was eating there, the food was not too bad. But I was hungry since lunch (remember the slow coach) and it was nearly 4 pm that I was having lunch.
Mr Tan was different. Located along Jalan Alor in some nondescript row of food hawkers (he was beside some super unfriendly China man food stall who asked me to F-O from his seats because I did not order his pathetic excuse of food), his lo-shee-fun turned out great. While it was a bit greasy, I believe it would have beaten Kwan's version hands down if Mr Tan gave us two additional limes and lots of fermented prawn paste. At a mere RM4 vs RM16, my uncle would have helped you clog your arteries in quadruple quick time! Value for money!
Mandarin Oriental Tim Sum Place
See, that's the problem when you try so hard to be exclusive. People don't remember your name. I only remember that it is something Po Heen, and that's partly because the parts I remembered resembled parts of my boss' name. Pathetic right? And so was the food. RM200 later, the only thing that left me a deep impression was the regal toilet outside the restaurant. Mandarin Oriental Hotel has a toilet bigger than my house and it is so well decorated that it makes me hang my head in shame.
Maybe I should re-title this part... to Mandarin Oriental Tim Sum Toilet?
Hotel pool
Small but I'm not complaining. At least it has water in it. And the kids seem to love it. If kids love it, it should be ok.
Wannabes
If you want to reminisce my 1980s, go to KL now. There is a general blind following of fashion and trends. It is beginning to lose its roots and direction. Is this inevitable in the pursuit of globalisation?
Mindsets
Again, I am seeing the 1980s repeated. In the 80s boom years, our people wouldn't think twice of spending three to four times the normal price to eat something in some posh place just to show that we have "arrived". Nearing the 2010s, I see food at the same price as in the 80s. And yet, if the quality is not good enough, people pooh-poohed the food. The outlet will close down because of poor food quality. We have moved from money for no value to value for money. In fact, it is more like excellent value for money. People have grown discerning and are now more penny-wise and pound-brilliant.
Final words
Great to re-visit a city that I last visited some many years ago. A lot of things have changed. I will probably go again, just to check out where competition is. The trip was not enjoyable but the company was. That makes up for everything.
Snippets of my KL trip from 15 to 17 Mar 07
Bus journey
Always choose the bus company with a key performance indicator. In this case, choose a company that promises you the duration of the journey. We took a slow coach (pun not intended) and it took us a long time to get to our destination.
Of course, savvy travellers will know the importance of start and end points. Starting or ending at some less-than-central locations often bring additional grief.
Costs
Remember the economic principles governing quality, speed and price. It usually works. Of course, there are instances where the three are mutually exclusive. Don't be surprised if you have something quick and exorbitantly priced but yet is still not good.
Hotel room
If you don't smoke, insist on the non-smoking floor. Or suffer the indignity of smelling cheapo eau de toilettes used in liberal amounts to mask the malodourous cigarette smoke. Makes the entire floor smell like a cheap night joint or worse, some sicko hospital using fragrances to sterilise the place. And while you are at it, wash your clothes (worn or unworn) when you return home. Your clothes, especially if you launder them well, are perfect smell absorbers.
Taxis
Always insist on those whose drivers charge by meters. Jalan Ampang to Bukit Bintang is RM4.10 by meter but drivers would insist that because of the jam, they want RM15. Pudu bus terminal to Jalan Ampang is RM6 - 7 depending on traffic but they will ask for between 15 - 30. Bukit Bintang to Jalan Ampang is also RM4.10 by meter but taxis don't even want your business because they say there is a jam. So they would much rather get stuck in a jam with an empty vehicle than to drive you.
KL taxi drivers should rob a bank. They probably will get rich faster.
LRT
The equivalent of the tube/metro/MRT/BTS/people mover whatever. Each time you move from line to line, you have to exit the station and buy a new ticket to continue the next leg. Just be careful how the prices stack up. Bukit Bintang to KLCC (near the hotel) for two people costs RM5. The cab is RM4.10. Sense and sensibility is a book by Jane Austen.
Prices
Exorbitant does not even begin to describe their prices. I mean, if we go by us and them earning the equivalent salaries, albeit in different currencies, then how can they afford prices twice of ours? Does it not mean that their purchasing power is halved? Although their housing is half or less of ours, but why would one want a cheap house, buy a car to drive and be perpetually caught in a jam and pay all the savings on food?
Commuter etiquette
There is no difference between us and them. They also crowd the door because they fear that the rest of the two-carriage LRT train not close to the door will not stop at KLCC. Funny how the world thinks alike, right?
Touting
They win. Seated at Jalan Alor and ordered some food. Jalan Alor is a food street (pathetic description, if you ask me - we would have many many Jalan Alor equivalents) and thus, there was this element of adventure and food tasting was about to begin when this dour bitch came over and asked for drink and food orders. The cups in the menu were twice the cups they used to serve. I know as much, so I did not order anything. I asked my friend if he wanted Penang char kway teow and he was hesitant. So we did not order. When the bitch repeated the order of one starfruit juice, she added Penang ckt. We said we didn't order that. You could see her face turn shades darker. It almost blended into the night sky. Of course, I won't be surprised if the juice came with sputum. But that's me taking the worst case scenario.
Buffet Breakfast
I went to the egg station and asked for scrambled egg. What I got was chopped egg with excessive metal taste because the chef scraped the flat pan too hard, I think... And breakfast was a all you can eat, eat all you can, you can eat all, you can all eat, you all can eat, you eat all can... but guess what? On the second morning, I found mouldy bread. 4-star hotel serving mouldy bread.
Mdm Kwan's vs Mr Tan
I guess if you drown everything with enough fermented prawn paste, things will taste good. That's a hindsight. But when I was eating there, the food was not too bad. But I was hungry since lunch (remember the slow coach) and it was nearly 4 pm that I was having lunch.
Mr Tan was different. Located along Jalan Alor in some nondescript row of food hawkers (he was beside some super unfriendly China man food stall who asked me to F-O from his seats because I did not order his pathetic excuse of food), his lo-shee-fun turned out great. While it was a bit greasy, I believe it would have beaten Kwan's version hands down if Mr Tan gave us two additional limes and lots of fermented prawn paste. At a mere RM4 vs RM16, my uncle would have helped you clog your arteries in quadruple quick time! Value for money!
Mandarin Oriental Tim Sum Place
See, that's the problem when you try so hard to be exclusive. People don't remember your name. I only remember that it is something Po Heen, and that's partly because the parts I remembered resembled parts of my boss' name. Pathetic right? And so was the food. RM200 later, the only thing that left me a deep impression was the regal toilet outside the restaurant. Mandarin Oriental Hotel has a toilet bigger than my house and it is so well decorated that it makes me hang my head in shame.
Maybe I should re-title this part... to Mandarin Oriental Tim Sum Toilet?
Hotel pool
Small but I'm not complaining. At least it has water in it. And the kids seem to love it. If kids love it, it should be ok.
Wannabes
If you want to reminisce my 1980s, go to KL now. There is a general blind following of fashion and trends. It is beginning to lose its roots and direction. Is this inevitable in the pursuit of globalisation?
Mindsets
Again, I am seeing the 1980s repeated. In the 80s boom years, our people wouldn't think twice of spending three to four times the normal price to eat something in some posh place just to show that we have "arrived". Nearing the 2010s, I see food at the same price as in the 80s. And yet, if the quality is not good enough, people pooh-poohed the food. The outlet will close down because of poor food quality. We have moved from money for no value to value for money. In fact, it is more like excellent value for money. People have grown discerning and are now more penny-wise and pound-brilliant.
Final words
Great to re-visit a city that I last visited some many years ago. A lot of things have changed. I will probably go again, just to check out where competition is. The trip was not enjoyable but the company was. That makes up for everything.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Where do I go from here?
Where do I go from here?
For those facing the daunting task of choosing a university course, here just a little nugget of my experience that I can share with you.
Go and meet your JC teachers and talk to them. Speak with university department subject coordinators or counsellors who may be able to throw some light on what you might like. (They will be very frank whether or not you are a fit because the last thing they want is you going to them and flunking for years on end.)
Remember, if writing a 2,500 word essay makes you break out in cold sweat, then Arts and Humanities, Law, and maybe even business may not be your cup of tea.
If solving mathematics tutorials give you cramps, then sciences and engineering are generally out.
If you hate lab work, then subjects with lab are out.
If writing computer programs is not your cup of tea, computing and computer sciences are unlikely to go well with you.
If you think you want to find a subject that will line your pocket with lots of cash, your grades will bankrupt your standing in the university and you'll drop out.
Remember - INTEREST is very important. At least for me.
For those facing the daunting task of choosing a university course, here just a little nugget of my experience that I can share with you.
Go and meet your JC teachers and talk to them. Speak with university department subject coordinators or counsellors who may be able to throw some light on what you might like. (They will be very frank whether or not you are a fit because the last thing they want is you going to them and flunking for years on end.)
Remember, if writing a 2,500 word essay makes you break out in cold sweat, then Arts and Humanities, Law, and maybe even business may not be your cup of tea.
If solving mathematics tutorials give you cramps, then sciences and engineering are generally out.
If you hate lab work, then subjects with lab are out.
If writing computer programs is not your cup of tea, computing and computer sciences are unlikely to go well with you.
If you think you want to find a subject that will line your pocket with lots of cash, your grades will bankrupt your standing in the university and you'll drop out.
Remember - INTEREST is very important. At least for me.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Why repeating is a good idea
Why repeating is a good idea
Because you've completed the syllabus already and you know where you ought to work harder
Because it's time to learn self-discipline
Because it's easier the second time around
Because if you need help, you know you have to find someone to help you
Because you've done it before, this time you can try to do it better
Because you have paid for this second chance with a year of your life
Because you know how badly you want it
Because you're worth it
and mostly
Because you really ought to do yourself some justice and repeating it and doing well in the end is the best way to repay all those you've disappointed the last time around
Good luck!
Because you've completed the syllabus already and you know where you ought to work harder
Because it's time to learn self-discipline
Because it's easier the second time around
Because if you need help, you know you have to find someone to help you
Because you've done it before, this time you can try to do it better
Because you have paid for this second chance with a year of your life
Because you know how badly you want it
Because you're worth it
and mostly
Because you really ought to do yourself some justice and repeating it and doing well in the end is the best way to repay all those you've disappointed the last time around
Good luck!
Coming to one's senses
Coming to one's senses
It's hard to come to one's senses when everything then seemed so right. Fortunately for me, I didn't see it that right because practicing till midnight because of some time wasters saved my ass.
I gave up my ECA (it was called PDP then) in JC to concentrate on my studies. I switched ECA halfway. Not only did my ECA take up too much time, it was not going anywhere. I love what I do, but I hate wasting time.
Practices often started late. People came late. Section practices were late. Sometimes people waited for a good hour and went home. In one hour, I might have completed 4 to 5 mathematics tutorial questions. Maybe a good section of Chemistry tutorials. Or even attempted a GP Comprehension passage. Or even if I got rested so that I won't feel so tired during classes.
Practices never ended on time. Because practices had to double up as section practices. And people never wanted to put in effort. People thought their clowning and time-wasting antics were very funny.
Soon, I had enough. My Physics lectures and tutorials were spent researching the bottom of my eyelids. I was doing ok for my mathematics and chemistry. But the time wasting was something I wasn't enjoying after a while.
Looking back, either a person was a trouble-maker or s/he was very 'fed-up' with the whole thing.
I left the ECA and from then on, the teacher-in-charge and I never spoke to each other in non-insulting terms again. He called me a quitter. I laugh. Who laughed at quitters when they ace the A levels and get awarded a scholarship? Who, I ask?
I was only too happy that my ECA then did not require me to commit myself even more. For it would have been even harder to extricate myself from the mess.
Enthusiasm is not a bad thing. Neither is commitment. But priorities should remain in the principal focus.
It's hard to come to one's senses when everything then seemed so right. Fortunately for me, I didn't see it that right because practicing till midnight because of some time wasters saved my ass.
I gave up my ECA (it was called PDP then) in JC to concentrate on my studies. I switched ECA halfway. Not only did my ECA take up too much time, it was not going anywhere. I love what I do, but I hate wasting time.
Practices often started late. People came late. Section practices were late. Sometimes people waited for a good hour and went home. In one hour, I might have completed 4 to 5 mathematics tutorial questions. Maybe a good section of Chemistry tutorials. Or even attempted a GP Comprehension passage. Or even if I got rested so that I won't feel so tired during classes.
Practices never ended on time. Because practices had to double up as section practices. And people never wanted to put in effort. People thought their clowning and time-wasting antics were very funny.
Soon, I had enough. My Physics lectures and tutorials were spent researching the bottom of my eyelids. I was doing ok for my mathematics and chemistry. But the time wasting was something I wasn't enjoying after a while.
Looking back, either a person was a trouble-maker or s/he was very 'fed-up' with the whole thing.
I left the ECA and from then on, the teacher-in-charge and I never spoke to each other in non-insulting terms again. He called me a quitter. I laugh. Who laughed at quitters when they ace the A levels and get awarded a scholarship? Who, I ask?
I was only too happy that my ECA then did not require me to commit myself even more. For it would have been even harder to extricate myself from the mess.
Enthusiasm is not a bad thing. Neither is commitment. But priorities should remain in the principal focus.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Quick Quick Buy It
Quick Quick Buy It
A baby food breakfast was recalled from Singapore's markets after the US FDA warned that the product might be contaminated and cause botulism.
According to CDC, botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. There are three main kinds of botulism.
Foodborne botulism is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin.
Wound botulism is caused by toxin produced from a wound infected with Clostridium botulinum.
Infant botulism is caused by consuming the spores of the botulinum bacteria, which then grow in the intestines and release toxin. All forms of botulism can be fatal and are considered medical emergencies.
Foodborne botulism can be especially dangerous because many people can be poisoned by eating a contaminated food.
BUT
Wikipedia also carries that the botulinum toxin is also used cosmetically, for example in reducing facial wrinkles or excessive transpiration, and is commercially known as Botox. Cases of inadvertent botulism have occurred due to overdose or accidental intravenous injection of Botox.
So, people wanting to smooth their wrinkles but not want to pay cosmetic doctors huge sums of money for the jabs may want to consider grabbing those infected food cans and apply the contents liberally on the face. Perhaps it would work as well.
A baby food breakfast was recalled from Singapore's markets after the US FDA warned that the product might be contaminated and cause botulism.
According to CDC, botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. There are three main kinds of botulism.
Foodborne botulism is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin.
Wound botulism is caused by toxin produced from a wound infected with Clostridium botulinum.
Infant botulism is caused by consuming the spores of the botulinum bacteria, which then grow in the intestines and release toxin. All forms of botulism can be fatal and are considered medical emergencies.
Foodborne botulism can be especially dangerous because many people can be poisoned by eating a contaminated food.
BUT
Wikipedia also carries that the botulinum toxin is also used cosmetically, for example in reducing facial wrinkles or excessive transpiration, and is commercially known as Botox. Cases of inadvertent botulism have occurred due to overdose or accidental intravenous injection of Botox.
So, people wanting to smooth their wrinkles but not want to pay cosmetic doctors huge sums of money for the jabs may want to consider grabbing those infected food cans and apply the contents liberally on the face. Perhaps it would work as well.
Feb 06 Quote of the Month
Feb 06 Quote of the Month
Was watching this show called Sex in Japan by BBC World (I think). BBC interviews a Japanese photographer, Nobuyoshi Araki, who claimed,
"I think people should be positively dirty-minded and if you are positively dirty-minded, you end up in the most lively and energetic place."
Well said. Let's all stay positively dirty-minded!
Was watching this show called Sex in Japan by BBC World (I think). BBC interviews a Japanese photographer, Nobuyoshi Araki, who claimed,
"I think people should be positively dirty-minded and if you are positively dirty-minded, you end up in the most lively and energetic place."
Well said. Let's all stay positively dirty-minded!
Monday, February 19, 2007
Mack The Knife
Mack The Knife
One of my favourite covers of Mack the Knife is by Robbie Williams. Robbie is in rehab now but he has always been very good.
It is always tough to make something so macabre sound so happy and sprightly. Jocular sadism - I love it!
One of my favourite covers of Mack the Knife is by Robbie Williams. Robbie is in rehab now but he has always been very good.
It is always tough to make something so macabre sound so happy and sprightly. Jocular sadism - I love it!
Hotel California
Hotel California
This is the Eagles Reunion 1994 version. If you had the original recording and an excellent hifi system, it sounds really really great.
The crowd was held in suspense for the longest time because the Eagles simply wanted to have some fun showing off their technical prowess at the guitar and it was a few "false starts" later that they've decided to launch into song. But it was all worth the wait.
Enjoy!
This is the Eagles Reunion 1994 version. If you had the original recording and an excellent hifi system, it sounds really really great.
The crowd was held in suspense for the longest time because the Eagles simply wanted to have some fun showing off their technical prowess at the guitar and it was a few "false starts" later that they've decided to launch into song. But it was all worth the wait.
Enjoy!
Ring My Bell
Ring My Bell
This is a 1979 one-hit wonder by Anita Ward. And I think it did go to number 1.
I have been hearing a little too much of it recently and what I couldn't get out of my system are:
1. The siren-like teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwww (many many times) at the beginning of the song
2. Minnie Mouse-like voice (Debbie Gibson also sounds like this)
3. "You could ring my bell... ring my bell" makes me think of a cow with those bells hanging at their necks. Or else, where else can anyone have bells hanging on their bodies unless there is some bodily modification?
Still, enjoy what the 1970s represent! (And how do I begin telling you how the Ah Bengs and the Ah Lians will be singing "Leng Mai Bell" to the tune while prancing away. Ewww....)
Ring My Bell
I'm glad you're home
And I think you really miss me
I guess you did by the look in your eyes (look in your eyes, look in your eyes)
Well lay back and relax while I put away the dishes (put away the dishes)
Then you and me can rock-a-bye
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
The night is young and full of possibilities
Well come on and let yourself be free
My love for you, so long than I've been savin'
Tonight was made for me and you
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
you can ring my bell, you can ring my bell
(ding, dong, ding, do-ong)
you can ring my bell, you can ring my bell
(ding, dong, ding, do-ong, ring it!)
you can ring my bell, anytime, anyway
(ring it, ring it, ring it, ring it oww!)
you can ring my bell, anytime, anyway
(ding, dong, ding, do-ong)
you can ring my bell, you can ring my bell
(ding, dong, ding, do-ong)
you can ring my bell, you can ring my bell
(ding, dong, ding, do-ong, ring it!)
you can ring my bell, anytime, anyway
(ring it, ring it, ring it, ring it oww!)
you can ring my bell, anytime, anyway
(ding, dong, ding, do-ong)
This is a 1979 one-hit wonder by Anita Ward. And I think it did go to number 1.
I have been hearing a little too much of it recently and what I couldn't get out of my system are:
1. The siren-like teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwww (many many times) at the beginning of the song
2. Minnie Mouse-like voice (Debbie Gibson also sounds like this)
3. "You could ring my bell... ring my bell" makes me think of a cow with those bells hanging at their necks. Or else, where else can anyone have bells hanging on their bodies unless there is some bodily modification?
Still, enjoy what the 1970s represent! (And how do I begin telling you how the Ah Bengs and the Ah Lians will be singing "Leng Mai Bell" to the tune while prancing away. Ewww....)
Ring My Bell
I'm glad you're home
And I think you really miss me
I guess you did by the look in your eyes (look in your eyes, look in your eyes)
Well lay back and relax while I put away the dishes (put away the dishes)
Then you and me can rock-a-bye
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
The night is young and full of possibilities
Well come on and let yourself be free
My love for you, so long than I've been savin'
Tonight was made for me and you
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell
you can ring my bell, you can ring my bell
(ding, dong, ding, do-ong)
you can ring my bell, you can ring my bell
(ding, dong, ding, do-ong, ring it!)
you can ring my bell, anytime, anyway
(ring it, ring it, ring it, ring it oww!)
you can ring my bell, anytime, anyway
(ding, dong, ding, do-ong)
you can ring my bell, you can ring my bell
(ding, dong, ding, do-ong)
you can ring my bell, you can ring my bell
(ding, dong, ding, do-ong, ring it!)
you can ring my bell, anytime, anyway
(ring it, ring it, ring it, ring it oww!)
you can ring my bell, anytime, anyway
(ding, dong, ding, do-ong)
Dirt
Dirt
I spent the last few days watching the new TV series, Dirt. I don't think Singapore will ever get to watch it because it is pretty blatant. In US, it is marked for Mature Audiences. Let me share with you a quick snapshot of the first few episodes through this Youtube trailer.
The show has a very simple storyline. A magazine editor, Lucy Spiller, seeks the report truth about celebrities' secret lives. Subsequently, she started going for people's secret lives. And she's good.
"Dirt Now", the magazine that Lucy edits, is the amalgamation of two magazines - Dirt and Now. Dirt concentrated on exposes but it was hard to get advertisers because of the profiles of the people who get exposed. Now is the magazine that concentrated on breaking news but sales are dismal.
Dirt Now, as Lucy proclaimed, will be the best of both.
Lucy has a devoted schizophrenic classmate, Don Carson, who was a photographer for Dirt and now with Dirt Now. He is one character to watch. In one assignment, he actually cut off his pinkie so that he could sneak into the ICU to take pictures of a fallen gospel singer who finally set herself on fire because "she could not take this life anymore". Is that bitchy or what?
Lucy's brother, Leo, is an interior designer who scored a job with a Brad Pitt-lookalike, called Jack Dawson in the show. Well, at the end of episode 3, Leo asked Jack if he could ask an awkward question. Jack said he was thinking of the same. He walked to Leo, kissed him and then proceeded to blow Leo.
Of course, Leo finally caught Jack being serviced by his personal trainer when he went over. There was an acrimonious break-up and Don went to snap pictures of Jack and his playmate but got caught. Poor guy got locked up and Lucy had to bail him out and settle for him.
It has been an enjoyable ride so far and I've watched all 7 available episodes. I'm now waiting.
And where is my Desperate Housewives Episodes 13, 14, 15? Grr....
I spent the last few days watching the new TV series, Dirt. I don't think Singapore will ever get to watch it because it is pretty blatant. In US, it is marked for Mature Audiences. Let me share with you a quick snapshot of the first few episodes through this Youtube trailer.
The show has a very simple storyline. A magazine editor, Lucy Spiller, seeks the report truth about celebrities' secret lives. Subsequently, she started going for people's secret lives. And she's good.
"Dirt Now", the magazine that Lucy edits, is the amalgamation of two magazines - Dirt and Now. Dirt concentrated on exposes but it was hard to get advertisers because of the profiles of the people who get exposed. Now is the magazine that concentrated on breaking news but sales are dismal.
Dirt Now, as Lucy proclaimed, will be the best of both.
Lucy has a devoted schizophrenic classmate, Don Carson, who was a photographer for Dirt and now with Dirt Now. He is one character to watch. In one assignment, he actually cut off his pinkie so that he could sneak into the ICU to take pictures of a fallen gospel singer who finally set herself on fire because "she could not take this life anymore". Is that bitchy or what?
Lucy's brother, Leo, is an interior designer who scored a job with a Brad Pitt-lookalike, called Jack Dawson in the show. Well, at the end of episode 3, Leo asked Jack if he could ask an awkward question. Jack said he was thinking of the same. He walked to Leo, kissed him and then proceeded to blow Leo.
Of course, Leo finally caught Jack being serviced by his personal trainer when he went over. There was an acrimonious break-up and Don went to snap pictures of Jack and his playmate but got caught. Poor guy got locked up and Lucy had to bail him out and settle for him.
It has been an enjoyable ride so far and I've watched all 7 available episodes. I'm now waiting.
And where is my Desperate Housewives Episodes 13, 14, 15? Grr....
Jesus, Take The Wheel
Jesus, Take The Wheel
Artist/Band: Underwood Carrie
Lyrics for Song: Jesus, Take The Wheel
Lyrics for Album: Some Hearts
Jesus, Take the Wheel
(James/Lindsey/Sampson)
She was drivin' last friday on her way to Cincinnati
On a snow white Christmas Eve
Goin' home to see her Momma and her Daddy
With her baby in a back seat
Fifty miles to go and she was runnin' low
On faith and gasoline
It'd been a long hard year
She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention
She was goin' way too fast
Before she knew it she was spinnin on thin black sheet of glass
She saw both their lives flash before her eyes
She didn't even have time to cry
She was so scared, she threw her hands up in the air
(Chorus)
Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
Give me one more chance
Save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel
It was still getting colder when she made it to the shoulder and that car came to a stop
She cried when she saw that baby in the back seat sleepin' like a rock
For the first time in a long time she bowed her head to pray
She said I'm sorry for the way
I've been livin' my life
I know I've got to change
So from now on tonight
(Repeat chorus)
Artist/Band: Underwood Carrie
Lyrics for Song: Jesus, Take The Wheel
Lyrics for Album: Some Hearts
Jesus, Take the Wheel
(James/Lindsey/Sampson)
She was drivin' last friday on her way to Cincinnati
On a snow white Christmas Eve
Goin' home to see her Momma and her Daddy
With her baby in a back seat
Fifty miles to go and she was runnin' low
On faith and gasoline
It'd been a long hard year
She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention
She was goin' way too fast
Before she knew it she was spinnin on thin black sheet of glass
She saw both their lives flash before her eyes
She didn't even have time to cry
She was so scared, she threw her hands up in the air
(Chorus)
Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
Give me one more chance
Save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel
It was still getting colder when she made it to the shoulder and that car came to a stop
She cried when she saw that baby in the back seat sleepin' like a rock
For the first time in a long time she bowed her head to pray
She said I'm sorry for the way
I've been livin' my life
I know I've got to change
So from now on tonight
(Repeat chorus)
Friday, February 16, 2007
2006 DARWIN AWARD WINNERS!
Darwin Awards Condoms: Keep yourself out of the gene pool.
Darwin Awards Motto: The Tree of Life is Self-Pruning.
Darwin Awards Hero: "What would Darwin do?"
2006 RUNNER UP: Copper Kite Darwin Award -- Confirmed
"One string short of a kite."
(19 March 2006, Belize) Benjamin Franklin reputedly flew his kite
in a lightning storm, going on to discover that lightning equals
electricity. However, certain precautions must be taken to avoid
sudden electrocution. Kennon, 26, replicated the conditions of
Ben Franklin's experiment, but without Ben's sensible safety
precautions. Dennon was flying a kite with a short string that
he had extended with a length of thin copper wire.
The copper made contact with a high-tension line, sending a bolt
of electrical lightning towards the man. Just bad luck?
Kennon's father told listeners his son was an electrician, and
"should have known better." Kennon is survived by his parents,
six sisters, and five brothers.
2006 RUNNER UP: Hammer of Doom Darwin Award -- Confirmed
August brought us a winner from Brazil, who tried to disassemble
a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) by driving back and forth over
it with a car. This technique was ineffective, so he escalated to
pounding the RPG with a sledgehammer. The second try worked--in
a sense. The explosion proved fatal to one man, six cars, and
the repair shop wherein the efforts took place.
14 more RPG grenades were found in a car parked nearby. Police
believe the ammunition was being scavenged to sell as scrap
metal. If it wasn't scrap then, it certainly is now!
And the 2006 DARWIN AWARD Winner is...
HIGH ON LIFE: "Take a deep breath..."
(3 June 2006, Florida) Two more candidates have thrown themselves
into the running for a Darwin Award. The feet of Jason and Sara,
both 21, were found protruding from a deflated, huge helium
advertising balloon. Jason was a college student, and Sara
attended community college, but apparently their education had
glossed over the importance of oxygen.
When one breathes helium, the lack of oxygen in the bloodstream
causes a rapid loss of consciousness. Some euthanasia experts
advocate the use of helium to painlessly end one's life.
The pair pulled down the 8' balloon, and climbed inside. Their
last words consisted of high-pitched, incoherent giggling as they
slowly passed out and passed into the hereafter.
Sheriff's deputies said the two were not victims of foul play. No
drugs or alcohol were found. The medical examiner reported that
helium inhalation was a significant factor in their deaths. A
family member said "Sara was mischievous, to be honest. She liked
fun and it cost her."
Darwin Awards Condoms: Keep yourself out of the gene pool.
Darwin Awards Motto: The Tree of Life is Self-Pruning.
Darwin Awards Hero: "What would Darwin do?"
2006 RUNNER UP: Copper Kite Darwin Award -- Confirmed
"One string short of a kite."
(19 March 2006, Belize) Benjamin Franklin reputedly flew his kite
in a lightning storm, going on to discover that lightning equals
electricity. However, certain precautions must be taken to avoid
sudden electrocution. Kennon, 26, replicated the conditions of
Ben Franklin's experiment, but without Ben's sensible safety
precautions. Dennon was flying a kite with a short string that
he had extended with a length of thin copper wire.
The copper made contact with a high-tension line, sending a bolt
of electrical lightning towards the man. Just bad luck?
Kennon's father told listeners his son was an electrician, and
"should have known better." Kennon is survived by his parents,
six sisters, and five brothers.
2006 RUNNER UP: Hammer of Doom Darwin Award -- Confirmed
August brought us a winner from Brazil, who tried to disassemble
a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) by driving back and forth over
it with a car. This technique was ineffective, so he escalated to
pounding the RPG with a sledgehammer. The second try worked--in
a sense. The explosion proved fatal to one man, six cars, and
the repair shop wherein the efforts took place.
14 more RPG grenades were found in a car parked nearby. Police
believe the ammunition was being scavenged to sell as scrap
metal. If it wasn't scrap then, it certainly is now!
And the 2006 DARWIN AWARD Winner is...
HIGH ON LIFE: "Take a deep breath..."
(3 June 2006, Florida) Two more candidates have thrown themselves
into the running for a Darwin Award. The feet of Jason and Sara,
both 21, were found protruding from a deflated, huge helium
advertising balloon. Jason was a college student, and Sara
attended community college, but apparently their education had
glossed over the importance of oxygen.
When one breathes helium, the lack of oxygen in the bloodstream
causes a rapid loss of consciousness. Some euthanasia experts
advocate the use of helium to painlessly end one's life.
The pair pulled down the 8' balloon, and climbed inside. Their
last words consisted of high-pitched, incoherent giggling as they
slowly passed out and passed into the hereafter.
Sheriff's deputies said the two were not victims of foul play. No
drugs or alcohol were found. The medical examiner reported that
helium inhalation was a significant factor in their deaths. A
family member said "Sara was mischievous, to be honest. She liked
fun and it cost her."
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Chinese New Year Open House
Chinese New Year Open House
Apparently...
24 Feb (Sat) is bad because people are working, people have exams, people need to sell themselves at garage sales, people need to celebrate birthdays (me included).
25 Feb (Sun) is bad because I say it's bad.
3 Mar (Sat) is bad because people need to enjoy their last day of Chinese New Year.
4 Mar (Sun) is no longer Chinese New Year.
Please note that owing to the less than ideal dates and times for the Chinese New Year Open House, I have decided to cancel the event.
I will be finding another day and time for a simple gathering instead.
Wishing all a happy and prosperous New Year!
Apparently...
24 Feb (Sat) is bad because people are working, people have exams, people need to sell themselves at garage sales, people need to celebrate birthdays (me included).
25 Feb (Sun) is bad because I say it's bad.
3 Mar (Sat) is bad because people need to enjoy their last day of Chinese New Year.
4 Mar (Sun) is no longer Chinese New Year.
Please note that owing to the less than ideal dates and times for the Chinese New Year Open House, I have decided to cancel the event.
I will be finding another day and time for a simple gathering instead.
Wishing all a happy and prosperous New Year!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
The Amazing Shrinking Chicken Wing
The Amazing Shrinking Chicken Wing
With Chinese New Year around the corner and maybe with the lovely scourge called Bird Flu, I found that chicken wings sold at cooked food outlets have become more expensive (the Changi Village nasi lemak stall has raised its wing prices from $1 to $1.50 - and I do not know if it is in anticipation of the 2% hike in Goods and Services Tax. And even if it is, isn't it preposterous that a 2 cent paper increase manifests itself as a 50 cent actual increase?) or they have shrunk (the fried noodle stall in Commonwealth is selling smaller wings at $1).
Maybe there is a bout of malnutrition in chickens? Or are we already killing them for food earlier - even before H5N1 can be detected? Or worse, if I know the health authorities are cracking down on the farms, the owners simply give the order to kill, freeze and sell? Who knows? Apparently, the British human food supply seems to have been breached already.
Well, eat while they still exist. Just like bananas.
With Chinese New Year around the corner and maybe with the lovely scourge called Bird Flu, I found that chicken wings sold at cooked food outlets have become more expensive (the Changi Village nasi lemak stall has raised its wing prices from $1 to $1.50 - and I do not know if it is in anticipation of the 2% hike in Goods and Services Tax. And even if it is, isn't it preposterous that a 2 cent paper increase manifests itself as a 50 cent actual increase?) or they have shrunk (the fried noodle stall in Commonwealth is selling smaller wings at $1).
Maybe there is a bout of malnutrition in chickens? Or are we already killing them for food earlier - even before H5N1 can be detected? Or worse, if I know the health authorities are cracking down on the farms, the owners simply give the order to kill, freeze and sell? Who knows? Apparently, the British human food supply seems to have been breached already.
Well, eat while they still exist. Just like bananas.
Ewwww........
Ewwww........
Someone heard this over the radio and then SMS-ed me.
"My love for you is like lau-sai (diarrhoea). I can't keep it in me any more."
Someone heard this over the radio and then SMS-ed me.
"My love for you is like lau-sai (diarrhoea). I can't keep it in me any more."
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Happy 32nd Birthday to Me!
Happy 32nd Birthday to Me!
Just turned 32 not long ago, if I go by time of birth.
Showering just now and reflecting on my miserable work but otherwise happy existence.
Then epiphany hit.
I don't need power and status. I only want to be happy and free.
And I think I know where I should go from here.
Just turned 32 not long ago, if I go by time of birth.
Showering just now and reflecting on my miserable work but otherwise happy existence.
Then epiphany hit.
I don't need power and status. I only want to be happy and free.
And I think I know where I should go from here.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
I hope you get run over by a bus soon!
I hope you get run over by a bus soon!
To the stupid woman SMSing on the bus and cannot stand properly when the bus is moving,
Be damned thankful that I was there to break your fall three times.
And I don't think I am rude when I tell you that if you can't stand properly (on the moving bus) you should not be SMSing on your phone after you crashed your body into my chest for the third time.
But I think you are extremely rude when you said, "Sorry IF I FALL ONTO YOU LOH!"
After that, you complained to your guy friend that you cannot stand rude people like this.
Remember this, you harlot. if I had been rude, your friend would have spoken up. But he kept quiet. He knows jolly well that I am right. Chivalry dictates that he speaks up if I had been a rogue. But he knows better. Good for him!
Subsequently, you kept hurrying him to move to the back of the bus and he had no choice but to look down at the ground and move behind. Passengers were looking. He knows and feels embarrassed for you.
But you? You righteously think you were on moral high ground. God! I wish the plague on all those who failed to teach you manners and proper behaviour. H5N1 ain't that bad either.
Anyway, I think you will make a pathetic parent and you are definitely scum of the earth.
If it has not happened yet, the title says it all.
PS. I'm sure hell will bar you from entering when you finally make it there!
To the stupid woman SMSing on the bus and cannot stand properly when the bus is moving,
Be damned thankful that I was there to break your fall three times.
And I don't think I am rude when I tell you that if you can't stand properly (on the moving bus) you should not be SMSing on your phone after you crashed your body into my chest for the third time.
But I think you are extremely rude when you said, "Sorry IF I FALL ONTO YOU LOH!"
After that, you complained to your guy friend that you cannot stand rude people like this.
Remember this, you harlot. if I had been rude, your friend would have spoken up. But he kept quiet. He knows jolly well that I am right. Chivalry dictates that he speaks up if I had been a rogue. But he knows better. Good for him!
Subsequently, you kept hurrying him to move to the back of the bus and he had no choice but to look down at the ground and move behind. Passengers were looking. He knows and feels embarrassed for you.
But you? You righteously think you were on moral high ground. God! I wish the plague on all those who failed to teach you manners and proper behaviour. H5N1 ain't that bad either.
Anyway, I think you will make a pathetic parent and you are definitely scum of the earth.
If it has not happened yet, the title says it all.
PS. I'm sure hell will bar you from entering when you finally make it there!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Country Songs
Artist: Lawrence Tracy
Song Title: Paint Me a Birmingham
Album: Strong
He was sitting there, his brush in hand
Painting waves as they danced, upon the sand
With every stroke, he brought to life
The deep blue of the ocean, against the morning sky
I asked him if he only painted ocean scenes
He said for twenty dollars, I'll paint you anything
Could you Paint Me A Birmingham
Make it look just the way I planned
A little house on the edge of town
Porch going all the way around
Put her there in the front yard swing
Cotton dress make it, early spring
For a while she'll be, mine again
If you can Paint Me A Birmingham
He looked at me, with knowing eyes
Then took a canvas from a bag there by his side
Picked up a brush, and said to me
Son just where in this picture would you like to be
And I said if there's any way you can
Could you paint me back into her arms again?
Could you Paint Me A Birmingham
Make it look just the way I planned
A little house on the edge of town
Porch going all the way around
Put her there in the front yard swing
Cotton dress make it, early spring
For a while she'll be, mine again
If you can Paint Me A Birmingham
Paint Me A Birmingham
Make it look just the way I planned
A little house on the edge of town
Porch going all the way around
Put her there in the front yard swing
Cotton dress make it, early spring
For a while she'll be, mine again
If you can Paint Me A Birmingham
Oh paint me a Birmingham
http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/lawrence-tracy/paint-me-a-birmingham-12714.html
I am a sucker for country and soft rock. I need the story in the music to keep me interested.
The above was something I heard the first time yesterday. Only heard half the song and fell in love with it.
So simple and so delicate the pining.
Now, I want to get the CD.
Song Title: Paint Me a Birmingham
Album: Strong
He was sitting there, his brush in hand
Painting waves as they danced, upon the sand
With every stroke, he brought to life
The deep blue of the ocean, against the morning sky
I asked him if he only painted ocean scenes
He said for twenty dollars, I'll paint you anything
Could you Paint Me A Birmingham
Make it look just the way I planned
A little house on the edge of town
Porch going all the way around
Put her there in the front yard swing
Cotton dress make it, early spring
For a while she'll be, mine again
If you can Paint Me A Birmingham
He looked at me, with knowing eyes
Then took a canvas from a bag there by his side
Picked up a brush, and said to me
Son just where in this picture would you like to be
And I said if there's any way you can
Could you paint me back into her arms again?
Could you Paint Me A Birmingham
Make it look just the way I planned
A little house on the edge of town
Porch going all the way around
Put her there in the front yard swing
Cotton dress make it, early spring
For a while she'll be, mine again
If you can Paint Me A Birmingham
Paint Me A Birmingham
Make it look just the way I planned
A little house on the edge of town
Porch going all the way around
Put her there in the front yard swing
Cotton dress make it, early spring
For a while she'll be, mine again
If you can Paint Me A Birmingham
Oh paint me a Birmingham
http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/lawrence-tracy/paint-me-a-birmingham-12714.html
I am a sucker for country and soft rock. I need the story in the music to keep me interested.
The above was something I heard the first time yesterday. Only heard half the song and fell in love with it.
So simple and so delicate the pining.
Now, I want to get the CD.
Evil thoughts?
Evil thoughts?
Lots of news to read in my new job.
And lots of exciting headlines and comments which I had made a mental note to bring up to this blog and bitch about.
In the end, I decide to be kind. Misfortunes have already struck. Need I gloat? Yes. Need I tell people I'm gloating? No.
There! Keeping close my evil thoughts and then forgetting them.
Getting more saintly? Hardly. I think being too busy "helps".
Lots of news to read in my new job.
And lots of exciting headlines and comments which I had made a mental note to bring up to this blog and bitch about.
In the end, I decide to be kind. Misfortunes have already struck. Need I gloat? Yes. Need I tell people I'm gloating? No.
There! Keeping close my evil thoughts and then forgetting them.
Getting more saintly? Hardly. I think being too busy "helps".
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Overheard
Overheard at a Conference
Excellent little speech by a caucasian speaking impeccable Mandarin, "Vinegar (cu4) is sour, being jealous (chi1 cu4) is bitter. Sour and bitter, I still can take, but hot (la4), I cannot stand it."
He was rebuking a Singaporean woman who was bragging about having sat beside a mutual friend on a long flight. She asked if he was jealous that she was sitting with other men.
I think the guy retorted well, but the "hot" part was something I disagree - given how slick he is (you2 qiang1 hua2 diao4), I'm sure he'll be able to neutralise all heat!
Excellent little speech by a caucasian speaking impeccable Mandarin, "Vinegar (cu4) is sour, being jealous (chi1 cu4) is bitter. Sour and bitter, I still can take, but hot (la4), I cannot stand it."
He was rebuking a Singaporean woman who was bragging about having sat beside a mutual friend on a long flight. She asked if he was jealous that she was sitting with other men.
I think the guy retorted well, but the "hot" part was something I disagree - given how slick he is (you2 qiang1 hua2 diao4), I'm sure he'll be able to neutralise all heat!
Monday, January 15, 2007
In Love...
In Love...
In love
two blissfully contented beings
joined in a never ending circle
of togetherness
In love
two blissfully ignorant beings
each a never ending circle
going their own direction
In love
two blissfully belligerent beings
joined in a never perfect circle
getting at each other
In love
two blissfully divergent beings
each looking for the missing bits to complete their circles
oblivious of each other
In love
two blissfully cheating beings
each having found another other
cheating on each other
In love
two blissfully married beings
not aware of...
having fallen out of love
In love
two blissfully contented beings
joined in a never ending circle
of togetherness
In love
two blissfully ignorant beings
each a never ending circle
going their own direction
In love
two blissfully belligerent beings
joined in a never perfect circle
getting at each other
In love
two blissfully divergent beings
each looking for the missing bits to complete their circles
oblivious of each other
In love
two blissfully cheating beings
each having found another other
cheating on each other
In love
two blissfully married beings
not aware of...
having fallen out of love
Random Thoughts
Random Thoughts
Too busy at work to write.
Good staffers may not make good leaders. They are either too much a worker and too little a leader or they fear their positions get usurped.
When given time, people will reinvent the wheel. (It is another take of an idle mind is the Devil's workshop.)
If I do well, it does not mean you have done badly. Doing well is not a zero sum game!
TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT! It is not as though I cannot get the work done. But I cannot read your mind.
Commonsense is not very common. (Such a cliche, but still applicable!)
I am still seeking the light.
Too busy at work to write.
Good staffers may not make good leaders. They are either too much a worker and too little a leader or they fear their positions get usurped.
When given time, people will reinvent the wheel. (It is another take of an idle mind is the Devil's workshop.)
If I do well, it does not mean you have done badly. Doing well is not a zero sum game!
TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT! It is not as though I cannot get the work done. But I cannot read your mind.
Commonsense is not very common. (Such a cliche, but still applicable!)
I am still seeking the light.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Quote of the Month
Quote of the Month
Early days yet, but I have a winning quote from a bro from NJ.
"When I try to teach, to improve someone, only to have it thrown back in my face as though I'm a total incompetent, my fuse doesn't grow short... it disappears."
Early days yet, but I have a winning quote from a bro from NJ.
"When I try to teach, to improve someone, only to have it thrown back in my face as though I'm a total incompetent, my fuse doesn't grow short... it disappears."
Saturday, January 06, 2007
The difference 20 years make
The difference 20 years make
Lest it makes me look extremely old, I am marginally on the wrong side of 30 physically. Mentally, I am probably in excess of 300 years old. Call me traditional but I have my beliefs and principles.
Went for lunch at the Geylang Serai market today. It was at the makeshift market opposite the Malay Village. The former market has been torn down to make way for a new housing development.
Geylang Serai had been a part of my growing up years. My maternal grandparents used to be fishmongers there and I dropped by during holidays to help. Or more accurately, to take a break from home. In the early 1980s, My grandparents bought a flat at the block in front of the market so that they were able to take a bath after a day of business at the market before they went home. It was never pleasant to be stared at or rejected by cabbies because of the fishy smell clinging on to the clothes. But why did these people not reject the money as well?
The market consists of a section which sells fresh or dried produce and another which sells cooked food. I won't dwell on the fresh or dried produce section today. I did not even walk near a single stall in that section but the cooked food section brought back many memories.
These memories are mine to savour and perhaps one day I may take my readers down memory lane. What I was amazed today was how much have changed in a span of 20 years.
The first thing that came to mind was price. Plain prata used to cost 40 cents each but now it costs 60 cents. Prata with egg used to be 70 cents. Now it is $1.20. Curry puffs used to go for 50 cents for a palm sized curried danish but they now cost more. And the sizes have shrunk. Nasi ayam (chicken rice) used to be $1.20. It is now $2 to $3. Oh, while my favourite drink used to be sold at 50 cents for a large glass (30 cents for a small one), it now costs $1.50 ($1). Takeaways are now in transparent cups which can be sealed at the top with a seal machine, different from the plastic carrier bags in the past. Even the straws are now "atas" (high class) compared to the easily bent flimpsy white straws. Geylang Serai has moved with the times!
Another observation was in dining habits. In the past, I would see a full set of nasi briyani (spiced rice) with mutton or chicken with an additional plate of rice to be shared between two people, I now see a full set of rice being shared between two, but with an additional serving of meat. A large plate of rice with a couple of side dishes have given way to smaller servings of rice with larger arrays and portions of sides. People are living better and eating better too.
Still on dining, in the past, most people would eat with their fingers. We now see most people eating with proper cutlery. I don't know if eating with fingers is a tradition for certain races but I do see that people have become more conscious of hygiene (I suppose) in public.
I also began to see more varieties of food. I found many many stalls selling ayam penyet (flattened fried chicken - to allow the sauces to seep more easily into the chicken flesh), one of the hottest item in Singapore at this moment. I see the almost entire embracing of the traditional Chinese cheng tng entering the culinary embraces of the Malays, I see bubur ayam (chicken porridge) too. Who would have expected that?
Even though the makeshift market is not exactly the cleanest or best designed as a cooked food place, the place is kept clean and inviting. Gone are the days where you see packets of rice tossed on the floor for the cats, curries spilled all over the table tops.
However, there are a few regrets.
I see fewer Chinese patrons. There used to be a more diverse crowd at Geylang Serai of the past. Racial integration comes most easily through food. Perhaps it is time to reintroduce the races to one another through their stomachs. I noticed the same at Kampong Glam too, by the way.
I see the repetition of a lot of popular food. I don't recall seeing the stall that sold my favourite lontong (curried vegetables and compressed rice) any more. I also could not find the few Chinese food stalls that I used to patron when I was younger. The stalls who sold my comfort food, often in stark counterpoint to the often fiery Malay dishes. There is a blind following in popular culture and this is slowly eroding away the traditional dishes of the races.
I see new faces. And some older ones. I think many torches have been passed on.
Before I went to Geylang Serai, where I eventually had my wonderful mutton briyani, ayam penyet, and roti prata meal, I remarked to my friend that we are perpeutally living in the turning point of history. This was spoken when he asked me about the furore over Saddam Hussein's execution.
I could not have spoken at a more opportune time.
Lest it makes me look extremely old, I am marginally on the wrong side of 30 physically. Mentally, I am probably in excess of 300 years old. Call me traditional but I have my beliefs and principles.
Went for lunch at the Geylang Serai market today. It was at the makeshift market opposite the Malay Village. The former market has been torn down to make way for a new housing development.
Geylang Serai had been a part of my growing up years. My maternal grandparents used to be fishmongers there and I dropped by during holidays to help. Or more accurately, to take a break from home. In the early 1980s, My grandparents bought a flat at the block in front of the market so that they were able to take a bath after a day of business at the market before they went home. It was never pleasant to be stared at or rejected by cabbies because of the fishy smell clinging on to the clothes. But why did these people not reject the money as well?
The market consists of a section which sells fresh or dried produce and another which sells cooked food. I won't dwell on the fresh or dried produce section today. I did not even walk near a single stall in that section but the cooked food section brought back many memories.
These memories are mine to savour and perhaps one day I may take my readers down memory lane. What I was amazed today was how much have changed in a span of 20 years.
The first thing that came to mind was price. Plain prata used to cost 40 cents each but now it costs 60 cents. Prata with egg used to be 70 cents. Now it is $1.20. Curry puffs used to go for 50 cents for a palm sized curried danish but they now cost more. And the sizes have shrunk. Nasi ayam (chicken rice) used to be $1.20. It is now $2 to $3. Oh, while my favourite drink used to be sold at 50 cents for a large glass (30 cents for a small one), it now costs $1.50 ($1). Takeaways are now in transparent cups which can be sealed at the top with a seal machine, different from the plastic carrier bags in the past. Even the straws are now "atas" (high class) compared to the easily bent flimpsy white straws. Geylang Serai has moved with the times!
Another observation was in dining habits. In the past, I would see a full set of nasi briyani (spiced rice) with mutton or chicken with an additional plate of rice to be shared between two people, I now see a full set of rice being shared between two, but with an additional serving of meat. A large plate of rice with a couple of side dishes have given way to smaller servings of rice with larger arrays and portions of sides. People are living better and eating better too.
Still on dining, in the past, most people would eat with their fingers. We now see most people eating with proper cutlery. I don't know if eating with fingers is a tradition for certain races but I do see that people have become more conscious of hygiene (I suppose) in public.
I also began to see more varieties of food. I found many many stalls selling ayam penyet (flattened fried chicken - to allow the sauces to seep more easily into the chicken flesh), one of the hottest item in Singapore at this moment. I see the almost entire embracing of the traditional Chinese cheng tng entering the culinary embraces of the Malays, I see bubur ayam (chicken porridge) too. Who would have expected that?
Even though the makeshift market is not exactly the cleanest or best designed as a cooked food place, the place is kept clean and inviting. Gone are the days where you see packets of rice tossed on the floor for the cats, curries spilled all over the table tops.
However, there are a few regrets.
I see fewer Chinese patrons. There used to be a more diverse crowd at Geylang Serai of the past. Racial integration comes most easily through food. Perhaps it is time to reintroduce the races to one another through their stomachs. I noticed the same at Kampong Glam too, by the way.
I see the repetition of a lot of popular food. I don't recall seeing the stall that sold my favourite lontong (curried vegetables and compressed rice) any more. I also could not find the few Chinese food stalls that I used to patron when I was younger. The stalls who sold my comfort food, often in stark counterpoint to the often fiery Malay dishes. There is a blind following in popular culture and this is slowly eroding away the traditional dishes of the races.
I see new faces. And some older ones. I think many torches have been passed on.
Before I went to Geylang Serai, where I eventually had my wonderful mutton briyani, ayam penyet, and roti prata meal, I remarked to my friend that we are perpeutally living in the turning point of history. This was spoken when he asked me about the furore over Saddam Hussein's execution.
I could not have spoken at a more opportune time.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
LSSU 2007 List of Banished Words
Lake Superior State University 2007 List of Banished Words
GITMO -- The US military's shorthand for a base in Cuba drives a wedge wider than a split infinitive.
"When did the notorious Guantanamo Bay Naval Base change to 'Gitmo,' a word that conjures up an image of a fluffy and sweet character from a Japanese anime show?" -- Marcus W., St. Louis, Missouri.
COMBINED CELEBRITY NAMES -- Celebrity duos of yore -- BogCall (Bogart and Bacall), Lardy (Laurel and Hardy), and CheeChong (Cheech and Chong) -- just got lucky.
"It's bad enough that celebrities have to be the top news stories. Now we've given them obnoxious names such as 'Bragelina,' 'TomKat' and 'Bennifer.'" -- M. Foster, Port Huron, Michigan.
"It's so annoying, idiotic and so lame and pathetic that it's 'lamethetic.'" -- Ed of Centreville, Virginia.
AWESOME -- Given a one-year moratorium in 1984, when the Unicorn Hunters banished it "during which it is to be rehabilitated until it means 'fear mingled with admiration or reverence; a feeling produced by something majestic." Many write to tell us there's no hope and it's time for "the full banishment."
"The kind of tennis shoes you wear, no matter how cute, don't fit the majestic design of the word." -- Leila Hill, Damascus, Maryland.
"That a mop, a deodorant or a dating service can be called 'awesome' demonstrates the limited vocabularies of the country's copywriters." -- Tom Brinkmoeller, Orlando, Florida.
"Overused and meaningless.' My mother was hit by a car.' Awesome. 'I just got my college degree.' Awesome." -- Robert Bron, Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand.
GONE/WENT MISSING -- "It makes 'missing' sound like a place you can visit, such as the Poconos. Is the person missing, or not? She went there but maybe she came back. 'Is
missing' or 'was missing' would serve us better." -- Robin Dennis, Flower Mound, Texas.
PWN or PWNED -- Thr styff of lemgendz: Gamer defeats gamer, types in "I pwn you" rather than I OWN you.
"This word is just an overly used Internet typo. It has been overused to the point that people who play online games are using it in everyday speech." -- Tory Rowley, Corunna, Michigan.
NOW PLAYING IN THEATERS -- Heard in movie advertisements. Where can we see that, again?
"How often do movies premiere in laundromats or other places besides theaters? I know that when I want to see a movie I think about going to a shoe store." -- Andrea May, Shreveport, Louisiana.
WE'RE PREGNANT -- Grounded for nine months.
"Were men feeling left out of the whole morning sickness/huge belly/labor experience? You may both be expecting, but only one of you is pregnant." -- Sharla Hulsey, Sac City, Iowa.
"I'm sure any woman who has given birth will tell you that 'WE' did not deliver the baby." -- Marlena Linne, Greenfield, Indiana.
UNDOCUMENTED ALIEN -- "If they haven't followed the law to get here, they are by definition 'illegal.' It's like saying a drug dealer is an 'undocumented pharmacist.'" -- John Varga, Westfield, New Jersey.
ARMED ROBBERY/DRUG DEAL GONE BAD -- From the news reports. What degree of "bad" don't we understand? Larry Lillehammer of Bonney Lake, Washington, asks, "After it stopped going well and good?"
TRUTHINESS -- "This word, popularized by The Colbert Report and exalted by the American Dialectic Society's Word of the Year in 2005 has been used up. What used to ring true is getting all the truth wrung out of it." -- Joe Grimm, Detroit, Michigan.
ASK YOUR DOCTOR -- The chewable vitamin morphine of marketing.
"Ask your doctor if 'fill in the blank' is right for you! Heck, just take one and see if it makes you 'fill in the blank' or get deathly ill." -- R.C. Amundson, Oakville, Washington.
"I don't think my doctor would appreciate my calling him after seeing a TV ad." -- Peter B. Liveright, Lutherville, Maryland.
CHIPOTLE -- Smoked dry over medium heat.
"Prior to 2005 . . . a roasted jalapeno. Now we have a 'chipotle' burrito with 'chipotle' marinated meat, 'chipotle' peppers, sprinkled with a 'chipotle' seasoning and smothered in a 'chipotle' sauce. Time to give this word a rest." -- Rob Zeiger, Bristol, Pennsylvania.
i-ANYTHING -- 'e-Anything' made the list in 2000. Geoff Steinhart of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, says tech companies everywhere have picked this apple to the core. "Turn on...tune in...and drop out."
"Banish any word that starts with it. i am just tired of it. it's getting old. -- Brad Butler, Adrian, Michigan.
SEARCH -- Quasi-anachronism. Placed on one-year moratorium.
"Might as well banish it. The word has been replaced by 'google.'" -- Michael Raczko, Swanton, Ohio.
HEALTHY FOOD -- Point of view is everything.
Someone told Joy Wiltzius of Fort Collins, Colorado, that the tuna steak she had for lunch "sounded healthy." Her reply: "If my lunch were healthy, it would still be swimming somewhere. Grilled and nestled in salad greens, it's 'healthful.'"
BOASTS -- See classified advertisements for houses, says Morris Conklin of Lisboa, Portugal, as in "master bedroom boasts his-and-her fireplaces -- never 'bathroom apologizes for cracked linoleum,' or 'kitchen laments pathetic placement of electrical outlets.'"
LSSU accepts nominations for the banished-words list throughout the year. To submit your nomination for the 2008 list, go to http://www.lssu.edu/banished/submit_word.php.
Lake Superior State University is Michigan's smallest public university with an enrollment of 3,000 students. It is known for its academic programs such as fisheries and wildlife management, engineering, teacher education, nursing, criminal justice, fire science and business management.
For admissions information, go to LSSU's admissions web site, www.lssu.edu/admissions.
GITMO -- The US military's shorthand for a base in Cuba drives a wedge wider than a split infinitive.
"When did the notorious Guantanamo Bay Naval Base change to 'Gitmo,' a word that conjures up an image of a fluffy and sweet character from a Japanese anime show?" -- Marcus W., St. Louis, Missouri.
COMBINED CELEBRITY NAMES -- Celebrity duos of yore -- BogCall (Bogart and Bacall), Lardy (Laurel and Hardy), and CheeChong (Cheech and Chong) -- just got lucky.
"It's bad enough that celebrities have to be the top news stories. Now we've given them obnoxious names such as 'Bragelina,' 'TomKat' and 'Bennifer.'" -- M. Foster, Port Huron, Michigan.
"It's so annoying, idiotic and so lame and pathetic that it's 'lamethetic.'" -- Ed of Centreville, Virginia.
AWESOME -- Given a one-year moratorium in 1984, when the Unicorn Hunters banished it "during which it is to be rehabilitated until it means 'fear mingled with admiration or reverence; a feeling produced by something majestic." Many write to tell us there's no hope and it's time for "the full banishment."
"The kind of tennis shoes you wear, no matter how cute, don't fit the majestic design of the word." -- Leila Hill, Damascus, Maryland.
"That a mop, a deodorant or a dating service can be called 'awesome' demonstrates the limited vocabularies of the country's copywriters." -- Tom Brinkmoeller, Orlando, Florida.
"Overused and meaningless.' My mother was hit by a car.' Awesome. 'I just got my college degree.' Awesome." -- Robert Bron, Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand.
GONE/WENT MISSING -- "It makes 'missing' sound like a place you can visit, such as the Poconos. Is the person missing, or not? She went there but maybe she came back. 'Is
missing' or 'was missing' would serve us better." -- Robin Dennis, Flower Mound, Texas.
PWN or PWNED -- Thr styff of lemgendz: Gamer defeats gamer, types in "I pwn you" rather than I OWN you.
"This word is just an overly used Internet typo. It has been overused to the point that people who play online games are using it in everyday speech." -- Tory Rowley, Corunna, Michigan.
NOW PLAYING IN THEATERS -- Heard in movie advertisements. Where can we see that, again?
"How often do movies premiere in laundromats or other places besides theaters? I know that when I want to see a movie I think about going to a shoe store." -- Andrea May, Shreveport, Louisiana.
WE'RE PREGNANT -- Grounded for nine months.
"Were men feeling left out of the whole morning sickness/huge belly/labor experience? You may both be expecting, but only one of you is pregnant." -- Sharla Hulsey, Sac City, Iowa.
"I'm sure any woman who has given birth will tell you that 'WE' did not deliver the baby." -- Marlena Linne, Greenfield, Indiana.
UNDOCUMENTED ALIEN -- "If they haven't followed the law to get here, they are by definition 'illegal.' It's like saying a drug dealer is an 'undocumented pharmacist.'" -- John Varga, Westfield, New Jersey.
ARMED ROBBERY/DRUG DEAL GONE BAD -- From the news reports. What degree of "bad" don't we understand? Larry Lillehammer of Bonney Lake, Washington, asks, "After it stopped going well and good?"
TRUTHINESS -- "This word, popularized by The Colbert Report and exalted by the American Dialectic Society's Word of the Year in 2005 has been used up. What used to ring true is getting all the truth wrung out of it." -- Joe Grimm, Detroit, Michigan.
ASK YOUR DOCTOR -- The chewable vitamin morphine of marketing.
"Ask your doctor if 'fill in the blank' is right for you! Heck, just take one and see if it makes you 'fill in the blank' or get deathly ill." -- R.C. Amundson, Oakville, Washington.
"I don't think my doctor would appreciate my calling him after seeing a TV ad." -- Peter B. Liveright, Lutherville, Maryland.
CHIPOTLE -- Smoked dry over medium heat.
"Prior to 2005 . . . a roasted jalapeno. Now we have a 'chipotle' burrito with 'chipotle' marinated meat, 'chipotle' peppers, sprinkled with a 'chipotle' seasoning and smothered in a 'chipotle' sauce. Time to give this word a rest." -- Rob Zeiger, Bristol, Pennsylvania.
i-ANYTHING -- 'e-Anything' made the list in 2000. Geoff Steinhart of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, says tech companies everywhere have picked this apple to the core. "Turn on...tune in...and drop out."
"Banish any word that starts with it. i am just tired of it. it's getting old. -- Brad Butler, Adrian, Michigan.
SEARCH -- Quasi-anachronism. Placed on one-year moratorium.
"Might as well banish it. The word has been replaced by 'google.'" -- Michael Raczko, Swanton, Ohio.
HEALTHY FOOD -- Point of view is everything.
Someone told Joy Wiltzius of Fort Collins, Colorado, that the tuna steak she had for lunch "sounded healthy." Her reply: "If my lunch were healthy, it would still be swimming somewhere. Grilled and nestled in salad greens, it's 'healthful.'"
BOASTS -- See classified advertisements for houses, says Morris Conklin of Lisboa, Portugal, as in "master bedroom boasts his-and-her fireplaces -- never 'bathroom apologizes for cracked linoleum,' or 'kitchen laments pathetic placement of electrical outlets.'"
LSSU accepts nominations for the banished-words list throughout the year. To submit your nomination for the 2008 list, go to http://www.lssu.edu/banished/submit_word.php.
Lake Superior State University is Michigan's smallest public university with an enrollment of 3,000 students. It is known for its academic programs such as fisheries and wildlife management, engineering, teacher education, nursing, criminal justice, fire science and business management.
For admissions information, go to LSSU's admissions web site, www.lssu.edu/admissions.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Scissors Sisters
Scissors Sisters
The Happy Tree Friends of pop. With their catchy tunes, it's easy to love the Scissors Sisters. But read their poison pen lyrics below. (I think it makes them even more lovable!)
Almost Sorry
If anyone was headed for the gates of hell I know you'd be first.
I used to picture your obituary and I wished you the worst.
The danger of the playground. The radio'd said you drowned.
and I'm sorry, almost. Almost sorry.
No sympathy is given to the perpetrator charged with the crime.
(Ahhh ahhh)
I'm willing to admit that it feels good to be a victim sometimes.
I won't ever get to thank you for the terrible things you said.
I'm sorry, almost, that you're-
dead to the world, where I hoped you would be.
I never imagined you'd live on in me.
You gave me destination, but I payed for the ride.
The place you punched my ticket left a crater inside.
Where I cried.
(He cried)
Where I cried.
(You died)
Where I cried from the bruises, learned to live with the scars.
Now you live in the mirror. When I look, there you are.
You're the shadow on the faces of the people I meet
Have you claimed eternal shotgun in my passenger seat?
Well, I'm sorry.
(Almost)
Almost sorry.
(Ahhh ahhh)
Sometimes the best design is done by damage.
The accident can cease.
A rainbow still looks pretty when it bleeds.
I Can't Decide Lyrics
It's not easy having yourself a good time
Greasing up those bets and betters
Watching out they don't four-letter
If I could kiss you both at the same time
Smells-like something I've forgotten
Curled up died and now it's rotten
I'm not a gangster tonight
Don't want to be a bad guy
I'm just a loner baby
And now you're gotten in my way
I can't decide
Whether you should live or die
Though, you'll probably go to heaven
Please don't hang your head and cry
No wonder why
My heart feels dead inside
It's cold and hard and petrified
Lock the doors and close the blinds
We're going for a ride
It's a bitch convincing people to like you
If I stop now call me a quitter
If lies were cats you'd be a litter
Pleasing everyone isn't like you
Dancing jigs until I'm crippled
Slug ten drinks I won't get pickled
I've got to hand it to you
You've played by all the same rules
It takes the truth to fool me
And now you've made me angry
I can't decide
Whether you should live or die
Though, you'll probably go to heaven
Please don't hang your head and cry
No wonder why
My heart feels dead inside
It's cold and hard and petrified
Lock the doors and close the blinds
We're going for a ride
Oh I could throw you in the lake
Or feed you poisoned birthday cake
I wont deny I'm gonna miss you when you're gone
Oh I could bury you alive
But you might crawl out with a knife
And kill me when I'm sleeping
That's why
I can't decide
Whether you should live or die
Though, you'll probably go to heaven
Please don't hang your head and cry
No wonder why
My heart feels dead inside
It's cold and hard and petrified
Lock the doors and close the blinds
We're going for a ride
Small wonder the radio ain't playing much of them. But honestly, I think they must have thought throgh very carefully to put together such interesting lyrics.
The Happy Tree Friends of pop. With their catchy tunes, it's easy to love the Scissors Sisters. But read their poison pen lyrics below. (I think it makes them even more lovable!)
Almost Sorry
If anyone was headed for the gates of hell I know you'd be first.
I used to picture your obituary and I wished you the worst.
The danger of the playground. The radio'd said you drowned.
and I'm sorry, almost. Almost sorry.
No sympathy is given to the perpetrator charged with the crime.
(Ahhh ahhh)
I'm willing to admit that it feels good to be a victim sometimes.
I won't ever get to thank you for the terrible things you said.
I'm sorry, almost, that you're-
dead to the world, where I hoped you would be.
I never imagined you'd live on in me.
You gave me destination, but I payed for the ride.
The place you punched my ticket left a crater inside.
Where I cried.
(He cried)
Where I cried.
(You died)
Where I cried from the bruises, learned to live with the scars.
Now you live in the mirror. When I look, there you are.
You're the shadow on the faces of the people I meet
Have you claimed eternal shotgun in my passenger seat?
Well, I'm sorry.
(Almost)
Almost sorry.
(Ahhh ahhh)
Sometimes the best design is done by damage.
The accident can cease.
A rainbow still looks pretty when it bleeds.
I Can't Decide Lyrics
It's not easy having yourself a good time
Greasing up those bets and betters
Watching out they don't four-letter
If I could kiss you both at the same time
Smells-like something I've forgotten
Curled up died and now it's rotten
I'm not a gangster tonight
Don't want to be a bad guy
I'm just a loner baby
And now you're gotten in my way
I can't decide
Whether you should live or die
Though, you'll probably go to heaven
Please don't hang your head and cry
No wonder why
My heart feels dead inside
It's cold and hard and petrified
Lock the doors and close the blinds
We're going for a ride
It's a bitch convincing people to like you
If I stop now call me a quitter
If lies were cats you'd be a litter
Pleasing everyone isn't like you
Dancing jigs until I'm crippled
Slug ten drinks I won't get pickled
I've got to hand it to you
You've played by all the same rules
It takes the truth to fool me
And now you've made me angry
I can't decide
Whether you should live or die
Though, you'll probably go to heaven
Please don't hang your head and cry
No wonder why
My heart feels dead inside
It's cold and hard and petrified
Lock the doors and close the blinds
We're going for a ride
Oh I could throw you in the lake
Or feed you poisoned birthday cake
I wont deny I'm gonna miss you when you're gone
Oh I could bury you alive
But you might crawl out with a knife
And kill me when I'm sleeping
That's why
I can't decide
Whether you should live or die
Though, you'll probably go to heaven
Please don't hang your head and cry
No wonder why
My heart feels dead inside
It's cold and hard and petrified
Lock the doors and close the blinds
We're going for a ride
Small wonder the radio ain't playing much of them. But honestly, I think they must have thought throgh very carefully to put together such interesting lyrics.
Some things I like
Some things I like
I am totally addicted to Crickler. I wait with bated breath for the next puzzle to be published. I read the news religiously in hope that it would help me crack the puzzle and lower my handicap score. And I have been learning new words.
I am deeply in love with the fusion/experimental/rearranged music of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. They are good.
I love watching cable TV programmes. I catch, in no particular order, Desperate Housewives, House, Grey's Anatomy, Third Watch (on and off), Doc Martin, Strong Medicine, ER (showing now), Scrubs, and almost anything good between 7 pm to 10 pm each day.
I like country music and classical pop. Soft rock (ballads) and sentimentals too. Anything with good lyrics will get my attention first. Tunes do not matter that much. But if both lyrics and tune are good, they enter my favourites list.
I love a good cup of Chinese tea.
I would love to have stretches where I have nothing to do except to curl up and read a book. I want to lose myself in a world offered to me by another person, a world where decisions need not be made myself. I just want to feel the flow and ebb of emotions through the characters in the story. I can do without the guilty feeling from a bad decision sometimes.
I like my work. It sustains me and pays me. And it is an avenue where I grow professionally.
I like a good puzzle that challenges me sufficiently, makes me think but allows me to succeed in the end.
I like singing along to songs I know. In a way, the song is a conduit to my days past, allowing me to reminisce and relive those days.
I love a hot cup of strong coffee in the morning. There is nothing better to wake me up.
I love the way I can ad-lib in a blog and not worry about structure or subtance. I can be myself and not live up to what others expect of me. The true state of my mind is in a state of agitated, accelerated Brownian motion. Thoughts are flying around and then they slow down, vibrate in their places a little and then the pattern changes again.
I love change and I love to hate change.
I like chatting with friends who share my belief system and values. I like to have my biases measured against similar thinkers to see how far off I am from rationality.
I like analysing things I see or experience or feel. I want to know that my hunch is correct.
I like projects that start suddenly and ends as quickly. Long drawn processes bore me.
I like changing my mind. So don't be surprised if this list changes right after I publish it.
I am totally addicted to Crickler. I wait with bated breath for the next puzzle to be published. I read the news religiously in hope that it would help me crack the puzzle and lower my handicap score. And I have been learning new words.
I am deeply in love with the fusion/experimental/rearranged music of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. They are good.
I love watching cable TV programmes. I catch, in no particular order, Desperate Housewives, House, Grey's Anatomy, Third Watch (on and off), Doc Martin, Strong Medicine, ER (showing now), Scrubs, and almost anything good between 7 pm to 10 pm each day.
I like country music and classical pop. Soft rock (ballads) and sentimentals too. Anything with good lyrics will get my attention first. Tunes do not matter that much. But if both lyrics and tune are good, they enter my favourites list.
I love a good cup of Chinese tea.
I would love to have stretches where I have nothing to do except to curl up and read a book. I want to lose myself in a world offered to me by another person, a world where decisions need not be made myself. I just want to feel the flow and ebb of emotions through the characters in the story. I can do without the guilty feeling from a bad decision sometimes.
I like my work. It sustains me and pays me. And it is an avenue where I grow professionally.
I like a good puzzle that challenges me sufficiently, makes me think but allows me to succeed in the end.
I like singing along to songs I know. In a way, the song is a conduit to my days past, allowing me to reminisce and relive those days.
I love a hot cup of strong coffee in the morning. There is nothing better to wake me up.
I love the way I can ad-lib in a blog and not worry about structure or subtance. I can be myself and not live up to what others expect of me. The true state of my mind is in a state of agitated, accelerated Brownian motion. Thoughts are flying around and then they slow down, vibrate in their places a little and then the pattern changes again.
I love change and I love to hate change.
I like chatting with friends who share my belief system and values. I like to have my biases measured against similar thinkers to see how far off I am from rationality.
I like analysing things I see or experience or feel. I want to know that my hunch is correct.
I like projects that start suddenly and ends as quickly. Long drawn processes bore me.
I like changing my mind. So don't be surprised if this list changes right after I publish it.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Stocktake 2006
Stocktake 2006
I've delayed this stocktake for a long time. Either the internet connection was too slow (maybe thanks to the Taiwan earthquake that affected the submarine fibre optic cables) or I was too busy. Sometimes I was not in the mood to take on the massive task of pondering over the past 365 days. I kept telling myself that I have until 31 Dec 06. Now that I am barely 40 minutes before the new year arrives, I am going to mull over what I have done for the past 525 600 minutes (that is a year measured in minutes).
This may be a very fragmented entry, just like the episodes that pepper my life are. The only continuity is life. It flows like a smooth curtain of water and the events are like stones thrown at the water screen. There are splashes, some big, some small and most fade away, just like the curtain is restored after the disturbance dies down. I had earlier wanted to do a line-item stocktake but it would read like a never ending laundry list. Perhaps I should summarise the takeaways for 2006 instead.
I have a better understanding of the idea of work-life balance. I have also become better at achieving work-life balance. I have time for myself to do the things I like, I have learnt to take in information and news in tandem to the work I have to do. I have learnt to separate work and my private life well. I try my level best to keep it that way and whenever I had to work in my spare time, I know that such work is justified.
I have found a better equilibrium with my surroundings. This is a little difficult to explain but it is the innate sense of security that provides you with a protective. I don't feel invincible but I am more at peace with not having to prove what I am capable of.
I have lost even more rough edges. And with that, I am less piqued or angry with events that do not go as planned or with things which should but do not come my way. There are some things that I know I need to influence indirectly and so I try to make the best of the situation and steer it back. It is hard but it is a skill that needs to be honed.
And I have completed thinking about my next 5 years. It will be exciting!
I've delayed this stocktake for a long time. Either the internet connection was too slow (maybe thanks to the Taiwan earthquake that affected the submarine fibre optic cables) or I was too busy. Sometimes I was not in the mood to take on the massive task of pondering over the past 365 days. I kept telling myself that I have until 31 Dec 06. Now that I am barely 40 minutes before the new year arrives, I am going to mull over what I have done for the past 525 600 minutes (that is a year measured in minutes).
This may be a very fragmented entry, just like the episodes that pepper my life are. The only continuity is life. It flows like a smooth curtain of water and the events are like stones thrown at the water screen. There are splashes, some big, some small and most fade away, just like the curtain is restored after the disturbance dies down. I had earlier wanted to do a line-item stocktake but it would read like a never ending laundry list. Perhaps I should summarise the takeaways for 2006 instead.
I have a better understanding of the idea of work-life balance. I have also become better at achieving work-life balance. I have time for myself to do the things I like, I have learnt to take in information and news in tandem to the work I have to do. I have learnt to separate work and my private life well. I try my level best to keep it that way and whenever I had to work in my spare time, I know that such work is justified.
I have found a better equilibrium with my surroundings. This is a little difficult to explain but it is the innate sense of security that provides you with a protective. I don't feel invincible but I am more at peace with not having to prove what I am capable of.
I have lost even more rough edges. And with that, I am less piqued or angry with events that do not go as planned or with things which should but do not come my way. There are some things that I know I need to influence indirectly and so I try to make the best of the situation and steer it back. It is hard but it is a skill that needs to be honed.
And I have completed thinking about my next 5 years. It will be exciting!
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Negation
Negation
Invitations open for anyone game enough to try negating the following statement.
Original statement
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. - Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.
My negation
There is at least a married man with misfortune who must be in want to get rid the wife.
Invitations open for anyone game enough to try negating the following statement.
Original statement
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. - Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.
My negation
There is at least a married man with misfortune who must be in want to get rid the wife.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Black Humour
Black Humour
Watched Scrubs on Christmas and a part of the show had this little ditty. It is Christmas in the eyes of an Emergency Room resident.
Twelve Days Of Christmas: Sacred Heart Version:
On the first day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
A drunk who drove into a tree
On the second day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Two shattered skulls
And a drunk who drove into a tree...
Twelve beaten children
Eleven drive-by shootings
Ten frozen homeless
Nine amputations
Eight burn victims
Seven strangled shoppers
Six random knifings
Five suicides
Four beaten wives
Three O.D.'s
Two shattered skulls
And a drunk who drove into a tree
Watched Scrubs on Christmas and a part of the show had this little ditty. It is Christmas in the eyes of an Emergency Room resident.
Twelve Days Of Christmas: Sacred Heart Version:
On the first day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
A drunk who drove into a tree
On the second day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Two shattered skulls
And a drunk who drove into a tree...
Twelve beaten children
Eleven drive-by shootings
Ten frozen homeless
Nine amputations
Eight burn victims
Seven strangled shoppers
Six random knifings
Five suicides
Four beaten wives
Three O.D.'s
Two shattered skulls
And a drunk who drove into a tree
Something Christmassy
Something Christmassy
I've spent Christmas or the period before overseas but never in the northern hemisphere in the west. Even though the planes that I flew in had seasonal decorations like little wreaths tied to the windows, the feel is very different when you get surrounded by the Christmas spirit entirely.
This time around, when I visited US, it was already Christmas season and everywhere was decked out and ready for the Christmas holidays.
On the radio, Christmas carols and songs were played almost non-stop. Douglas fir was seen outside many houses. The more creative owners put out lit caricatures such as the deer, the Nativity scene, and Santa Claus. Christmas was in the air.
In New York, the Macy's shop windows were so well-decorated that shoppers and revellers alike stopped to ogle at the wonderful set-up and incredible feats of small scale large scale engineering (a lot of engineering works within a small frame). People were carrying shopping bags and everyone looked as if they can't wait for Christmas to come.
In DC, there were Christmas trees decked out with lights and livery in the lawn in front of the White House. Unfortunately, I was not aware of the significance of those trees and missed them. Apparently, there was a big tree and 49 smaller trees. That I know. What I didn't know what that the 49 smaller trees were decked out with the produce of the individual states to represent the state outside the White House. What a waste. The only consolation was that the fog came when we arrived at the tree at about 10 in the night. We would not have been able to get a good look.
Wreathes were laid at the Arlington Cemetary, a sight we missed. Instead, we had a great time at the Iwo Jima memorial. And we got a fresh prespective of the Federal Triangle and its buildings from across the Potomac River. Interesting, indeed.
This year, I found out about the Trans Siberian Orchestra. I became a fan and listened to their recordings even back home. Now that Christmas is over, I'm keeping the discs till the next year.
Christmas 2006 has great and I hope for more great Christmases to come.
I've spent Christmas or the period before overseas but never in the northern hemisphere in the west. Even though the planes that I flew in had seasonal decorations like little wreaths tied to the windows, the feel is very different when you get surrounded by the Christmas spirit entirely.
This time around, when I visited US, it was already Christmas season and everywhere was decked out and ready for the Christmas holidays.
On the radio, Christmas carols and songs were played almost non-stop. Douglas fir was seen outside many houses. The more creative owners put out lit caricatures such as the deer, the Nativity scene, and Santa Claus. Christmas was in the air.
In New York, the Macy's shop windows were so well-decorated that shoppers and revellers alike stopped to ogle at the wonderful set-up and incredible feats of small scale large scale engineering (a lot of engineering works within a small frame). People were carrying shopping bags and everyone looked as if they can't wait for Christmas to come.
In DC, there were Christmas trees decked out with lights and livery in the lawn in front of the White House. Unfortunately, I was not aware of the significance of those trees and missed them. Apparently, there was a big tree and 49 smaller trees. That I know. What I didn't know what that the 49 smaller trees were decked out with the produce of the individual states to represent the state outside the White House. What a waste. The only consolation was that the fog came when we arrived at the tree at about 10 in the night. We would not have been able to get a good look.
Wreathes were laid at the Arlington Cemetary, a sight we missed. Instead, we had a great time at the Iwo Jima memorial. And we got a fresh prespective of the Federal Triangle and its buildings from across the Potomac River. Interesting, indeed.
This year, I found out about the Trans Siberian Orchestra. I became a fan and listened to their recordings even back home. Now that Christmas is over, I'm keeping the discs till the next year.
Christmas 2006 has great and I hope for more great Christmases to come.
Bread Maker
Bread Maker
Finally, after months and months of reminiscing about my gorgeous bread, I bought myself a bread maker machine.
I am still in the midst of experimenting with the machine but I'm pleased to say that the experimental loaves are still nice. The touch is still there. Now it is to keep the loaves from collapsing during baking.
That will take a little time to figure out exact proportions.
Finally, after months and months of reminiscing about my gorgeous bread, I bought myself a bread maker machine.
I am still in the midst of experimenting with the machine but I'm pleased to say that the experimental loaves are still nice. The touch is still there. Now it is to keep the loaves from collapsing during baking.
That will take a little time to figure out exact proportions.
Just the important points
Just the Important Points
I had intended to write a lot more about my trip to the East Coast but life stood in the way. I cannot believe it but LIFE indeed stood in the way.
For some reason, I could not convince myself to sit by the computer and write. I just had to get moving, get things done. If I'm at the computer, I'm playing Crickler.
Still, there are some important people whom I met during my trip that deserves mention.
In no particular order, the following people made a difference.
1. BL, MZ, Lucy and Schroeder. You guys know who you are. Thank you for:
Picking us up at the train station. It wasn't much of a station but pulling up in that tank of a car really made my eyes pop out.
Bringing us to a welcome dinner at McLoones, beside the Atlantic Ocean. It was beautiful although the sun had set.
The wonderful room to rest our "soles/souls" and the completely furbished toilet.
The daily breakfasts. We enjoyed going "In Between" and having the gorgeous eggs benedict smothered with lots of cheese.
Your city tour. It had been interesting learning about your home state. I only wish I had more time there.
Bringing us to Whole Foods. You guys are responsible for my supermarket withdrawal symptoms. And cooking dinner after that.
Making the Circle Line NYC cruise happen. It was one of the best highlights of the trip.
Showing us what your town was named after. And having dinner at the diner beside it.
Zipping us around in your Corvette.
Sending us to the airport.
Being such gracious hosts who have set the bar so high.
2. The manager of the NYC hotel for giving me a letter to indirectly say that I've been cheated by some unscrupulous internet booking agent. The agent took my money and then cancelled my booking. From what I last heard, the agent owed the hotel in excess of hundreds of thousands of unpaid room reservations.
3. The many people with whom we only had a fleeting encounter.
4. The day manager of the Washington DC hotel. Your kind heartedness was definitely not appreciated - at least when I was making my way to Union Station and pulling my luggage along the less than pleasant upslope, you were definitely well-cursed.
5. The DC Metro duty manager for letting me use the toilet.
6. The excellent guide on the NYC cruise, for making the entire 90 minute cruise a joy. Thank you for sharing your hometown with us.
I had intended to write a lot more about my trip to the East Coast but life stood in the way. I cannot believe it but LIFE indeed stood in the way.
For some reason, I could not convince myself to sit by the computer and write. I just had to get moving, get things done. If I'm at the computer, I'm playing Crickler.
Still, there are some important people whom I met during my trip that deserves mention.
In no particular order, the following people made a difference.
1. BL, MZ, Lucy and Schroeder. You guys know who you are. Thank you for:
Picking us up at the train station. It wasn't much of a station but pulling up in that tank of a car really made my eyes pop out.
Bringing us to a welcome dinner at McLoones, beside the Atlantic Ocean. It was beautiful although the sun had set.
The wonderful room to rest our "soles/souls" and the completely furbished toilet.
The daily breakfasts. We enjoyed going "In Between" and having the gorgeous eggs benedict smothered with lots of cheese.
Your city tour. It had been interesting learning about your home state. I only wish I had more time there.
Bringing us to Whole Foods. You guys are responsible for my supermarket withdrawal symptoms. And cooking dinner after that.
Making the Circle Line NYC cruise happen. It was one of the best highlights of the trip.
Showing us what your town was named after. And having dinner at the diner beside it.
Zipping us around in your Corvette.
Sending us to the airport.
Being such gracious hosts who have set the bar so high.
2. The manager of the NYC hotel for giving me a letter to indirectly say that I've been cheated by some unscrupulous internet booking agent. The agent took my money and then cancelled my booking. From what I last heard, the agent owed the hotel in excess of hundreds of thousands of unpaid room reservations.
3. The many people with whom we only had a fleeting encounter.
4. The day manager of the Washington DC hotel. Your kind heartedness was definitely not appreciated - at least when I was making my way to Union Station and pulling my luggage along the less than pleasant upslope, you were definitely well-cursed.
5. The DC Metro duty manager for letting me use the toilet.
6. The excellent guide on the NYC cruise, for making the entire 90 minute cruise a joy. Thank you for sharing your hometown with us.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Eating in US
Eating in US
It's always an incredible experience eating at US diners or restaurants. The portions are always that huge. I normally have problems with a standard 3 course meal (starter, main course, dessert). I normally have at most 2 of the three and I may not even finish the carbo on the main.
There were a few great dishes that I just want to list up here. Many of them were not found in Singapore.
Roast/BBQ Chicken - For some reason, chicken in US tastes excellent. They taste like they are semi-kampung chicken. The meat is firm but extremely succulent. It is one great dish to order any time.
Pork chops/ribs - Incredibly flavoursome and tender cuts. There is something about US pigs that keeps their meat free from the odour that curse Australian pork. The cuts are generally generous and they will never taste dry or hard, like what we normally get in SIngapore.
Fish - salmon and tuna are generally superior. Had a pan seared tuna with wasabi potato at McLoone's (a restaurant right on the Atlantic coast in New Jersey). The rare tuna was incredible.
Vegetables - sweet, juicy, flavoursome. How else does one describe the wonderful produce there?
Bagels - my Archilles' heel. I love my bagel and can eat a couple of them in a sitting. Then I overheard from some yakking women that a bagel is equal to five slices of bread. Ok, time to shut out my mind. I will walk out to get my bagel with scallion cream cheese. I will walk out to get my bagel with scallion cream cheese...
Pizzas - Pretty amazing stuff, those pizzas. There are a lot of Americans with Italian ancestry. If anything, they have perfected their breads and cheeses well.
Desserts - to die for. What else do I say?
Is everything all good? Not exactly. There were some misses too, but in general, the good stuff are more what we get.
I've got to stop writing this. I am feeling so hungry now.
It's always an incredible experience eating at US diners or restaurants. The portions are always that huge. I normally have problems with a standard 3 course meal (starter, main course, dessert). I normally have at most 2 of the three and I may not even finish the carbo on the main.
There were a few great dishes that I just want to list up here. Many of them were not found in Singapore.
Roast/BBQ Chicken - For some reason, chicken in US tastes excellent. They taste like they are semi-kampung chicken. The meat is firm but extremely succulent. It is one great dish to order any time.
Pork chops/ribs - Incredibly flavoursome and tender cuts. There is something about US pigs that keeps their meat free from the odour that curse Australian pork. The cuts are generally generous and they will never taste dry or hard, like what we normally get in SIngapore.
Fish - salmon and tuna are generally superior. Had a pan seared tuna with wasabi potato at McLoone's (a restaurant right on the Atlantic coast in New Jersey). The rare tuna was incredible.
Vegetables - sweet, juicy, flavoursome. How else does one describe the wonderful produce there?
Bagels - my Archilles' heel. I love my bagel and can eat a couple of them in a sitting. Then I overheard from some yakking women that a bagel is equal to five slices of bread. Ok, time to shut out my mind. I will walk out to get my bagel with scallion cream cheese. I will walk out to get my bagel with scallion cream cheese...
Pizzas - Pretty amazing stuff, those pizzas. There are a lot of Americans with Italian ancestry. If anything, they have perfected their breads and cheeses well.
Desserts - to die for. What else do I say?
Is everything all good? Not exactly. There were some misses too, but in general, the good stuff are more what we get.
I've got to stop writing this. I am feeling so hungry now.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Chasing Trains
Chasing Trains
Our first host is a rail road enthusiast. He had written about 30 books about trains and aptly, for the next morning, he brought the two of us to New Hope, Pennsylvania to "chase" a historical engine making short excursion trips for visitors.
We did not take any rides on the train - I was not entirely excited, knowing that I would be taking return train rides to Washington DC later - and the timing was a little late. By the time we had our brunch and had driven about a couple of hours to New Hope, the next available train ride was going to be the 3.30 pm. I really dread losing whatever daylight I have remaining from the tremendously short winter days.
Host thus brought us to places beside the tracks where we could take great pictures of the historic engine as it comes past.
In fact, we chased it all the way back to the originating station at New Hope and then followed it to "North Pole", where Santa Claus boarded and distributed candies and hugs to the kids, to Buckingham, the end station where the trained turned round.
While I am no rail road buff, I knew just enough to keep conversation.
And for the record, the standard gauge track is 4 feet 8.5 inches. It is an ancient measurement. In fact, it is the distance between two the assholes of two horses placed side by side. This goes all the way back to the Roman days. So what we rely on for a great form of transportation today still depends on something used centuries ago.
Train chasing was interesting and it was an immense test of the patience. You must trust that the trains were going to run, if a bit early or late. And get your camera and get ready to shoot. Me? I prefer a ring side seat in the car.
Our first host is a rail road enthusiast. He had written about 30 books about trains and aptly, for the next morning, he brought the two of us to New Hope, Pennsylvania to "chase" a historical engine making short excursion trips for visitors.
We did not take any rides on the train - I was not entirely excited, knowing that I would be taking return train rides to Washington DC later - and the timing was a little late. By the time we had our brunch and had driven about a couple of hours to New Hope, the next available train ride was going to be the 3.30 pm. I really dread losing whatever daylight I have remaining from the tremendously short winter days.
Host thus brought us to places beside the tracks where we could take great pictures of the historic engine as it comes past.
In fact, we chased it all the way back to the originating station at New Hope and then followed it to "North Pole", where Santa Claus boarded and distributed candies and hugs to the kids, to Buckingham, the end station where the trained turned round.
While I am no rail road buff, I knew just enough to keep conversation.
And for the record, the standard gauge track is 4 feet 8.5 inches. It is an ancient measurement. In fact, it is the distance between two the assholes of two horses placed side by side. This goes all the way back to the Roman days. So what we rely on for a great form of transportation today still depends on something used centuries ago.
Train chasing was interesting and it was an immense test of the patience. You must trust that the trains were going to run, if a bit early or late. And get your camera and get ready to shoot. Me? I prefer a ring side seat in the car.
Where had NYC gone?
Where had NYC gone?
When I last visited NYC in Aug, I flew in on a direct flight to Newark.
As the plane approached Newark, I had an excellent view of NYC. It was majestic looking steel and concrete city. The buildings were shimmering under the setting sun and it looked so un-San Francisco. I couldn't think of a better comparison then. I still can't. It is about the densest built up city I have seen. The tall sky scrapers and the shorter buildings that fill in all the gaps in between simply made any photo opportunity a good one.
When the plane turned to land, I had a sneak peak of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. While she looked smaller than a thumb nail, the green copper oxide covered statue is obvious to anyone who has seen images of the SOL before. The Land of the Free. It felt amazing to visit the US again, having just gone to the west coast in Jul.
So, with those fond memories in mind, this visit, my travelling partner (TP) and I booked ourselves on the port side seats and waited to take the long awaited shots at NYC.
Guess what! As it was winter, the days were very short. When we arrived, NYC was lit up with street lights and nothing could be seen from the plane. We landed in almost pitch black darkness, the (early) night punctuated by guiding lights on the ground. When we finally touched down, the cabin was slightly illuminated with the lights along the highway.
TP was disappointed. I felt cheated.
But hey, who am I to fight nature?
When I last visited NYC in Aug, I flew in on a direct flight to Newark.
As the plane approached Newark, I had an excellent view of NYC. It was majestic looking steel and concrete city. The buildings were shimmering under the setting sun and it looked so un-San Francisco. I couldn't think of a better comparison then. I still can't. It is about the densest built up city I have seen. The tall sky scrapers and the shorter buildings that fill in all the gaps in between simply made any photo opportunity a good one.
When the plane turned to land, I had a sneak peak of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. While she looked smaller than a thumb nail, the green copper oxide covered statue is obvious to anyone who has seen images of the SOL before. The Land of the Free. It felt amazing to visit the US again, having just gone to the west coast in Jul.
So, with those fond memories in mind, this visit, my travelling partner (TP) and I booked ourselves on the port side seats and waited to take the long awaited shots at NYC.
Guess what! As it was winter, the days were very short. When we arrived, NYC was lit up with street lights and nothing could be seen from the plane. We landed in almost pitch black darkness, the (early) night punctuated by guiding lights on the ground. When we finally touched down, the cabin was slightly illuminated with the lights along the highway.
TP was disappointed. I felt cheated.
But hey, who am I to fight nature?
USA 8 - 17 Dec 06
USA 8 - 17 Dec 06
Visited New Jersey, New York City and Washington DC.
During the trip, I took down interesting events to blog about but as luck would have it, I misplaced the list. I should have known better than to take notes on a piece of paper napkin from the Chinese buffet restaurant in NYC. No harm still, I suppose. This is after all a ranting ground - I'll be damned if I had written anything more important.
So what I intend to do is perhaps to do a segmented running commentary of some of the more interesting things that registered in my then tired and cluttered mind. What I cannot recall is probably not worth remembering.
Visited New Jersey, New York City and Washington DC.
During the trip, I took down interesting events to blog about but as luck would have it, I misplaced the list. I should have known better than to take notes on a piece of paper napkin from the Chinese buffet restaurant in NYC. No harm still, I suppose. This is after all a ranting ground - I'll be damned if I had written anything more important.
So what I intend to do is perhaps to do a segmented running commentary of some of the more interesting things that registered in my then tired and cluttered mind. What I cannot recall is probably not worth remembering.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
The Nightmare
The Nightmare
I ditched writing this post just now when I realised that the airline did not allocate me the seat that I was asking for. The back end service is getting atrocious. I really dread to be offered endless "beef" meals again on the flight.
The Singapore-Newark sector is notorious for beef meals. It is like going on a mad-cow flight. Lunch, there is a beef dish and something else. Dinner, there is a beef dish and something else. Breakfast, beef noodles and something else. Something else is normally not savoury and I really really don't take beef. So I had to get my travel agent to help. Let's hope she can do better than me.
Well, back to the nightmare. I know to call it the nightmare is a little overdramatic but if I tell you that I am flying out to Newark tomorrow, you might indulge me a little.
It was night and I was near my former junior college when I saw a plane take off, fly in my direction and started wobbling. It was dipping up and down and before long, it came into view. It was a weird plane. It has two propellers mounted on top of the roundish plane and something like an extended passenger cabin below.
It was painted in familiar livery. The next thing, the plane dipped and crashed. There was no smoke, no explosion, no fire.
I remember running to the long staircase where I saw a lot of people standing by the side of the road opposite it. On the slope, there were charred pieces of the broken up plane. Some smoke was billowing out from the burnt pieces.
Suddenly, the sky was lit with flares and I awoke suddenly.
Don't ask me how or why things turned out this way. The last I saw a plane act this way was when the hydraulics were entirely disrupted and the plane has lost all ability to be steered. And autopilot will cause the plane to move in a sinusoidal manner in order to maintain height and fight granvity.
Still, it is very weird that I should have dreams like these. It is really a nightmare I could do without.
But well, I'm just going to do my packing tonight and get ready for my trip.
Que sera sera. What will be, will be.
I ditched writing this post just now when I realised that the airline did not allocate me the seat that I was asking for. The back end service is getting atrocious. I really dread to be offered endless "beef" meals again on the flight.
The Singapore-Newark sector is notorious for beef meals. It is like going on a mad-cow flight. Lunch, there is a beef dish and something else. Dinner, there is a beef dish and something else. Breakfast, beef noodles and something else. Something else is normally not savoury and I really really don't take beef. So I had to get my travel agent to help. Let's hope she can do better than me.
Well, back to the nightmare. I know to call it the nightmare is a little overdramatic but if I tell you that I am flying out to Newark tomorrow, you might indulge me a little.
It was night and I was near my former junior college when I saw a plane take off, fly in my direction and started wobbling. It was dipping up and down and before long, it came into view. It was a weird plane. It has two propellers mounted on top of the roundish plane and something like an extended passenger cabin below.
It was painted in familiar livery. The next thing, the plane dipped and crashed. There was no smoke, no explosion, no fire.
I remember running to the long staircase where I saw a lot of people standing by the side of the road opposite it. On the slope, there were charred pieces of the broken up plane. Some smoke was billowing out from the burnt pieces.
Suddenly, the sky was lit with flares and I awoke suddenly.
Don't ask me how or why things turned out this way. The last I saw a plane act this way was when the hydraulics were entirely disrupted and the plane has lost all ability to be steered. And autopilot will cause the plane to move in a sinusoidal manner in order to maintain height and fight granvity.
Still, it is very weird that I should have dreams like these. It is really a nightmare I could do without.
But well, I'm just going to do my packing tonight and get ready for my trip.
Que sera sera. What will be, will be.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Teach me how to dump
Teach me how to dump
- Dedicated to someone who knows who she is -
How does a partner in a relationship end the relationship?
I think this is a very challenging question to answer. It is easier to answer questions such as "Under what conditions should a couple consider break up?" or "When do I know I should dump him or her?" But this is not the reason for the post.
I believe there are many ways of saying those words. Perhaps we need to point out what is troubling us and how we think the issue will lead to irreconcilable difference in the end.
Character
After a quarrel, you will know whether you are still compatible. If after quarrelling, both sides can put aside the differences and go for a meal, then there is a chance. If halfway through, someone storms off or chases the other away, end it.
What to say: I do not think we are able to communicate effectively. When we quarrel, we are impervious to reason and I do not think we will be able to go on in the relationship since we will be quarrelling more often as we get to know each other better. And if we cannot get past knowing each other, we should find someone else whom we can better relate to. Goodbye.
Money
If both are penny pinching and fair, it is ok. If both are generous, it is ok. If one is generous and does not expect returns, it is ok. If one is petty and fair, it is ok. If one is dishonest, end it.
What to say: Darling, I'm broke. Because you have been spending a lot of money and I have also had to spend money on you, my finances have been cut off because I am told I am not supposed to throwing all the money into this relationship. A relationship cannot be sustained by money alone. If you think it can, you'll have to start supporting me from now. Otherwise, I think we need to reconcile our expenses in our own way and I need to regain my financial standing soon. Can you? No? Goodbye.
Habits
If there is no way to accept or break the partner's habits and they are bothering you, then it will only get worse as the relationship progresses and one starts taking the other for granted. Especially if the habit has progressed to a point where you really cannot stand it any more.
What to say: It's my way or the highway. Your choice. In any case, I've chosen the highway. Goodbye.
n-Timing, where n > 1
If your partner cheats on you, then it may be time. It really depends on how tolerant you want to be.
What to say: Goodbye.
You've Lost That Loving Feeling
By and by, the fireworks will die out. The passion may die off. The libidoes wane. The groin doesn't get excited anymore. You need to decide if this is the person you can spend your life with or not. Because spending your life with someone does not require the loving feeling all the time. There should be just enough embers to last. You can't burn high and nigh all the time. Even the grandest bonfires burn out.
What to say: If you no longer feel for me, then do you want a time out?
Poor Sex
What to say: Darling, I'm a slut. Dump me, please.
- Dedicated to someone who knows who she is -
How does a partner in a relationship end the relationship?
I think this is a very challenging question to answer. It is easier to answer questions such as "Under what conditions should a couple consider break up?" or "When do I know I should dump him or her?" But this is not the reason for the post.
I believe there are many ways of saying those words. Perhaps we need to point out what is troubling us and how we think the issue will lead to irreconcilable difference in the end.
Character
After a quarrel, you will know whether you are still compatible. If after quarrelling, both sides can put aside the differences and go for a meal, then there is a chance. If halfway through, someone storms off or chases the other away, end it.
What to say: I do not think we are able to communicate effectively. When we quarrel, we are impervious to reason and I do not think we will be able to go on in the relationship since we will be quarrelling more often as we get to know each other better. And if we cannot get past knowing each other, we should find someone else whom we can better relate to. Goodbye.
Money
If both are penny pinching and fair, it is ok. If both are generous, it is ok. If one is generous and does not expect returns, it is ok. If one is petty and fair, it is ok. If one is dishonest, end it.
What to say: Darling, I'm broke. Because you have been spending a lot of money and I have also had to spend money on you, my finances have been cut off because I am told I am not supposed to throwing all the money into this relationship. A relationship cannot be sustained by money alone. If you think it can, you'll have to start supporting me from now. Otherwise, I think we need to reconcile our expenses in our own way and I need to regain my financial standing soon. Can you? No? Goodbye.
Habits
If there is no way to accept or break the partner's habits and they are bothering you, then it will only get worse as the relationship progresses and one starts taking the other for granted. Especially if the habit has progressed to a point where you really cannot stand it any more.
What to say: It's my way or the highway. Your choice. In any case, I've chosen the highway. Goodbye.
n-Timing, where n > 1
If your partner cheats on you, then it may be time. It really depends on how tolerant you want to be.
What to say: Goodbye.
You've Lost That Loving Feeling
By and by, the fireworks will die out. The passion may die off. The libidoes wane. The groin doesn't get excited anymore. You need to decide if this is the person you can spend your life with or not. Because spending your life with someone does not require the loving feeling all the time. There should be just enough embers to last. You can't burn high and nigh all the time. Even the grandest bonfires burn out.
What to say: If you no longer feel for me, then do you want a time out?
Poor Sex
What to say: Darling, I'm a slut. Dump me, please.
This will drive you nuts!
This will drive you nuts!
This is taken from T F Stern's website. He called it harmless entertainment. I suppose I agree.
The object of the game is to move the red block around without getting hit by the blue blocks or touching the black walls. If you can go longer than 18 seconds you are phenomenal. It's been said that the US Air Force uses this for fighter pilots. They are expected to go for at least 2 minutes. Give it a try but be careful...it is addictive!!
http://tinyurl.com/56t9u
Have fun!
This is taken from T F Stern's website. He called it harmless entertainment. I suppose I agree.
The object of the game is to move the red block around without getting hit by the blue blocks or touching the black walls. If you can go longer than 18 seconds you are phenomenal. It's been said that the US Air Force uses this for fighter pilots. They are expected to go for at least 2 minutes. Give it a try but be careful...it is addictive!!
http://tinyurl.com/56t9u
Have fun!
Sunday, December 03, 2006
If oil ran out a minute ago...
If oil ran out a minute ago...
Would there be a mad rush to fill up the vehicles with petrol?
What will become of air travel?
How will we learn knowledge, since almost everything we found out after the invention of the internet were placed in cyberspace?
Will it still be necessary to go to work?
What shall we plant?
How do we make chickens roam freely again? Currently and apparently, reared chickens are injected with growth hormones and they have to be killed after about 40 days after hatching. Failing which, they die of cardiac arrest. (I hear stories like these but never corroborated them.)
What will actors and electricians do?
Will fanatics drill into every inch of the Earth to check if oil indeed ran out a minute ago?
What will Green Peace protest next?
Would there be a mad rush to fill up the vehicles with petrol?
What will become of air travel?
How will we learn knowledge, since almost everything we found out after the invention of the internet were placed in cyberspace?
Will it still be necessary to go to work?
What shall we plant?
How do we make chickens roam freely again? Currently and apparently, reared chickens are injected with growth hormones and they have to be killed after about 40 days after hatching. Failing which, they die of cardiac arrest. (I hear stories like these but never corroborated them.)
What will actors and electricians do?
Will fanatics drill into every inch of the Earth to check if oil indeed ran out a minute ago?
What will Green Peace protest next?
Lift Messages
Lift Messages
Where I work, the lift has a display and each day, there is a different message being shown.
Some examples are:
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.
Think every word you speak, do not speak every thing you think.
A mind is like a parachute - it works best when it is open.
The mind is not a vessel to be filled; it is a fire to be kindled.
Each day, lift users get some nugget of wisdom to think about and the past week was particularly interesting. The examples above were all shown last week and there is a common idea that ran through them - thoughts.
A person's thoughts can tell us a lot about him, if we are able to live in his mind and know what he is thinking about. However, we can't do that. We are forced to decide on how a man decides to translate those thoughts into words or other action.
I cannot help but think about the idea of being "lost in translation".
I vividly recall a story where a superior wrote a damning performance report for a subordinate right before she left. Yet when the subordinate came over and bade her goodbye not long after, the two hugged and the superior thanked the other and asked her to take care. What was going through the mind of the superior?
Was it a customary goodbye gesture or did it reek of hypocrisy? I don't have any idea. I'm struggling with staying true to my beliefs and showing how my actions are congruent with my beliefs. And believe me, it is already a constant struggle. I suppose people do not call the society a large dye pool for nothing.
I hope to just leave this question for reflection: How does one rationalise one's thoughts and the manifestations of those thoughts?
Where I work, the lift has a display and each day, there is a different message being shown.
Some examples are:
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.
Think every word you speak, do not speak every thing you think.
A mind is like a parachute - it works best when it is open.
The mind is not a vessel to be filled; it is a fire to be kindled.
Each day, lift users get some nugget of wisdom to think about and the past week was particularly interesting. The examples above were all shown last week and there is a common idea that ran through them - thoughts.
A person's thoughts can tell us a lot about him, if we are able to live in his mind and know what he is thinking about. However, we can't do that. We are forced to decide on how a man decides to translate those thoughts into words or other action.
I cannot help but think about the idea of being "lost in translation".
I vividly recall a story where a superior wrote a damning performance report for a subordinate right before she left. Yet when the subordinate came over and bade her goodbye not long after, the two hugged and the superior thanked the other and asked her to take care. What was going through the mind of the superior?
Was it a customary goodbye gesture or did it reek of hypocrisy? I don't have any idea. I'm struggling with staying true to my beliefs and showing how my actions are congruent with my beliefs. And believe me, it is already a constant struggle. I suppose people do not call the society a large dye pool for nothing.
I hope to just leave this question for reflection: How does one rationalise one's thoughts and the manifestations of those thoughts?
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
GST Increase
GST Increase
The government has announced its intention to raise the Goods and Services Tax from the current 5% to 7%.
I think I'll start spending my money overseas.
The government has announced its intention to raise the Goods and Services Tax from the current 5% to 7%.
I think I'll start spending my money overseas.
Value Add
Value Add
We ask for reports from others, only to rework on them to "value add".
Or do we just reinvent the wheel?
We ask for reports from others, only to rework on them to "value add".
Or do we just reinvent the wheel?
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Random Tidbits
Random Tidbits
1. I saw the human version of Chicken Little. I even saw the resemblance between his dad and the animation character. I think the animators have figured out heredity before the biologists.
2. We care too much about people whom we don't even see but we give no second thought to the people right beside us. Advancements in telecommunication have led to a degeneration of our inter-personal communication skills.
3. In the past, we got an education before we become educated. Now, we try to educate without giving an education.
4. How very hard we try to live up to our own expectations, the very expectations projected on you from the powers that be, which we erroneously assimilate as our own. And then how even harder we try to justify that we are living for ourselves.
1. I saw the human version of Chicken Little. I even saw the resemblance between his dad and the animation character. I think the animators have figured out heredity before the biologists.
2. We care too much about people whom we don't even see but we give no second thought to the people right beside us. Advancements in telecommunication have led to a degeneration of our inter-personal communication skills.
3. In the past, we got an education before we become educated. Now, we try to educate without giving an education.
4. How very hard we try to live up to our own expectations, the very expectations projected on you from the powers that be, which we erroneously assimilate as our own. And then how even harder we try to justify that we are living for ourselves.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
I'll be dammed
I'll be dammed!
An interesting email I received.
- Start of message -
This is an actual letter sent to a man named Ryan DeVries by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, State of Michigan.
This guy's response is hilarious, but read the State's letter before you get to the response letter.
(State's letter) SUBJECT: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec. 20; Montcalm County
Dear Mr. DeVries:
It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the above referenced parcel of property. You have been certified as the legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized activity:
Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond. A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity. A review of the Department’s files shows that no permits have been issued. Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, annotated.
The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially failed during a recent rain event, causing debris and flooding at downstream locations. We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted. The Department therefore orders you to cease and desist all activities at this location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow condition by removing all wood and brush forming the dams from the stream channel.
All restoration work shall be completed no later than January 31, 2005.
Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that a follow-up site inspection may be scheduled by our staff. Failure to comply with this request or any further unauthorized activity on the site may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action.
We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter.
Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
David L. Price
District Representative, Land and Water Management Division
This is the actual response sent back:
Re: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec. 20; Montcalm County.
Dear Mr. Price,
Your certified letter dated 12/17/04 has been handed to me to respond in regarding to the above mentioned file.
I am the legal landowner but not the Contractor at 2088 Dagget, Pierson, Michigan.
A couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of constructing and maintaining two wood "debris" dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures building materials "debris." I would like to challenge your department to attempt to emulate their dam project any time and/or any place you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no way you could ever match their dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination and/or their dam work ethic.
As to your request, I do not think the beavers are aware that they must first fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity.
My first dam question to you is:
(1) Are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers... or
(2) Do you require all beavers throughout this State to conform to said dam request?
If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers, through The Freedom of Information Act, I request completed copies of all those other applicable beaver dam permits that have been issued. Perhaps we will see if there really is a dam violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Ac t, Act451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, annotated.
I have several concerns. My first concern is... aren't the beavers entitled to legal representation? The Spring Pond Beavers are financially destitute and are unable to pay for said representation, so the State will have to provide them with a dam lawyer. The Department's dam concern that either one or both of the dams failed during a recent rain event causing flooding is proof that this is a natural occurrence, which the Department is required to protect. In other words, we should leave the Spring Pond Beavers alone rather than harassing them and calling them dam names.
If you want the stream "restored" to a dam free-flow condition please contact the beavers, but if you are going to arrest them, they obviously did not pay any attention to your dam letter... they being unable to read English. In my humble opinion, the Spring Pond Beavers have a right to build their unauthorized dams as long as the sky is blue, the grass is green and water flows downstream. They have more dam rights than I do to live and enjoy Spring Pond.
If the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection lives up to its name, it should protect the natural resources (Beavers) and the environment (Beavers' Dams). So, as far as the beavers and I are concerned, this dam case can be referred for more elevated enforcement action right now. Why wait until 1/31/2005? The Spring Pond Beavers may be under the dam ice then and there will be no way for you or your dam staff to harass them then.
In conclusion, I would like to bring to your attention a real environmental quality (health) problem in the area. It is the bears! Bears are actually defecating in our woods. I definitely believe you should be persecuting the defecating bears and leave the beavers alone. If you are going to investigate the beaver dam, watch your step! (The bears are not careful where they dump!) Being unable to comply with your dam request, and being unable to contact you on your dam answering machine, I am sending this response to your dam office.
Thank You, Ryan DeVries & The Dam Beavers
- End of message -
An interesting email I received.
- Start of message -
This is an actual letter sent to a man named Ryan DeVries by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, State of Michigan.
This guy's response is hilarious, but read the State's letter before you get to the response letter.
(State's letter) SUBJECT: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec. 20; Montcalm County
Dear Mr. DeVries:
It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the above referenced parcel of property. You have been certified as the legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized activity:
Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond. A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity. A review of the Department’s files shows that no permits have been issued. Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, annotated.
The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially failed during a recent rain event, causing debris and flooding at downstream locations. We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted. The Department therefore orders you to cease and desist all activities at this location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow condition by removing all wood and brush forming the dams from the stream channel.
All restoration work shall be completed no later than January 31, 2005.
Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that a follow-up site inspection may be scheduled by our staff. Failure to comply with this request or any further unauthorized activity on the site may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action.
We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter.
Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
David L. Price
District Representative, Land and Water Management Division
This is the actual response sent back:
Re: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec. 20; Montcalm County.
Dear Mr. Price,
Your certified letter dated 12/17/04 has been handed to me to respond in regarding to the above mentioned file.
I am the legal landowner but not the Contractor at 2088 Dagget, Pierson, Michigan.
A couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of constructing and maintaining two wood "debris" dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures building materials "debris." I would like to challenge your department to attempt to emulate their dam project any time and/or any place you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no way you could ever match their dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination and/or their dam work ethic.
As to your request, I do not think the beavers are aware that they must first fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity.
My first dam question to you is:
(1) Are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers... or
(2) Do you require all beavers throughout this State to conform to said dam request?
If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers, through The Freedom of Information Act, I request completed copies of all those other applicable beaver dam permits that have been issued. Perhaps we will see if there really is a dam violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Ac t, Act451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, annotated.
I have several concerns. My first concern is... aren't the beavers entitled to legal representation? The Spring Pond Beavers are financially destitute and are unable to pay for said representation, so the State will have to provide them with a dam lawyer. The Department's dam concern that either one or both of the dams failed during a recent rain event causing flooding is proof that this is a natural occurrence, which the Department is required to protect. In other words, we should leave the Spring Pond Beavers alone rather than harassing them and calling them dam names.
If you want the stream "restored" to a dam free-flow condition please contact the beavers, but if you are going to arrest them, they obviously did not pay any attention to your dam letter... they being unable to read English. In my humble opinion, the Spring Pond Beavers have a right to build their unauthorized dams as long as the sky is blue, the grass is green and water flows downstream. They have more dam rights than I do to live and enjoy Spring Pond.
If the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection lives up to its name, it should protect the natural resources (Beavers) and the environment (Beavers' Dams). So, as far as the beavers and I are concerned, this dam case can be referred for more elevated enforcement action right now. Why wait until 1/31/2005? The Spring Pond Beavers may be under the dam ice then and there will be no way for you or your dam staff to harass them then.
In conclusion, I would like to bring to your attention a real environmental quality (health) problem in the area. It is the bears! Bears are actually defecating in our woods. I definitely believe you should be persecuting the defecating bears and leave the beavers alone. If you are going to investigate the beaver dam, watch your step! (The bears are not careful where they dump!) Being unable to comply with your dam request, and being unable to contact you on your dam answering machine, I am sending this response to your dam office.
Thank You, Ryan DeVries & The Dam Beavers
- End of message -
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Fly, Little Kiwi
Fly, Little Kiwi
Saw the Youtube sharing on Kyle Bennett's blog and it provoked some deep thoughts.
Thought I'll share it with you.
Saw the Youtube sharing on Kyle Bennett's blog and it provoked some deep thoughts.
Thought I'll share it with you.
"Spiderman, Spiderman..."
"Spiderman, Spiderman..."
Was at the doctor's yesterday. My pillow ran away the night before and left me with a terribly sore neck. Couldn't turn my neck, couldn't raise my arm.
So back to the doctor's.
I got my number and was told to expect a two-and-a-half hour wait. So waiting is such a chore, yet it can be therapeutic.
It's a chore because impatient people like me don't really like to wait.
Therapeutic because it never fails to console me that there are people who are in a worse shape than me.
And then there was this imp of a boy. Irritated the sh*t out of his mother. From the instance they both stepped in, the entire clinic was filled with the boy's singing, complaints, whining and the mum's questioning, threatening and complaints.
The boy kept going "Spiderman, Spiderman, I can see your underwear..." and the mum kept asking "Who taught you this? Tell me, who taught you this?"
There was even a time when she asked "Did you teacher teach you this?"
My eyes nearly popped out as my innate defences towards the teaching profession were awakened. Surprising, even though I've not taught for more than 2 years. Duh!? You think the kindergarten teacher would do something that dumb?
Imp asked to visit the toilet after that. And as I was seated outside the dental section of the clinic, which happens to be near the toilet, I could hear the exchange in the loo.
"Make sure you hold your pants high. Wait you get it wet. (Whine) Stand properly! If you drop into the hole, I'll walk out of the room. I'm not telling you (whine), I'm WARNING you. Aim properly. (Whine) Ok. Done? Dry it, dry it."
By then I went, duh... as though there is a piston inside the dick that will expunge every single drop of pee. There is bound to be a little leftover, which will eventually leak out (there is really extremely little in reality) and get deposited in the underwear. What's the big deal? Duh!
And hand washing time. "Hold my bag. Hold my bag. (Laughter) Hold properly. If everything drop out, you'll get it from me..."
Aiyoh, my neck is so painful and this is giving me a headache.
Resume Spiderman song.
Then the mum started a new front of attack.
"Are you sure you're sick or not? If you bluff me like the last time, I'll spank you."
"Really got pain."
Wah! Amazing leh! That imp has a sore throat and is still able to make noise NON-STOP. I wonder why choir kids always tell me they cannot sing because they got CCA-day sore throats. (Actually, I knew all along that the "sore throat kids" would not sing because they could not hold a tune to save their lives. But I won't bust their covers.)
And so, after a good two-hour of entertainment, imp's turn came. Nearly. When the patient before went to see the doc, imp needed to go to the toilet again. This time, he did big business.
Despite the mum telling the receptionists to hold the doctor for her son.
Alas, the next patient went into the consultation room before the winds movement ended in the loo.
But fortunately, he came out and went in as the next patient.
Peace was restored.
Was at the doctor's yesterday. My pillow ran away the night before and left me with a terribly sore neck. Couldn't turn my neck, couldn't raise my arm.
So back to the doctor's.
I got my number and was told to expect a two-and-a-half hour wait. So waiting is such a chore, yet it can be therapeutic.
It's a chore because impatient people like me don't really like to wait.
Therapeutic because it never fails to console me that there are people who are in a worse shape than me.
And then there was this imp of a boy. Irritated the sh*t out of his mother. From the instance they both stepped in, the entire clinic was filled with the boy's singing, complaints, whining and the mum's questioning, threatening and complaints.
The boy kept going "Spiderman, Spiderman, I can see your underwear..." and the mum kept asking "Who taught you this? Tell me, who taught you this?"
There was even a time when she asked "Did you teacher teach you this?"
My eyes nearly popped out as my innate defences towards the teaching profession were awakened. Surprising, even though I've not taught for more than 2 years. Duh!? You think the kindergarten teacher would do something that dumb?
Imp asked to visit the toilet after that. And as I was seated outside the dental section of the clinic, which happens to be near the toilet, I could hear the exchange in the loo.
"Make sure you hold your pants high. Wait you get it wet. (Whine) Stand properly! If you drop into the hole, I'll walk out of the room. I'm not telling you (whine), I'm WARNING you. Aim properly. (Whine) Ok. Done? Dry it, dry it."
By then I went, duh... as though there is a piston inside the dick that will expunge every single drop of pee. There is bound to be a little leftover, which will eventually leak out (there is really extremely little in reality) and get deposited in the underwear. What's the big deal? Duh!
And hand washing time. "Hold my bag. Hold my bag. (Laughter) Hold properly. If everything drop out, you'll get it from me..."
Aiyoh, my neck is so painful and this is giving me a headache.
Resume Spiderman song.
Then the mum started a new front of attack.
"Are you sure you're sick or not? If you bluff me like the last time, I'll spank you."
"Really got pain."
Wah! Amazing leh! That imp has a sore throat and is still able to make noise NON-STOP. I wonder why choir kids always tell me they cannot sing because they got CCA-day sore throats. (Actually, I knew all along that the "sore throat kids" would not sing because they could not hold a tune to save their lives. But I won't bust their covers.)
And so, after a good two-hour of entertainment, imp's turn came. Nearly. When the patient before went to see the doc, imp needed to go to the toilet again. This time, he did big business.
Despite the mum telling the receptionists to hold the doctor for her son.
Alas, the next patient went into the consultation room before the winds movement ended in the loo.
But fortunately, he came out and went in as the next patient.
Peace was restored.
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