New Year 2006!

I'm turning into an ah pek. This must be the most uneventful new year ever. I've already broken 1 new year resolution - I meant to go to Comfort Driving Center this morning but then spent it ironing and watching Rome. Finished it - it is most excellent.

Didn't have many plans for the day, ended up reading, sleeping, going to Tampines to...BUY MY NEW PHONE!!!!

Am now the proud new owner of a V3 Razor Blue! Looks quite cool. I sold off my K700i and got $180 for it which I guess is an OK price - bought for $250 back in September. The paint was sort of starting to come off, and I think the joystick sometimes a little less than reponsive. So I thought I better get rid of it asap. And I actually never really liked that stupid joystick thing. Annoying.

Best part is, the new Razor was only $138, so effectively, I paid $208 for the Razor which was going for $298 when I bought the K700i.

How did i spend the new year? I spent it on MSN counting down with 2 other chorale members who were similar sitting at home doing nothing. We were counting down on MSN. It's quite silly.

Tmr I shall go to my aunt's place, followed by King Kong at night. I think.

It seems the year has been completely uneventful except for the fact that I had lots of work and managed to endear myself to the management powers that be. I think if I ever quit my boss will put a bomb under my chair.

oh, yeah, and I bought that apartment. Can't wait for it to finish building. I think I shall pop by tomorrow to take a look at it.

Looking back, it seems as if it were just yesterday that we were celebrating NY2005.. Why did we have Chorale practice over the new year? I can't remember. I DO remember screaming vulgarities into Jimmy's Xbox live, and it seems like only yesterday when I was watching NipTuck. How time flies.

Beheardbyme was leaving for Melbourne, and Fatkiat says he was going to miss her. Fatkiat2006 will be completely different from Fatkiat2005.

I just realised that LAST CHRISTMAS, I ATTENDED *3* parties and this year (or rather, last year), ONE.

I have no friends left.

2006 will be an EVENTFUL year, and I will spend less time sitting on my ass, and more time doing FUN stuff!!!!

Starting with: MOTORBIKE lessons!!!! I want to buy a bike. I want I want I want.

I just realised I owe THOUSANDS of dollars in household contributions. argh.

I also haven't paid my 2004 taxes. I haven't even gotten my bill for it. 2005 taxes will kill me.

Anyway, here's wishing all my friends a happy 2006 ahead, and may all your wishes come true!

My maths sucks.

For a former F. Maths student the previous post is quite crappy. What I meant was:

72,000 over 6 months.

Some calculations

12,000 over six months.

Assume that one month = 30 days.

Conclusion - 400 per day.

Hmm.

Professional Prostitution Part III

Right. It's 12.15 am. No sign of that agreement. I am going to put my phone on silent and whoever calls can just, well, suck my ****.

Professional Prostitution Part II

It gets better.

10.10 pm: ring ring
"Hi, sorry to bother you, couldn't reach you in the office blah blah blah"

"We just had a 4 hour telecon with the counterparty just now, so I want to make some amendments. The thing is it's quite pressing they want to sign blah blah. Can we get it tonight?"

me: "ok when are you going to send it to me?"

them: "oh, in about 1 hour's time I'll call you".

WHAT THE F.

I AM SICK CAN YOU NOT HEAR FROM MY VOICE.

I hate you. I really do. I REALLY REALLY DO.

Professional Prostitution

10 pm: Boss calls cellphone: "Hi, can you call xyz?"
me: "erm ok"

*hesitates and calls*
"Hi xyz"
"Hi, do you have access to a computer?"
"erm, yes, but I don't have the agreement with me"
"oh it's ok we can e-mail it to you"
"erm ok"

so now I'm sick, I want to sleep, it's 10 pm, but dare I say no? No. Why? Because this company is worth over a million bucks a year to us. I'm a professional prostitute. I really am. I want to sleep.

Maybe if I do up a crappy contract, they will never bother me again. HELLO IT'S 10 PM!!!!!!!!!! I'm not your SLAVE. *ANNOYED*

I NEED MY OFF DAYS TOO WHINE.

I'm going to get fired over this post for sure.

Ouch - WHINE

My head throbs like a ... insert foul language ... Everytime I cough my head feels like it wants to explode. What a bitch this is.

I normally have a constitution of an ox. But I think I accidentally drank from a flu infested cup the other day. And then it was just downhill the next day.

What shall I do this weekend? I sure as hell am not spending it working. I can sleep. I have a halfday on Friday (i.e. tomorrow). What shall I do.

My colleague is spending this weekend holed up in Le Meridien Changi. I think that's really fun. Check in at 2 pm, laze, watch TV, eat at the excellent Italian restaurant there, long luxurious bath, check out next day at 12 pm. Ahhhh....that's the life. That sounds fun too, except it would be dumb to stay there alone.

It's weird leaving work at 6+. I got home at 8 pm. It's now 8.30 pm. I'm like what shall I do? I should go to sleep because I'm sick.

I want to watch Rome.

Whine.

I need to plan this weekend. I think I shall start with my first new year resolution. Learn up my theory to convert my driving license.

WHINE

I have flu. I feel terrible. On top of that got 5 gazillion demands from clients. I just want to stay at home and sleep and watch Rome.

It's Christmas Time!

This year Christmas has been rather low key.

Friday our generous company gave us half a day off. I was supposed to have done work on the morning, but I managed a GRAND TOTAL of 10 billable minutes. I just could not get myself to work. The day went something like go in late, call friend on the phone and chat for 40 - 60 mins about how we didn't want to work. Give defensive presents to people, have a cup of coffee, go get presents, chat to colleague on another floor, chat to roommate, chat to secretaries, and oops it was 1 pm.

1.30 pm had lunch with long time former neighbour in Malaysia. I thought she'd have plans after lunch but it turns out she didn't. So lunch was a somewhat 3 hour affair, after which we took a walk around Orchard visiting the library and the malls and just basically catching up, dumping YL by accident whom I had asked to go to Orchard to meet me. By the time I *had* to go, it was like 6.30 pm. Sorry YL!

Then we went to carol, ate like pigs thereafter, and I came home.

Saturday i rotted at home till lunch, went to Tampines to get a hair cut, came back, rotted somemore, and went caroling at the Airport (I think caroling at the airport is way more fun than the hotels - so much less ppl). The caroling was hilarious. I was late, couldnt' really sing properly, and we had this song which had a high note, so all the tenors just falsetto-ed it. It was such a feeble attempt that I burst out laughing and couldn't sing the rest of the song. That set off kiat who was standing next to me, so the whole song was practically missing the tenor part. I tried to mouth some words and look at the floor while doing it. At least my mouth was moving. But I dunno. I kept getting set off in fits of contained laughter. Our laughter then set off ZH who then couldn't sing the bass parts. Ok it was quite hilarious and made the caroling quite disastrous.

After that I decided to go Kiat's house to celebrate Christmas with his batch. Boy I feel old. It's like celebrating with my sister. I planned to get drunk but failed miserably. It was either the turkey, the ham, the Choya + beer, the char kway teow or some combination of that, but I concussed shortly thereafter in the living room. I hope I didn't snore.

The crazy kids went to watch Narnia at 3 am, while I, being old, went home to sleep.

Christmas day: Morning wake up, drag myself to Hyatt hotel to carol. Met up and said merry christmas to all the ppl in VC. The hotel was quite nice they gave us this HUGEASS box of chocolates of which I ate at least 10. Terrible. Went for lunch at Soup Restaurant after that. It was quite good and I stuffed myself silly. Again. Lunch ended at 4 pm or so, after which we bummed around a bit waiting for the airport caroling ppl. Went to airport after that where I paid freaking $4.20 for a double expresso. RIP OFF. Woke me up good though.

Caroled at night, and went to Popeye's to eat fried chicken. Popeye's has the BESTEST fried chicken EVER.

For some reason or other, and a lot of friends agree with me, this year Christmas was a very much subdued affair. We didn't give anyone presents (not that it was planned - it was just quite natural), we weren't excited or anything, and a lot of us couldn't be bothered to go back to Raffles Hotel reunion caroling. Maybe it's because we don't recognise anyone there anyway.

But anyway, here's wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas, and a merry New Year!

Am glad next week is a short working week.

I think I'm going to take leave January 9th.

Present giving lessons

Update. It's now 2.40 am. I am still in the office allocating gifts. Have given 3 away. Lessons learnt:

1. Do not give 2 people similar presents - especially if you are passing one person the gift to be passed to another. Being humans, they are bound to compare what they get.

Gave guy friend an organic soap bar. However, gave to another friend, through first friend, *2* soap bars, 'cos it comes in a set.

BIG MISTAKE, although he didn't say it, it's body language - "how come I get one and she gets 2?"

2. The fact that a receiver is hot is IRRELEVANT. In example 1, female colleague is hot and obviously he's not hot. I didn't buy her 2 bars of soap on PURPOSE. Ok I must have subconsciously done so. But, in the spirit of maintaining good relations, I can't obviously say that: "yah, she gets two 'cos she's hot and you're not.".

So anyway, managed to talk my way into giving him a pack of exotic tea also. Luckily there's more where that came from. Good planning doesn't hurt.

I've allocated all my gifts 'cos I have a list of potential people giving presents to me. Weeeee!

The Art of Defensive Presents

The dreaded time of the year has arrived. It's the time of giving! The dreaded: "Oh! I've found you the perfect Christmas present!" or "Oh, I've got your Christmas present already!" strikes fear in my heart. First, I have no idea what they bought for me. Second, it means, under my upbringing, that I am obliged to buy something for you. This brings about undue stress, becuase:

1. I have no idea what you bought me
2. Not knowing what you bought me, I don't know what to buy you, because obviously:
a) I don't want to spend unnecessary money disproportionate to the value of the present received - that will make you feel bad and make me feel poor
b) I don't want to spend too little - because that will make me feel guilty.

It is indeed a torturous time. Tomorrow is the last working day before Christmas. Last year it was a nightmare. People gave me gifts for which I had none to return. I was wracked with guilt, although this didn't last very long. Although they say Christmas is a spirit of giving, you give without expectation of return, this is, of course, pure bollocks, and the shops know it.

This year I'm all prepared. I have just been on some 4 hour shopping spree, burning a huge hole in my pocket, and I think I've got it down to an art.

Some logical principles:

1. I am not buying anything for anyone who is not buying anything for me. I don't get why Christmas should be about giving presents - it's alien to me. I am only buying presents because not to do so would wrack me with guilt.

Corollary: Your present to me will be exchanged with a present from me to you.

2. So as I don't face undue stress or lose face, the value of my gift must be similar to yours, which gives rise to the problem of uncertainty.

Corollary and conclusion 1: buy different presents of different value and of sufficient variety so that you can select what to return to them.

3. I have no idea how many people are buying gifts for me which warrant a return gift. Therefore how many presents to buy?

Corollary and conclusion: Buy stuff that, if you can't give away, you would be happy to keep for yourself. And so I did. I bought mainly food stuff or cute toys or usable stuff.

Sidenote: I'm hoping I don't have to give away the organic/natural soap bars. I really should have bought a TON in Germany. They are so cheap there buy cost a FORTUNE here. My most expensive purchase yet.

So, having spent a fortune on gifts, I am now fully in the defensive present-giving mood for tomorrow.

Time to go home to sleep.

Complacency

Today I went to watch a carolling session by Hw@ Ch0ng V0ices at 0cean T0wers. I have to say I am rather impressed with their sound. They've gotten better since I last heard them. Dare I say it? The sound was better than VC in a number of sessions. They looked happy and enthusiastic singing, which is more than I can say for a number of our sessions.

I don't know - maybe it's something new for them - they're still a young choir, and still possess the fiery spirit of doing their best whereas VC just sounds old and tired. It makes a huge difference.

The chords were tight, the blend was pretty good for most songs. Some of the songs were a bit mechanical, but I think that's a function of the conductor who was conducting every beat more than the choir itself.

I think their members practiced hard whereas ours can't be bothered - it's more of an obligation rather than a privilege. It's sad when the members themselves can't be bothered. Do I care? Frankly, no. It's not part of my tradition since I was never from any of the Victoria choirs. Am I disappointed? Yes. Complacency will be our downfall.

I would recommend going down to listen to them. Their schedule:

Prudential Tower (at Raffles Place)
22nd 12.30 - 1.30 pm

Conrad Hotel (next to Suntec)
20th (Tue), 22nd (Thu), 25th (Sun) --> 6.30 - 7.00pm

Fullerton (Raffles Place MRT)
21st (Wed), 23rd (Fri), 24th (Sat) --> 7.30 - 8.15pm 25th (Sun) --> 11.30 - 12.15pm

It's a beautiful day (U2)

It's been a good day.

Firstly, I had a bitch fest last night, which felt good.

Then I woke up at about 11 am, watched 30 days, did some ironing, and then at 3+, I wanted to go to work but thought that I bloody deserve a break and work can just kiss my ass this weekend, and took a nap. I haven't slept this well in many weeks. It feels good.

Woke up at 7+ panicking 'cos I had to go caroling which started at 8 pm. Took a quick shower, and off I went on the no. 34 which is as good as a taxi to the airport. Really fast!

Caroling was pretty good. We had about 26 people today and the sound was very good. We were being filmed, everyone seems to be a camera whore of sorts, so out came the smiles, and we all sang our best, so this made the mood a bit more joyful, which in turn made everyone sing better etc - virtuous cycle.

One blogger said caroling is a self-indulgent thing - you do it to indulge yourself, and I think that's true, because after a good session of caroling - we don't really care what the audience thinks - we're the ones indulging ourselves, and we feel good about it. This feeling has been missing for a while.

So after a good session of caroling, we went on our usual post-caroling Changi binge. More about binging later. One guy insisted on going to Soup Restaurant - which was a bit pricey for some of the members who then left - a little uncomfortable.

But the food was really good - the chicken, ginger and lettuce was out of this world.

And after a satisfying dinner, I am now at home where I am going to have another self-indulgent sleep. I'm still dreaming of the chicken.

Next week's going to be a pretty rotten week at work, and I expect I won't be seeing any sunlight except on the way to work and during lunch.

On binging - I did NOT know that you could die from alcohol poisoning. And I did NOT know that having 4 drinks in the span of 1-2 hours is considered BINGE drinking. I also did not know that alcohol makes u crave carby foods like pizza.

Everytime I go for dinner where wine is freely available, I routinely down like 5-10 GLASSES. 4 is really nothing. I mean, it tastes good, I like being buzzed, and I don't really suffer the next morning except feel a bit tired, but I always thought that was because it was a late night out and I'm tired. I can never walk straight after drinking so much, and I always manage to get home. I don't slur, and I don't black out.

The show portrayed this college girl as problematic because she said that when she goes out to drink she goes to get drunk - WHICH IS ME AS WELL!!!! I RECOGNISE THE SYMPTOMS!!!

Shit. I'm in denial. I'm a BINGE DRINKER!!!!

I think if alcohol were cheaper here, I'd probably be an alcoholic.

Hmm but I've got a bottle of vodka in my office which I haven't drunk. I think drinking is a social thing, so I guess it's good I don't have alcoholic friends to get drunk and pass out together. I need to meet more alcoholic friends.

Getting drunk is fun!!!

Dreaming of chickens walking towards me with a plate of ginger on their backs. mmmmmmmm.

I'm so stewpid

OK I have a confession to make. Everyone's talking about King Kong. I knew it was a remake of a classic, but I was thinking what's the big deal? I didn't think it was a fantastic movie or anything.

That is, until I saw the poster of King Kong, standing against a giant crocodile creature thing. And then I thought...wait a minute...there's something wrong. The crocodile creature thing...isn't that supposed to be the star?

And then it dawned on me: I mixed up King Kong with Godzilla. you'know: "Godjilla Godjilla!". Yeah. I know. Stewpid.

So I shall watch King Kong and enjoy the ape.

The East is Red

Tsui Hark is a MASTER of film.

Watched 2 shows over the weekend - Swordsman 2 and The East is Red, starring Brigitte Lin. May I start off by saying that she is really quite gorgeous. Unfortunately, the offshoot of that is that the show has very lesbian overtones.

Background story - very powerful story by the way. The Miao highland tribe (PS I LOVE how they speak Chinese, all their intonation is sort of reversed, and it's just very very charming and interesting, like how a number of Hong Kong people speak English) are being oppressed by the Imperial Court, comprising mainly the Han mainland tribe people, and causing rebellion and unrest in the outer reaches of the kingdom. Among this is a group called the Sun Moon Sect. In the first part of the trilogy (as far as I remember back from 10 years ago), the leaders set out to find the Sacred Scroll which will give the user supernatural powers, so that the Sun Moon sect can take control of their own destiny or something shit like that. So they find the thing in the first show.

In the second show, it turns out that the user of the Sacred Scroll, in order to obtain supernatural powers, must cut off his entire genitalia. So in comes this character called Dong Fang Bu Bai - Asia the Invincible (i.e. Asia is East), the leader of the Sun Moon Sect. Having cut off his balls, he turns into a woman, a very pretty one at that which can give those Thai girls a run for their money. So there are a lot of semi lesbian-like scenes where he/she's cavorting with his concubines, and the voice is done by Leslie Cheung, who of course is now dead, but whose voice is a perfect I-don't-know-what-sex-I-am - kinda like a countertenor voice - it's neither male nor female. A he/she.

Anyway, he/she/it eventually falls in love with this drunkard guy Ling (Jet Li) who eventually is the one who drives a sword into his/her body because Ling thought he slept with a him/her, so he/she becomes heartbroken, and jumps off a cliff leaving Ling in suspense as to whether he slept with another man.

Now if Part 2 was Lesbian, part 3 was MORE Lesbian. I mean who needs to watch the L-Word, this is like ultimate lesbo. But first, background story.

It turns out that Asia the Invincible did not die when he/she jumped off the cliff. Instead, having been heartbroken by another man, he/she decides to live in seclusion never to see the world again, because, well, all men are bastards.

So it seems that in his absence, he has this concubine called Snow who misses him and pretends to be Asia the Invincible and leads the Sun Moon Sect. And of course has to have her concubines of her own in order to pretend to be Asia the Invincible. So on the ship, picks her consort for the night, and then they share opium from Kyushu Islands, and they do so by Snow fingering a portion of the red opium into her mouth, and then she spreads it into the consort's mouth by way of a lot of tongue action. FWAH!!!

Then scene pans to the where Snow used to share opium with Asia the Invincible, which is of course acted by Brigitte Lin, so it becomes more of a gender bender lesbo scene 'cos you have like Asia the Invincible feeding Snow drink by spitting water from his/her mouth into Snows. And then more tongue action. I'm talking about like SERIOUS TONGUE ACTION where you can see their tongues twirling around each other.

And then pan back, and Snow and the chosen consort cuddle and fondle, BUT THEN, IT TURNS OUT THAT THE CONSORT is actually a MALE NINJA disguised as a concubine!!!! I mean this has all the makings of a twisted porn flick!!!! So now you don't know if Snow is lesbo or not.

Anyway the story (other than above lesbo scenes) is quite cool. Brigitte Lin does thes kungfu moves with such grace and finesse one is just enthralled watching her move.

So, tonight, it's onto Bride with White Hair, which, incidentally, is also another Brigitte Lin movie.

I'm supposed to be working today. However, I got to office, and I started surfing Xiamen air tickets. ARGH. DIE.

Tmr busy day somemore.

We had some annual christmas lunch recently, during which the powers that be will announce promotion. With one word, a handful of people's lives are instantly transformed. From employee you suddenly become boss. For a brief moment, I thought how wonderful the feeling must be - a validation of your efforts etc and I wondered when it would be my turn.

With that transformation, you are suddenly seen in a different light. Suddenly, associates below you let you go ahead in line at the buffet table, and everyone becomes more respectful, because, well, you are now a partner. I think some of them may not be used to the instant transformation - one seemed embarrassed when he was let ahead in the queue. I didn't do it on purpose, it was just instinctive that I offered to let him go ahead, 'cos, well, he's higher up in the hierarchy than me now.

That lasted for 5 minutes. The new bosses are now back in the office working as well. The commanders are digging trenches with the rank and file.

Is partnership all its cracked up to be? Sometimes I want to be one. Sometimes I feel that I don't want the responsibility that comes with it. But I like the respect the title commands - you are worthy, good at your work, bright future etc etc etc.

I've been a bad boy

Stopped by a CD shop today to look see look see. Lo and behold, I bought *4* DVDs and 1 VCD. All of them Chinese shows. I'm such a Sinophile.

It was a bit awkward trying to explain to the shopkeeper what I wanted 'cos he'll start mumbling in Mandarin.

"Do you have the other DVD's in this series?"
"Oh you mean *unintelligible string of chinese words follow*?"
"Uhm...I'm not sure...I just know this DVD is part 3, and I want parts 1 & 2"
"Oh you mean the one starring *another unintelligible string of chinese words*"
"Uhm...I'm not sure. I just know there's a part 1 and 2 - sorry I don't speak Mandarin"
"Oh ok let me check."

later:

"Do you have other shows by Brigitte Lin?"
"Oh lin chin xia, hang on"
"There's this one here" - passes the DVD to me. All the words are in Chinese.
"Uhm...does it have English subtitles?"
"mmmm....(checks).....no just Chinese subtitles"
"oh..ok then never mind I can't read Chinese" *sound sheepish here*

Maybe I should stop being a banana.

And now I'm in trouble. I don't want to work because I want to go home to watch!!!!!

I'm so

tired. Very very tired.

The Mandatory Death Penalty

(PS this is a work in progress – I’ve only given this one day of thought)

A lot has been said recently about the hanging of Nguyen Tuong Van. Let me just start off by saying that I have nothing against the death penalty – I think it has some use as an “ultimate deterrent”, policy etc etc. The death penalty is also nothing new, having existed for many centuries.

However, the fact that it takes away the most fundamental of human rights (i.e. the right to life itself), means that there must be some extremely compelling reasons for taking away this right. Reason is what separates Man from beast, and is the mark of a developed / advanced civilization.

I recognize that there are many reasons for and against the death penalty – there is the principle of deterrence, the principle of retribution etc. Whether they are good reasons or not will depend on the individual – each person holds differing views on different matters, and each society, comprising a group of individuals, will also collectively hold differing views. Inasmuch as all Men are of equal standing and should respect each other’s views and opinions, each society is also of equal standing and deserving of respect for its views and therefore no society can justifiably criticize another for holding differing views on matters of social policy.

Therefore my first conclusion is that it is pointless for Australians to call Singapore laws barbaric – there is no basis for this accusation: I may not agree with your views, but I will (should) respect them. That is not to say that the death penalty will remain forever, but the point is no person should force his opinion on another – the call to change must come from within, not without - from a realization by a country that the death penalty no longer fits with the norms of its society.

However, there is another aspect of the whole saga which does not seem to have been picked up, and that is the mandatory nature of the death penalty for the trafficking of drugs, i.e. once you are: (i) caught in the act of trafficking drugs; (ii) intended to traffic the drugs, it’s off to the gallows you go unless you can get one of those elusive presidential pardons. There is no discretion for the judge to fashion an appropriate sentence.

I think several things are wrong with this. Firstly, it reduces the role of the courts to mechanical filters – you did this, you intended to do this, off you go to the gallows. What is the justification for removing the judge’s role to fix the sentence and rest the fate of the accused in the hands of the President?

The Singapore Constitution provides (see Article 22P) to the effect that the President, when deciding whether or not to grant a pardon, may rely on advice from the Attorney-General, which no President will ignore lightly. The Attorney-General is but a representative of the executive branch of government. If the court merely acts as a mechanical filter, the function of the pardon is effectively to mitigate the harshness of the legislative laws. In Singapore, where the legislative branch and the executive branch is almost fused (comprising the same group of people), herein lies irony no. 1 – how can the executive branch of government go against the legislative branch when they comprise the same people – i.e. “I think a pardon should be given, but hang on, I made these laws, won’t I look contradictory”? Moreover, the Attorney-General the head of the same people who prosecuted the accused – it wouldn’t make sense to prosecute if in the end you will deliver a report to the President recommending clemency. There’s a conflict of interest here.

Second, the President is a poor avenue of final appeal for the accused - it’s not his primary function, nor is he trained to carry out this legal role – his role is largely as a ceremonial figurehead for the country, and to safeguard the financial reserves of Singapore, which explains one of the prerequisites that he must have a “position of seniority and responsibility in any other organisation or department of equivalent size or complexity in the public or private sector which, in the opinion of the Presidential Elections Committee, has given him such experience and ability in administering and managing financial affairs as to enable him to carry out effectively the functions and duties of the office of President.” (See: Article 19(g)(vii)).

If the sentencing of criminals is not his primary function, why can’t we leave this decision to the courts who are the most appropriate body to determine matters of sentencing, blameworthiness of the accused etc. instead of leaving it to the President? Also, if it is not his primary function, can we realistically expect a careful consideration to be given to the accused given the gravity of the death penalty? The advice he has taken from the Attorney- General is tainted by the apparent conflict of interest by virtue of the AG’s position.

There is also an issue of transparency - no reason needs to be given by the President as to how he arrived at the final decision. Given the severity of the death penalty I think it’s especially important for the reasons to be made known so that the public can read and come to its own conclusion as to whether the death penalty was warranted. Again, this the judges are well trained to do.

Finally, the mandatory nature of the sentence means that no consideration can be given as to the sentence – it’s either death or nothing at all. This is harsh – it does not take into account the circumstances and background of the accused. It does not, for example, take into account the important facts that:

1. the accused was in his early twenties; and
2. he was merely in transit, and the drugs were never intended to reach Singapore
3. he admitted his guilt from the start and was generally cooperative (or so I understand)

"Making such a penalty mandatory – thereby eliminating the discretion of the court – makes it impossible to take into account mitigating or extenuating circumstances and
eliminates any individual determination of an appropriate sentence in a particular case" (http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA360052005?open&of=ENG-SGP)

Why is this? Is the policy that Singapore should not be allowed to be a stopover for drugs so overwhelmingly powerful that it overrides all other factors? The argument that it’s the best form of deterrent doesn’t work for me. How is the deterrent power of the death penalty lessened in any way if discretion is given to the judge to impose a lesser sentence to fit the severity of the crime? I’m not sure I can answer that.

It's Christmas Time!

Ok it's a bit early, but this is one of my favourrrrite carols:

It's Christmas time, it's time for a carol,
Time to sing about the little king
To fill the bowl and roll out the barrel
Have ourselves a fling

We greet a friend and welcome a stranger
Let him sing or cheer him on his way
And celebrate the child in a manger
Born on Christmas Day!

Good cheer for you and for me
With pleasure and glee to share,
Oh, we're so happy to be together
On yuletide square

It looks like snow and falls like snow
Just take a moment take a look about
and sing as snowflakes fall
Merry Christmas to one and all!!!

(PS I am celebrating Christmas by sleeping and carolling).

World of Warcraft

Having been introduced by the guys to the World of Warcraft, I went to check out some screen shots on the net and I think I might actually quite like the game!!!! I only like RPG games and it seems WoW fits the bill perfectly.

The only thing is HOW TO FIND THE TIME TO PLAY?!!!???!

I might just buy it as a christmas present for myself harharhar. Subscription goes for US$12.99 a month if you sign up for 6 months.

Sigh. WoW WoW WoW....

I can't stop thinking about how fun WoW might be.

Caroling over the weekend was rather fun. I purposely sang offtune setting the 2 altos in front of me off in a fit of giggles. But then that backfired becuase their giggling set me off and I couldn't sing an entire song.

"Joy to the Wor...*snort* *mini-smirk* *cough*
Let Earth receive her *smirk smirk snort*
Let every *snort giggle* prepare *giggle mini laugh*"

and then I just gave up and stopped singing until the two of them recomposed themselves.

How unprofessional. But oh well, I'm doing this for fun not for being professional.

Caroling is my favourite time of the year.

Updates Part 2

At this point in the year, I think all my colleagues are smacking our lips waiting for "Christmas Joy", which shall quantify our value to the organisation. *smacks lips*

Went for my friend's wedding in KL. Expected that we (i.e. me and a few other peeps from secondary school) may have to do stuff but turned out that our role as best friends of old have been displaced by freshies from Intel, Penang, who graciously drove down to KL for the wedding - about 13 of them. There weren't any girls. What is it about engineering and women.

Got semi drunk at the wedding dinner and had a decent conversation with a few of them. They all seem very nice and friendly and down to earth and I think we got along fine. I wish I had more colleagues like them. Maybe it's a Malaysian thing - I don't recall having gotten along so well with any Singaporean at first instance before.

Let's see:

JC: ok they were nice but different.

University: AHL3 (the one who just got married) was a stuck up cow. We were at a hall briefing by seniors from our faculty - there were 4 freshies - 2 from RJ and 2 from VJ. AHL3 is from RJ, stuck up cows as they are. Conversation went like this:

Senior: blah blah blah, exams are hard.
AHL3 (trying to show off): Oh, are they anything like History 'S'-Paper? Oh I took that for the RJ Humans Scholar programme.
Me and other VJ freshie: roll our eyes at each other. Right. show off two things in one sentence. How modest.
VJ senior: speechless. However, good answer: "uhm, I'm not sure, I didn't take History S paper"

Second incident: We are supposed to go to class together. I lived right next to other RJ guy freshie, who had a six-pack. AHL3 one morning goes to his room and screams: "hey!!! you're going to be late!!!! let's go for class now!!!!" and waits for him for 10 mins. I wait the whole time in my room wondering if she is going to call me to go to class too. RJ freshies leave together and don't bother calling me. HELLOOOOO I LIVE NEXT DOOR!!!! Fine lah, go for the guy with the six-pack. cow. Fortunately, AHL3 redeemed herself the next academic year plus her sister and brother was a tuition cash cow for me to milk the year after. I'm not sure if the RJ guy freshie has managed to redeem himself since in mine eyes.

So, yeah. I NEED MORE MALAYSIANS FRIENDS PLEASE!!!

Today I ate *2* packets of chicken rice for lunch. I actually ate one at a seminar - they had leftovers so I took one for dinner, and left it on my shelf at my desk. It kept calling out to me: "EAT ME! EAT ME!" and so I had no choice but to devour it 20 mins aftr I put it on the shelf.

Chicken rice is bloody evil.

Recently I had the urge to go take motorbiking lessons. I'm not sure if I am going to consummate this desire. Am still considering.

I am sleepy.

I can't wait for my new home to be built.

Updates

Ok it's been forever since I updated. First off I have to confess a sin.

I plan to go home this weekend so that I can attend my best friend's wedding in KL. The wedding dinner is on Sunday, so I have to come back on Monday and take Monday off. Haven't asked for permission yet since my boss was in a semi-foul-ish mood today 'cos the other colleague was off sick (not her fault) so we were in a bit of a "huh ok what's happening on this transaction uh-oh shit what do I do now" kind of mood the whole day long - somewhat a minor irritant when you're tied up.

So anyway you would've thought that being a filial Asian son that I should be, I should go home as soon as I can on the Friday night train and spend lots of time at home with Mum and Dad to catch up with lost times. However, before realising that I have to go home this weekend, I have free tickets to Harry Potter Goblet of Fire on Friday night. Which I want to watch. Harry Potter. Go home see parents. Harry Potter. Go home see parents. Should I even be making the choice??? But I am. 'Cos I want to see Harry Potter. So Harry Potter it is. I AM AN UNGRATEFUL AND UNFILIAL WRETCH. I am going home on Saturday.

ON TOP of those unspeakable thoughts, these also cross my mind: "maybe I should stay in a hotel in KL because:

1. I put on a little weight so my mum is going to nag nag nag again and I don't think I want to hear it.
2. My best friend is getting married. So my mum is going to nag nag nag again about when it's my turn (not for many more years)."

Conclusion: I AM AN UNGRATEFUL AND UNFILIAL WRETCH.

Update: I am going to stay at home. But I am still watching Harry Potter on Friday in Singapore.

Last week, I went on a one week trip to Cambodia with some choir friends, visiting Siem Reap (and Angkor Wat) and Phnom Penh. Now, I should be a good blogger and put down details of my trip, however, I have nothing to say except that please direct your attention to yannisms.com, one of my travel companions, because she kept good travelogues and will be posting it up soon with PICTURES soon (PS I AM WAITING TO READ SO HURRY UP), which I am too lazy to do. I have nothing to add except that:

1. happy herbs are not happy at all
2. Cambodia is great and I enjoyed my holiday
3. my next trip shall be to Vietnam and Laos
4. I came back with stomach flu because I ate contaminated roadside food in Cambodia
5. people in Cambodia are poor and it's sad that there are so many children begging
6. Angkor beer tastes like piss
7. I think I'm not very photogenic

Right. That was Cambodia.

Prior to Cambodia I was in Phuket on a 3 day department trip. Me and 4 other colleagues hired motorbikes (none of us have a licence), and zipped around town. It was tons of fun except that one colleague butt-f***ed my motorbike, partially damaging my exhaust pipe and damaging slightly the front of hers, and another colleague sort of fell on a kerb while trying to negotiate a u-turn (it's DIFFICULT!!!) scraping his knee, and we got into this huge argument with the renters and they ended up paying $300 as compensation which was outrageously exhorbitant but, well, these things happen. I can also wholeheartedly recommend Le Meridien Phuket which is a fantastic hotel with a private beach and a gob-smacking breakfast. On the condition that I don't pay for it. I think it's US$113 a night? Something like that. I stayed in a US$12 per night guest house in Cambodia. So yeah.

Finally, I have also paid the silly downpayment for my silly tiny parcel of air at Eunos. It cost / will cost me a frigging fortune. However I shall be the proud owner of a 2 bedroom apartment in quaint / sleazy Joo Chiat by the end of next year. Now I am thinking up how to fill up the apartment with furniture and tech toys. One shall be my shag room...uhm...I mean bedroom, and the other shall be a study room / guest room / entertainment room of sorts. There shall be a huge-ass LCD/plasma TV in the living room which shall be linked to a Intel Mac Mini or a small PC, linked wirelessly to my primary PC in the study room. And my main bedroom shall have a very comfortable king size bed.....

Interest rates are now rising and I'm cursing the banks. I shall be very poor for 30 years.

That's all for now folks!

House

Ok after my e-mail below, I've sinced move into my new place at Tampines and faced post moving blues. I hate moving.

My parents came down this weekend and we went to see The Geranium. They quite liked it too. We worked out the finances and I think I can afford it although I shall be poor for 30 years.

So this week, I am going to go pay the downpayment. This is going to wipe out my life savings.

Weekend & new found hobby

The weekend came and went - did some packing on Saturday and hauled some stuff to the office which has become my temporary storeroom.

On Sunday I went with my colleague and her boyfriend to go apartment shopping, and I think I've found myself a new hobby. It's such a fun activity. We started the day bright and early and went to eat Siglap Yong Tau Foo at 11.30 pm. And then we went on a flurry of showroom visits:

1. The Geranium
2. Edelweiss Park
3. One K Green Lane
4. Seaview
5. Maylea

The whole thing lasted 4 hours or so and we drove round Singapore and finished with Beer, fries and Onion rings at 4 pm at Blooie's at Science Park near NUS.

I've discovered that apartment shopping is a Singapore national past time because there are tons of Singaporeans thronging the place.

Anyway, I think this is my new hobby, and I shall try to check out one new place every week. Obviously, without a car, things are more difficult. Never mind, I shall not be undeterred in my quest to see new apartments.

My favourite so far is the Geranium. My colleague liked it so much she is going to buy it next week. As in beg, borrow and steal to get the downpayment. I think the place is S$610k, which is a heck of a lot of money for working ppl like us. The downpayment is S$61k, which she will share with her boyfriend.

We thought that we could get a discount if we book together (i.e. I buy the 2 bedroom apartment that I was eyeing there). However, I worked out my finances, and I think I need to look at a few more places before I plonk down my money for anything. The place is nice, but adding renovation costs and furniture costs is going to cost a fortune and I need to be sure that I absolutely want to live there.

I liked Edelweiss Park too - that went for much cheaper, however it is in the middle of Ulu-land opposite the Changi Prison, and, being opposite the prison, will have bad karma and feng shui. The maintenance is also a fortune at almost $300 a month.

Whoever thought that looking at floor plans could be so much fun. My my, aren't we all grown up.

Having been delivered a shock to my system over the weekend, I've decided to beef up my finances by investing. I moved all my savings today into E-savers at StanChart for the moment while I decide what to invest in. Can I just say Maybank is bloody damn slow. Even when there are no people during lunch hour they take so bloody long to serve customers. Can't they bloody put MORE ppl at the counter to serve ppl during lunch. Idiots. And I heard they are buying over Bank Islam Malaysia. Sure go bankrupt. Not putting my money with them.

I need to double my money in a year, or get a new job so that I can afford to buy a HOME and not be homeless. So no car. No car. No No No.

I also need to take charge of my life and:

1. convert my licence
2. find a new weekend activity that doesn't bloody involve singing singing and more singing
3. upgrade my skills so that I can get a new job
4. read more on current business affairs so that I can invest my money
5. apply for PR

You know you're all grown up

when you find yourself discussing with your colleagues what toys you would and would not buy for your future kids.

I have a feeling I might be a biased dad.

Itchy hands

Right now my hands are like totally itching and dreaming of engaging a gear stick into first gear. Haven't done tt for YEARS.....

And then switching from first to second gear to third gear when the car really picks up.....sighhhhhhhhhh

Nooooooooo I CANNOT GIVE IN.......

Picanto 1.1L Hatchback Manual 1, 086 cc $35,999

I wonder

As I saw http://www.amadeus.org.sg/info/aboutus_story.html, I wonder if this would one day become the fate of the Victoria Chorale.

Adventures of The Homeless One

Been actively looking at apartments the last few days:

1.     Room in terrace house at Eunos. It was like shit. $390. Tenants were several months overdue in utilities. Squat Toilet. Filthy house.

2.     Room in terrace house at Kembangan. It was ok but tiny. Old malay lady owner. $450 - Not good vibes. Washing will be a problem as clothes are hung outside. I got no time to monitor.

3.     Studio apartment at Joo Chiat. $650. Studio was overdescribing it. It looked like shit with a squat toilet. Walked out after 3 mins.

Decided today apartments in the east are either too expensive or too old and look like shit. Time to look elsewhere.

Going to look tmr at:

1.     Hougang Block 642 – whole apartment for me. $650. A bit far from MRT but has short 1 km ride to MRT by bus. 30 mins to work. Sounds ok. But no aircon. I might wilt and die.

2.     Potong Pasir – 2 apartments within walking distance. Near MRT.  16 mins to work. Got aircon. Fully furnished. $700 - $750. I will need to eat out less.

Apartment hunting is stressful.

Musttt..resist...the....temptation.....

Quote:
Sept 22, 2005
COE prices down by $1,000 to $2,000

CAR buyers were given two bits of good news yesterday.

First, COE premiums in the latest tender fell by between $1,000 and $2,000, going as low as $14,808. This means car prices, which are already at their lowest in more than a decade, have gone further south.
Unquote

Censor vs Censure

PS I have been censored and censured.

I am a heartless prick

I know I’m going to get murdered for this post but here it is anyway.

I was happily munching on my jackfruit (part of my new campaign to eat more nutritious food i.e. 6 servings of vege and fruits a day which is quite impossible), I read a friend's blog and almost choked on a jackfruit seed.

I don’t know what’s funnier:

1. the thought of the male counterparty turning red and being speechless, and acting like that character in the show Jerry Macguire; or

2. the fact that the female counterparty can dream up of impossibly cheesy lines eg: “Why is it that you never say things like ‘oh darling you are so gorgeous and I am so madly in love with you’?” – ok I think that was when I almost choked on my jackfruit seed. I think she watched too many movies lately. I suspect it's an internal joke they have based on someone else's blog which I seem to have read before with impossibly sickly sweet lines like "oh my darling you are the most beautiful girl in the world".

It’s like a scene out of a movie.

I shall expect to see an entry on “You complete me!!!” soon.

I am tickled. It's all quite cute really.

I think it’s just that I grew up in a family where displays of affection are non-existent. We get squeamish every time our mom demands a hug. My dad is like a rock. Kinda like me. We hardly celebrate birthdays or Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. We don’t have those scenes from the movies where the parent goes: “son, so how was your day”. Or, if it did, it would be met with the answer “it was like that” and that was the end of the conversation. Or worse, “did poor old yinny chuiiny scrape his leg? Come let mummy kiss it better” like some parents do to their kids when they are young. I think I would commit suicide there and then.

Likewise, I cannot understand why ppl have to have their hands all over each other in public.

However my mom must have been watching too many soap serials lately because she keeps asking about work and about planning for life and why I don’t call back more often. I just mumble “ok, ok, ok” on the phone.

So there you are. I am, externally, a heartless prick.

The Internet is full of smut

As I read Mr. JCYRHS' blog at jcyrhs.blogspot.com, I read the post on how the tongue of the kitty family is sharp, and that the tiger's tongue could "ripe" off human skin. In his comment he put "That of the tiger can even ripe off the human skin! I'm too tired to verify this. Google is your friend."

And so I went to Google, and typed "rip off skin tiger tongue"

And the first hit I got from Google says:

QUOTE

Erotica
"Bastard," she shouts as I rip off the vibrator taped to her. With the gag I
can't lick her. ... She rips off the gag and kisses me, sucking out my tongue. ...
www.erotica-readers.com/GD/TC-KE/Tiger.htm - 14k - Cached - Similar pages

UNQUOTE

Ok that's not quite what I had in mind.....

How do we protect our children from such smut??!!!?!????

I'm so lazy

Instead of doing work, this is what I'm typing on e-mail. I'm so going to get a shelling from the Head Boss.

Updates

Haven't really had time to update my blog for quite some time with anything substantive. The past 3 weeks I've been stuck in the office on a massive transaction that ended today. I've never worked so fast or hard in my life. However, I'm rather proud of the few documents that I managed to draft from scratch all by myself without any help from anyone. The client praised my work to my boss and said it was very good. What can I say, I'm a sucker for praises.

The 3 back to back transactions ended this morning, and the client was nice and went to buy coffee and cake and personally delivered it to our office to thank us for our hard work. It's such a nice gesture. She didn't have to do that and I'm quite touched that she bothered. I mean, they're paying us a fortune as it is. Another client the other day came to our office at 11 pm the other day to sign documents on this same transaction and she brought a bottle of the best white wine I've ever had. Kinda takes the droll out of everyday work.

It's moments like this that work seems more enjoyable - i.e. you have people who actually appreciate what you do and you're not just another digit in the scheme of things - that they appreciate you as a person.

So today, I shall leave work at 6 pm after which I shall get myself quite piss drunk at Brewerkz and perhaps a movie after that.

Just for buying cake for me, I shall come back on Sunday to work hurhurhur. It's time to clear my other files.

Mini being thrashed by Nano....=(

I wantttttt

I want I want I want

My preciousssssssssssss

Cambodia here I come!!!!

Having worked 2 weeks straight even on Saturday and Sunday, I've had quite enough of work.

So me and whatzername yannisms.com trotted down to Natas fair to check out the fares to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Have always wanted to go to Angkor Wat but nobody wanted to go. Finally, I found 2 ppl who said they wanted to go. Usually, when friends say "oh that sounds interesting" I tend to take it with a pinch of salt. So I decided to take the active step of making sure the thing turns out.

Plonked to the fair with all my credit cards and 2 blank cheques in case it were needed, and we checked out fares to Siem Reap, and found a rather decent offer on Silkair for S$350 3D2N with the option to extend. So I said let's book. What are we waiting for? Called up Nelson who, after making us dilly dally at the counter for 20 mins while checking his schedule, said ok just book. So I paid for the entire trip with ye old trusty credit card, and that was that. Short sweet and simple. Our flight is now confirmed. 1 other friend and his friend will also join us. So that's five of us. A triple room and a double room. This should be fun. Yannisms shall have to tolerate my snoring.

At the moment, Yannisms is on track to acquiring the status of "favoured travel companion" as she hurls insults at me every 5 mins and mocks my singing. That's a big no no. I shall have to poison her food in Cambodia with happy herbs.

So I signed up for 5 ppl, and we are leaving on 31st October and returning the monday after. Need to take 4 days leave. which is quite a bit.

At the fair I signed up for yet ANOTHER credit card.

Bounce

Yesterday I f-ed off from work rather early to have dinner with some friends, including who we have now termed as ATG, i.e. ATapchee Girl, which is YL.

It feels good to have f-ed off early. This morning I got in early, sent off 2 e-mails (now 3 e-mails), and it’s not even 9 am yet.

I should do this more often. I feel recharged, with a bounce in my step, and smiling all the way to work.

Ok this sounds like I’ve just had incredible sex, but I haven’t.

RSS and Podcasting

I have only yesterday discovered RSS, but it's really such a huge change in experiencing the Internet.

Since then I managed to subscribe myself to BBC.

And then from BBC I discovered PODCASTING!!!!

And now I've got access to on demand radio from BBC to the programs that I want and when I'm free to listen to them...

This is really quite wonderful!!!

However the news is rather boring. Just all on New Orleans. I can't understand why the society there has just turned into anarchy. I mean, when KL was blacked out for 3 days we didn't see the extent of the chaos that I'm hearing on the news. Certainly we didn't have a problem of people shooting other people.

It's really weird and I don't understand it. Complete breakdown of law and order.

I WHERE GOT GRUMPY?!!?!!??!1?

QUOTE:

First of all, Mr S accompanied me around the various booths which sold laser printers, and he helped me to ask the sales ppl, in his grumpyvoice, about the product features etc. I could see the thoughts floating in his head. There were some that said, 'You stewpid, you don't even know about the product you are selling!!!'

Then, after I had decided on the printer to purchase, he helped me feel grumpy about the inefficiency of the cashier. he kept complaining to me about the slow speed. Great!

UNQUOTE

This is from Joyce's blog.

1. I WHERE GOT GRUMPY VOICE????

2. Ok I did think some of the sales ppl were stupid esp. the one at Starhub. Ok I endeavour to not make grumpy faces at sales ppl anymore.

3. WAHLAU I SOUND LIKE GRUMPY OLD UNCLE!!!!!!!!!

HOW CANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

I am young and happy go lucky!!!!

I wasn't even in a grumpy mode today. I wonder what my grumpy mode sounds like....

No wonder I got no FRIENDSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =( =( =(

Invalid Arguments

In the spirit of invalid arguments ala http://orangecow.blogspot.com, here’s an invalid argument:

Group of Premises A (“P1”)
1.     I have attention span of a 5 year old – I get bored if something doesn’t entertain me within 5 minutes.
2.     I used to have a long attention span and could sit at my computer for hours playing games with complicated rules that don’t involve blasting everyone in sight to smithereens
3.     I stopped having a long attention span after I entered uni and started:
     (a)     ICQ
     (b)     MSN
     (c)     surfing internet
4.     Conclusion (“C1”): University and the Internet killed my attention span.

Group of Premises B (“P2”)
1.     WK complains that lately he has an attention span of a 5 year old.
2.     By implication, he used to have a longer attention span
3.     Recent changes in life: began university, and, starting from secondary school, msn-ning.
4.     Conclusion (“C2”): University and the Internet killed his attention span.

Since C1 = C2, we can conclude by induction that:

P1 = P2 = P3 = P4…. ==> C1 = C2 = C3 = C4…

Therefore if you enter a Singapore uni and you are addicted to the Internet and MSN, you will have an attention span of a 5 year old.

Blogging from Word

Blogging from Word

I’ve just discovered this new tool which allows me to blog from Microsoft Word. Looks like I’m working but I’m actually not. Coolbies.

Nothing to buy

Went to Comex today and bought ABSOLUTELY NOTHING....what a failed trip. Nothing could entice me....why oh why????

What joy is there to life if there are no new gadgets left to crave????

Yesterday I discovered the joy of RSS thanks to Red Rapture. I thought I could use it at work. However, none of the programs seem to work through my office FIREWALL!!!!

Ah Tong bought herself a new laserjet at only $168.

Dawn Mike (as I named her on my hp contact list) bought herself a Zen 20 GB for only $399. sensible purchase I say.

Mike Dawn (as I named him on my hp contact list) in turn bought himself a new Dell laptop at only $1399.

I bought myself 50 blank DVDs for $19. WTH am I going to do with 50 blank DVDs????

After a while all the PC fairs tend to look the same...

The only thing I could remotely *think* of buying is a new PSP. But then I got no games play....

I need to start looking for apartments soon.

Let's play Tag!

Kena tagged by evil yannisms.com!!!

OK here goes:

So here goes.

List three random facts about yourself that your friends might not know. And then tag five other friends to do it.

1. When I was in an old apartment in England between the ages of 9 - 12, I used to wrap a blanket around myself and jump off the ledge in the wall onto my spring bed and shout "SUPERMAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!"

2. I used to have a maid whom I'd force to do my Chinese homework. If she didn't do it I'd threaten to cane her. (I was 8 years old). It worked for a while. Then she wrote my chinese characters lousily and I started getting Cs and getting pissed off and then did it myself.

3. When I was wayyyyy young like 7 years old I recall playing Doctor and Nurse with my female neighbour....

I am tagging in turn:

a. Cynics.info
b. Daniel K
c. Orangecow
d. Yen Ling
e. Chloe

OK YOUR TURN!!!!

PS I just learnt how to use RSS....wow feel like a dinosaur all these new technologies and I'm still stuck using Nokia 8250

Alamak

Alamak. Setelah membaca belog Tuan Kok, saya berasa malu sebab penguasaan bahasa melayu saya tak begitu baik.

Tak apalah. Sekarang saya gunakan http://pgoh.free.fr/dico.php !!!!

Nampaknya esok dan hari Ahad ini saya kena masuk office buat kerja. Sianz betul. Saya nak minta bonus tambahan dah.

Ok I shall stop embarrassing myself. I can read but my written skills are appalling.

Did you know that there are some areas of your body without pain sensors???

Angels and Demons has a crap ending. ARGH. ANTICLIMAX. I shall stop reading watzisname's books.

Kempen Membelog dalam BM

http://eyeris.blogspot.com/2005/08/marilah-mari-kita-berblogging.html
http://cowboycaleb.liquidblade.com/

Setelah membaca belog belog di atas, saya pun gatal nak membelog dalam Bahasa Malaysia sempena Hari Merdeka 2005 yang sudah berakhir sebelum saya habis membaca belog belog tersebut.

Masalahnya BM saya teruk sangat - dapat C6 masa SPM. Tak tau macamana pada A-level dapat A1. Miracle.

So, sebelum saya mem-embarrass-kan diri saya, I better stop blogging in Malay. I can pretty much read but not really write it.

Hilarious...

Apa yang saya buat hari ini?

KERJA KERJA KERJA SAMPAI MAU PENGSAN. BLEAAAAAAHHHHHH.

Ok saya mau balik rumah baca Angels and Demons.

Warm Fuzzy Feeling

To hear so many positive comments on our recent concert is something that truly brings that warm fuzzy feeling to the depths of my stony and icy heart. It's good to know that we sound decent (and in some ppl's opinion - good). Yet I know that this wasn't the best that we are capable of, given time.

I think I've been spoilt by the Choir Olympics standard - to me, it's not perfect until it's the standard worthy of a Choir Olympics finalist. Even when we were in Bremen last year, I thought the songs could've been better.

Which is not a bad thing - it means that we have lots of potential and therefore room for improvement and therefore room for growth and greater glory.

Boy I can't wait for Xiamen 2006.

First things first: Carolling. Weeeee!!!

Shopping

I just witnessed YL and WK on an online shopping FRENZY over Old Navy stuff...never saw them so excited over anything. Apparently there's an online sale:

sample:
"vocal indulgence. says:
i looking lah
vocal indulgence. says:
now
YL says:
pls they damn fast run out !!!!!
YL says:
i was like going to faint cos so stressed
YL says:
like from the time you add to the time you check out things can disappear!!"

YL was being the bossy one telling WK "DON'T USE VPOST OR YOU'LL BE (insert swar word) TAXED", and then WK was being his typical brainless self by asking stupid questions such as:

"Please enter your last name.
What do I do here?"

and then saying things like:
"okya i dun panic
i wanna go thru my purchases first
crazy lah like this!
i not woman.
i cannot panic"

I almost fell off my chair laughing....

but never mind. leave it to the women to sort these things out. YL gave line by line orders to guide WK from the process of clicking how to buy to checking out.

Such an educational experience. Boy am I glad I didn't go to work today.

Concert Day

Concert Day came and went. I woke up this morning feeling fine...and then i opened my mouth...and out came a CROAK...i now sound like a bass 5 and i'm sure I can beat Joel to the low D. ok i just tried. maybe now. but you get the point.

As always, there's a big adrenaline rush just before the concert. My heart was beating quite fast before that dreaded line for that stupid Maori song where I just can't seem to get the "i" vowel out of my mouth properly and I think ended up going sharp. oh well too bad for the choir. Jimboy had a much worse solo.

All in all I'm pretty pleased with the concert performance. It wasn't perfect (number of mistakes during the live session), but the sound was good, and we pretty much enjoyed ourselves.

I'm on leave today. Have a ton of files to look at tomorrow. Wonder how I should spend my day today.

Foot reflexology

I currently have few joys in life:

1. Choir - annual concert is tomorrow. This is an approx. 8 year joy so far.
2. FOOT REFLEXOLOGY. This is a recently discovered joy.

This post is dedicated to Chloe who says foot reflexology is painful and stupid.

I think foot reflexology is the next best thing to sex. It is extremely pleasurable, relaxing, and brings a sense of wellbeing, and induces a very good and sound night's sleep. This is from my personal experience. As I go for more sessions, I find out hidden benefits, like it clears my sinuses and makes me sing better. Therefore I am going for a 1 hour session tmr so that I can sing better during the concert. I believe this is termed "Investment".

According to http://skepdic.com/reflex.html:

QUOTE

One reason foot massage may be so pleasurable and is associated with significant improvement in mood is that the area of the brain that connects to the foot is adjacent to the area that connects to the genitals. There may be some neuronal overlapping. Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran writes of a person whose leg was amputated and who experienced orgasms in his phantom foot (1998: 36-37). “The genitals are right next to the foot in the body’s brain maps,” he notes, and speculates that this fact may account for foot fetishes.

UNQUOTE

Therefore my claim that foot reflexology being the next best thing to sex is not unfounded.

According to Wikipedia:

Quote:

In reflexology, it is believed that there is a "vital energy" that is circulating between organs of the human body, which penetrates into every living cell. Whenever this energy is blocked, the zone of blockage will be affected. The reflex zones can reflect the blockage of energy in different organs. Therefore, if someone has a problem in a particular organ, when a reflexologist presses on the corresponding reflex zone or zones, the person will experience pain.

The pain is believed to originate from the deposition of crystals in the reflex zone. With proper massaging techniques, these crystalline structures could be broken down and the pain would be gone. Simultaneously, the pressure applied to the reflex zones by the reflexologist is thought to pass through the nerves to dissipate energy blocks. It is therefore believed that reflexology can help heal organ sickness.

Reported reactions
Case studies, not statistical conclusions, demonstrate that people treated by experts in reflexology, report a lot of reactions, including the following:

During treatment

A sense of well-being
A sense of relaxation
Client may sigh, breathe deeply or yawn
Fall asleep
Client may feel like laughing or crying
Experience a tingling sensation in the feet or through the body
Pin stick type feelings in the feet over congested areas
Temperature change either hot or cold
Nausea
A sense of unease due to emotional problems
A sense of comfort
A sense of lethargy, nausea or tearfulness
After treatment

Cold-like symptoms such as a running nose as catarrh and sinus congestion are cleared.
A cough as mucus is cleared from the lungs and respiratory passages
More frequent urination
More frequent bowel movements
Flatulence
Headaches
Increased sweating
Skin rash
Yawning and tiredness
Energizable

UNQUOTE

I read with disbelief today's papers and found this letter in the papers. To think that this letter was newsworthy material is shocking to say the least - especially that last bit of the letter.

It's 12.30 pm. I'm supposed to have woken up at 8 am to do work. I haven't done it. Supposed to get a haircut. Haven't done that either. Sigh. NO TIME NO TIME.

QUOTE

ON TUESDAY I tried the new lamb burger at a Burger King outlet. I was enjoying the succulent flame-grilled meat until my eyes wandered over the promotional flier used as the tray liner. To my horror, I found myself reading a wickedly macabre account of Mary Had A Little Lamb.

The story starts with the familiar Mary who had a lamb. The next line takes a bizarre twist, informing us that hers wasn't flame-grilled or anything.

It goes on to claim that Burger King's lamb is juicier, tastier and comes in two flavours. It concludes by promising that whichever flavour we pick, we will enjoy it more than Mary's.

Nursery rhymes have been parodied to brilliant satirical effect but something tells me that that is not the effect that Burger King was trying to conjure up. The image of a flame-grilled Mary's lamb is the last thing I want to imagine while biting into a lamb burger.

Thank goodness my five-year-old daughter wasn't with me. She would have confused it with the story of the Big Bad Wolf.

UNQUOTE

Secrets

Mr. X has a secret that he was too modest to brag about. I thought he finally got himself a girlfriend. Unfortunately, it was something rather more mundane. Still, enough for a dim sum treat for us. Glad he kept us in mind though - totally unexpected treat.

VC's annual concert is two days away. I can't wait. Fortunately I'm on leave on Monday. As with all concerts, I'm rather excited. The excitement will end on Sunday night and I'll be wondering what to do for the other three months for the rest of the year:

1. look for new apartment.
2. clear up my stuff.
3. work. although i freaking don't want to.

I'm stuck with the prospect of having to read stuff over the weekend.

I'm going to be stuck in the bloody office until at least 2 am today.

I'm so fucking swamped. No use complaining, life goes on. How to enjoy my concert this weekend?

I'm also annoyed because a job opening at double/triple my salary that I didn't apply for that was perfect for me went to someone from my year from another company who has zero prior experience. Gagggggh is the right expression to use here. I would've been much happier if it went to some angmoh.

I am a rotten pig

I snapped at my secretary today a bit and then made her cry. Now I'm feeling extremely guilty. Maybe I am a mean boss.

I think I have a problem

Firstly before I start can I say that I've spilt a huge mug of water all over my keyboard while the computer was on and it was dripping water all over and it's now wonky and giving me caps when I don't want caps. I hope it dries by tomorrow and works fine after that. SHIT BOTH MY SHIFT KEYS RE SPOILT. My right shift key gives me aN A. my left shift key thinks it's a tAb button. And then my letters randomly cAPitalise itself like i'm some immAture teenaGer. see it happened AgAIN. unintentionaLly. i shALl i haVE to cALl my IT depaRtment tomorrow.

I have a problem. I don't like stupid people. Stupid people annoy me. According to some stupid test I took sometime back, I'm in the 99th percentile of brain power in the world. That means that there are 5.94 billion people dumber than me in the world. if you ASsume thAT 50 percent of thAT haS an ACceptAble level of intelligence, i still haVe the problem thaT i will find hAlf the people i deaL with extremely stupid.

however, being in the service industry, i often hAve to deal with STUPID people who expect me to rubber stamp their traNsACtions and then when i point out thAT something's not quite right, they talk to me in an accusAtory tone AS if it's my fault. thAT ASide, they ASk me stupid questions.

mAYbe i should've been aN AcAdemic. yeAH. then i would've probaBly gone into engineering. don't have to service anyone AS An AcAdemic. if you don't like me then screw you i'm meANt to be eccentric ANywAY>

ok this erratic cApitaLisATion is reaLly getting on my nerves. let's give my keyboARd A bAng.

doesn't seem to work any better.

so bASically i've haD A long dAy with meetings And then tons of semi scoldings from my boss thaT i need to Accept thaT the industry is stupid And we just have to deAl with it. longgg day.

Being Clever

Sometimes trying to be too clever isn't really very clever at all.

I was irritated by the countless people interrupting my concentration every 5 mins with some question or other. So I thought if I plugged myself into music nobody would bug me. So I plugged my earphones into my PC.

Except that the cord wasn't comfortably long enough. Which got me really irritated.

Then I came up with this BRILLIANT idea. I thought, hey, why don't I connect my bluetooth enabled Dell Axim to my computer, and then stream music through the bluetooth connection?

That seemed like a brilliant idea. And I spent 2 hours in the afternoon, and 2 hours after dinner doing just that.

I finally got it working 45 mins ago. Except that it was stupid. Apparently the bluetooth connection can't keep up with my 192kbps music. So the music would play 1 second, and then stutter. Like a really s-l-o-w internet connection.

So I wasted almost 4 hours of time, i.e. time which I could've spent billing about $1100 in billable hours.

Conclusion: go to sim lim, and BUY the LONG CORDED headphones. Cost: $65. PROBLEM SOLVED.

Lesson to self: next time, don't be so clever.

The Aftermath

So I was absolutely right. The Landlord is not renewing my lease. They say that they are relocating back to Singapore and so they need the place back.

Fair enuff. I still felt a bit miffed though 'cos it means I have to go look for a new place to rent. Annoyance. Felt miffed, then sort of reluctant acceptance, and then resignation to fate.

While I felt miffed, I stole 2 mini-bars of of Timeout from the fridge and ate them. They aren't mine. I have no conscience. "Sin" food (pun intended) never tasted so good.

Sort of agreed with an ex-classmate to stay in a new place. However, ex-classmate is a girl and I don't think it's quite a good idea. I suspect it probably won't turn out.

I had no idea Terrence reads my blog. Thanks for the comment - I can't buy HDB resale though - not allowed to.

I am depressed

Reached home last night and saw this note on my door:

"Dear Mr. xxx

I would like to talk to you personally on some matters. Please let me know when would be a good time for us to speak. I think late nites would be good for you but please let me know. Prefably before Sunday night. I have not been able to meet you since my return to Singapore last Saturday.

Please pardon me for leaving a note on your door.

Regards
XXX"

A couple of things bug me:
1. the use of the term "Mr. XXX". Nobody calls people Mr. It's unfriendly.
2. "some matterS". i.e. more than one matter. ie many matters. What could it be.
3. The urgency
4. The extreme politeness. This is metaphorically termed the eye of the hurricane.

So I think I'm about to get my lease terminated in October when it runs out with no hope for renewal. I was hoping not having to move. It's such a hassle + unnecessary stress.

So that got me in a confused and irritated state the whole day. We were supposed to meet for lunch with a bunch of friends. I promised at 10 am that I would call this bummer dude at 11 am to wake him up, but promptly forgot all about it until 12 pm when it was too late. Much to everyone's annoyance. SORRY!!! The upside of it was that cute Anonymous Hot ex temp SMUrfette was visiting today and then we got to have lunch with all the other secretaries that she was working with and I got to steal furtive glances in SMUrfette's direction at lunch which I insisted paying for.

So anyway. Back to the depressing day point.

It's not as if I love to live there. I positively hate living in a rented place. I think I'm someone who values my privacy. Everytime I hear the landlords outside, I lock myself up in my room and refuse to come out. And when they are gone, I will go out to toilet etc. And then I go out of the house and come back late. And weekdays, I work and come back late after they have retired to bed. As a result of which I have managed to not see their faces for 2 weeks. Hence note on door.

I think I should go buy my own place. I should be able to afford part payment for a place after the year end bonus although it will wipe out my entire life savings. And I'm not looking forward to the obscene instalments that I have to pay for. But this kind of stuff shouldn't be rushed into. Need time to look. I haven't been very proactive in this respect for a couple of reasons:

1. I view buying a home here as a sign that I wish to stay here long term. I haven't decided if I want to. But with each passing day, the desire to relocate diminishes. I've been procrastinating the decision for ages with the effect that I haven't even taken up Permanent Residence yet because I want to keep my money liquid and not stuck in some stupid CPF black hole until I'm 55 which is plain ridiculous - I can manage my own money thank you very much.

I suppose the argument goes I can sell the place anytime, but the point is buying a house is to an extent a step towards making this tiny red dot my permanent home and I just don't feel ready to make that choice yet. I suppose I should really just make up my damn mind what I want to do soon. The period since graduation till now is really like some transient blur in my life.

2. Houses are RIDICULOUSLY expensive here. It's just totally obscene how much they cost. Hence must be careful.

3. I don't know how to start looking.

So, there we are. It's 9 pm. I have an appointment with some friends at Raffles Place at 9.30 pm to have a drink or so. And then I'm going home to face the music of getting kicked out in October.

To rent or not to rent, that is the question
Whether 'tis better on the pocket to suffer
The slings and arrows of dumbass landlords
Or to take arms against a sea of banking vermin

Ever Late

I'm supposed to be in Plaza Sing in 15 mins. I haven't even brushed my teeth yet. I've been lazing on my computer the whole morning. Me thinks me is going to be late.

You know you're spending way too much time in the office when:

1. You spend more money buying stuff to upgrade your office computer than you do on your home computer i.e. 2nd video card, 17" swivel LCD screen, $150 headphones, upgraded soundcard, extra 512 MB RAM.

2. You STILL want to buy some more stuff for your office

3. You spend more time cleaning up your office to make it more pleasant than you do your room at home.

and the NUMBER ONE INDICATOR:

4. Your boss asks you in the course of conversation: "So, what kind of girls do you like? Intellectual ones, or slutty ones?". Mouth agape. I thought it was amusing but didn't really answer the question.

What Gundam SEED Character Are You?


Hosted by theOtaku.com: Anime. Done right.


Courtesy of DK

Carl's Junior

The latest fast food joint in town. Located along Robinson Road, it offers yet another avenue for late workers like me to stuff our faces and give ourselves a heart attack in the process.

Junk food is just that - junk food. It has zero nutritional value. But once in a while when you feel naughty and want to stuff your face on illogical food, it fills up your bottomless pit of a stomach with food designed to be addictive/tasty.

The burgers are rather expensive though. VERY expensive actually. The sets generally come for about $10 each, which is like way too much to pay in my opinion considering you can get a decent meal at a cafe for that price. I guess it's more of Lau Pa Sat for me.

The staff there are quite the scumbags. The sets come in regular size, with the option to upgrade to medium for 50 cents and large for $1. When they take your order, they don't ask whether you want to "Up Sai?" like in McDonalds and Burger King. They are so insidious - they ask you "medium or large sir?", and I had to emphasise that I wanted the normal one without any "upsize" (almost said "up sai" to them). Yet another way for people to pile on the pounds.

They also have this interesting concept called the "Low Carb option" which is basically where they do away with the bun and wrap your patty with a big piece of lettuce. Very messy to eat if you ask me.

But the irony of the situation is that the "low carb option" if you buy with a set comes with a pack of fries which is Carb-heaven and completely beats the purpose of having a "low carb option". And the diet drink (Coke Light Lemon) tastes like diluted detergent water which sucks.

I'm sleepy. Shoudln't have stayed so late in the office last night.

My aircon at home broke down. The landlady must be prancing around with joy. Hope she gets it fixed soon. Two nights of sleeping without aircon has made me cranky. On the bright side, it wakes me up earlier since it's too hot to sleep in so I've been in the office before 9.30 am both days. Which is a HUUUUGE achievement.

Powerpuff Girl

The temp who works for me is so cute. She just bounced out of the room and sort of bounced to her desk just now like a Smurf going "la la la la la la" (the theme song) and picking mushrooms. Or like a Powerpuff girl bouncing around the office. I can't help but be amused.

Ah...to be young and innocent again.

New beginnings

This post goes out to AHG3 who just got married yesterday and should now be enjoying blissful matrimony, or so I hope.

As I saw the wedding photos and when she appeared at church in her bridal costume, I felt genuinely happy that she was moving onto the next stage in life, and sad at the same time for losing part of what had been an important segment of my university life.

The ceremony and wedding dinner weren't very eventful - except that there were 90 tables of guests. Talk about a massive crowd....Checking in the guests took us some 1.5 hours 'cos there was just so many of them.

The wine was rather good, and I saw a lot of old hall friends again. And the I got myself rather sloshed as did my hallmate David and soon we were challenging each other to drink again like we did in Uni: "I'm gonna be tucking YOU into bed this time". The previous two times he won and I passed out in my hall bed mighty drunk.

So after the wedding dinner we and a couple of other hall mates went to Alley Bar in Orchard, whereupon we each downed 1/3 of a jug of Long Island Tea, Vodka Lime and Bourbon Coke. This was after the 8-10 glasses or so of red and white wine I had at the wedding dinner. I recall singing the Gummy Bears theme at the top of my voice.

HJ wanted to go clubbing thereafter and dragged me into Rouge something - I can't remember where we had another lychee martini, or lychee something. alcoholic lychee.

soon i was up on my feet getting jiggy with it - virginal experience of sorts. it was sort of fun and i didn't wanna go home. at 3.30 am in the morning i think they wanted to go home and dragged me out. David was way gone and HJ had to cab back with him so as to make sure he got home. Victory for me! Never challenge the fatass to a drinking game.

I kinda passed out in the cab but managed to crawl my way home where I felt a bit queasy. No puking. But when I got to bed the alcohol was really raging in my veins.

Then I passed out again and woke up this morning with a headache.

A new beginning.

This is me?

Slow and Steady

Your friends see you as painstaking and fussy. They see you as very cautious, extremely careful, a slow and steady plodder. It'd really surprise them if you ever did something impulsively or on the spur of the moment. They expect you to examine everything carefully from every angle and then usually decide against it.

How Do People See You?

You Are Incredibly Logical

(You got 88% of the questions right) Move over Spock - you're the new master of logic You think rationally, clearly, and quickly. A seasoned problem solver, your mind is like a computer!

How Logical Are You?

Wah new songs!

Just discovered that I've got Matchbox20 on my pc!!!

Hmm...where did this come from

3 am is quite nice.

I think I like songs where I can hear the guitar strings squeak.

Bewitched sounds so bimbotic.

I think I must've got all these songs from Mr. SIA Pilot's computer in uni.

A different plane of existence

While other people blast away with their ipods on the MRT with new bands like Coldplay, I like to blast on the MRT with weird sacred music. Two of my favourite songs are Gorecki's Totus Tuus and Rachmaninov's Ave Maria, especially the versions performed by the Choir of New College Oxford, which remains one of my favourite choirs in the world.

One website described the work thus: "Gorecki's music moves slowly through exquisite amd beautiful harmonies, and through repetition the work induces a peaceful trance-like contemplation in the listener."

which is exactly how I feel on when I'm plugged in - the crowded MRT is transformed into a different plane of existence into a peaceful cathedral.

The text of the first song goes like this:

Totus Tuus sum, Maria
Mater nostri Redemptoris.
Virgo Dei, Virgo pia.
Mater mundi Salvatoris.
Totus Tuus sum, Maria!

I'm all Yours, Maria
Mother of our Redeemer
Virgin of God, Pious Virgin.
Mother of the world's Saviour.
I'm all Yours, Maria!

Of course, being a freethinker, I don't identify with the text, but you needn't identify with the text to appreciate the beauty of the composition and the text.

Coincidentally, both these songs are in the E flat key...

I am doomed

Today went for foot reflexology. Fella says my feet are one of the most pain resistant he's ever encountered. Says not many ppl can do my feet.

This is bad. I need my weekly fix!!!

Apparently I'm building up pain resistance. But the pain is so shiok..

sigh.

Lest anybody think otherwise, I'm not into S&M.

Demon Stone

Just finished this kickass game called Demon Stone. It uses the LOTR engine, but set in the Forgotten Realms world (from Dungeons & Dragons for ye of the uninformed masses).

Unfortunately, it only has 10 levels. I started playing on Saturday morning at about 10 am. Stopped at 3.30 pm. Resumed today (Sunday) at 12 noon, and finished the game at abt 5 pm.

Quite a short game I must say.

So now I'm damn bored, dreading the upcoming work week. Sigh...

On another note, I have now managed to get that stupid extract from JPJ required to convert my driving licence to a Singapore one. Had to go through tons of bureaucracy to get it over 3 days.

Day 1:
Go to the branch office in PJ at 4.30 pm. Find out the stupid office closes at 4.15 pm....wtf...nvm.

Day 2:
Go again to the branch office. Branch office says I must do it at the head office at KL. I curse silently and say "Terima Kasih!!!"

Day 3:
Set out bright and early to go to Wangsa Maju which is like twice the distance between Pasir Ris and Tuas, or more. Dad drives me there and dumps me there.

I go to the counter and see this malay lady and explained my request. She says I need to write a letter. ARGH. I ask for paper which she was nice enough to give me. And then I buy an overpriced pen and photostat my IC and driving licence, paying an overpriced photostat fee.

And then I start writing in Malay which I haven't done for yonks and am damn rusty at it. Few words I coudln't remember: "issued", "validity", "authenticity". I bluff my way through and hand the letter in. She tosses it aside without looking at it and says to wait for an hour:

"Tunggu di mana?" (wait where?)
"oh. Duduk sana lah nanti saya panggil" (oh. just sit there lah and I'll call you later)

Fine. I go eat breakfast instead. Roti kosong, Nasi Lemak and Teh Tarik..mmmmm.....Malaysian breakfast.

I go back half an hour later. It is 11.15. She says: "oh, the officer has gone to the bank..."

I'm like WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

And she says come back at 3 pm....God, I wanted to strangle her covered neck.

So then I hop on a strange bus, end up at an LRT station, and went to KLCC to catch Batman Returns. Manage to con my way into a Student ticket. I'm so younggggg....

3.4 pm I get back and get it. Fortunately it's ready.

So I've got my first step towards my Singapore license. Now to do the rest. No idea what they are. Involves taking some written test.

De Circuitu Aeterno - The Eternal Circle

"There is nothing new under the sun. A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and returns again to where it rises. The wind blows to the south, then to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, yet the sea does not overflow; to the place where the streams flow, there they continue to flow. All things are wearisome; more than one can express in words; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing. That which has been is that which will be. That which has been done is that which will be done; there is nothing new under the sun."

Thus is the circle of life. Bye Gramps.

Funky bands!

Went through some of my collection of non-choir MP3s (lately I've been like listening to only choir MP3s) which have been with me since Uni, most of which I have never listened to, and found some of the following pretty decent bands.

1. Train
2. Vertical Horizon

(to be updated)

Deleted the rubbish lying around in my harddisk:

1. Savage Garden
2. Nsync & Boyzone
3. Spice Girls (gross and vulgar and crass - like...2 become 1???)
4. Britney Spears (wtf)
5. Geri Halliwell
6. Tina Turner

(to be updated)

New Talent

This morning I discovered fresh high notes I never thought was possible, but ALL is possible with the help of ye old Vodka Vanilla and Coke!!!!

just returned from a fun filled weekend at Aloha resorts. doing nothing just lazing around chit chatting, eating each other's cooked food, having lots of alcohol...good stuff.

I also envy those younglings who are filled with boundless energy...they've got like their university years to look forward too and a whole life ahead of them. I feel like I'm past my shelf life. Resigned to a life of boredom at work.

Some colleague at work remarked at a social sort of gathering the other day that: "wah, he's quite cheeky huh? see him look so serious on the exterior....didn't know"...

That's me. Cheeky.

I have a lot of music on my computer which are also all OUTDATED. I need to update it.

I'm bored to tears.

New Definitions

We have some new words:

DF - this applies to dumb tenors who like to wear orange
FB - this applies to "friends" of dumb tenors

I wonder if I can get up by 9 am tmr.

I am connected

Well, finally I bought my cable modem last weekend at the PC Fair - it came free with a router and wireless set which I completely don't need (Anyone want to buy? $110 - unused), and 60 days of free broadband usage. I've been wanting to get a cable modem so that I could use Flexisurf for the longest time ever but just didn't get around to doing it 'cos I don't need the internet at all at home.

So now I'm online and realise that I'm completely out of touch with the phenomenon of IM-ing. I can't imagine why on earth I spent days and days in uni doing nothing but chat chat chat. WEIRD to say the least.

So, now that I'm online...I have nothing to do. Now what? The internet to me is just a source of entertainment. I don't go surfing to like learn new things (though I should). It's the same old sites I surf in the office over and over again, plus a bit of blogvoyeuring. How completely boring.

My sister says her ass is getting huge. My response to her was:

"well you should just bloody exercise then isn't it?"

Hmmm..talk about pot calling kettle black. I'm sure she ain't fat and just exaggerating. Yesterday was her 21st Birthday. Old. So all the ppl in my family are now of the age of majority. We're all oldies.

On 27th she's flying off to Budapest from London, and returning to London on 10th July. She says she has no idea where to go and where to stay and how to get around. She can bloody get her own way around - talk about bad planning.

Yesterday 2 more cards arrived. I don't know like wth I need so many credit cards. It's CRAZY. On counting, I counted like 7 credit cards and 4 debit cards including one that I'm about to cancel. There are 3 more on the way. I'm like why the hell do I need 14 different ways to pay a bill? It's nuts. Talk about going overboard. Like a kid let loose in Toys R Us. I shall STOP APPLYING FOR ANY MORE CARDS.

Part of the thrill is actually quite stupid. It's like I get a package from the bank with the cards and it's like...the bank endorses me! I'm an "Approved Person"!!!! Talk about attention seeking.

Ok I'm rambling because I'm sleepy but refuse to go to sleep. Again, going overboard with something new (i.e. internet at home).

Today, I spelt "sour" as "sower", and I said that someone "died her hair".

OK I'm REALLY going to sleep now. bye.