Saturday, June 28, 2008
Debauchery
Debauchery. The theme and code word for this week.
In what is becoming an increasingly common occurrence, I woke up today in bed semi naked, with my clothes strewn haphazardly all over the floor, needing for a moment to register where I was. Sounds very exciting doesn't it (ok please don't barf all over my blog), but no, there was no one else in bed. My mouth also tastes like a freshly crapped in toilet bowl.
The drinking actually started on Thursday, when we drank ourselves silly in the wine shop at the basement of our building. House aka crap wine, beer, passable wine, and then decent wine, in that order. We then went back to work where I discovered that my almost married colleague (let's call this one AMC) has developed a mini-crush on my other colleague (lets call this one the "Victim"). I think I was singing Kermit the Frog's Rainbow Connection in some other colleague's room and sprouting some nonsense, but we can leave that for another day. I don't know what it is with me and cartoon-y songs when I am less than sober.
His definition of a crush is very strange. In my semidrunken state I asked him "so do you want to sleep with her". His reply was no, he just wanted to sit her down somewhere and talk to her. TALK TO HER. THE WHOLE NIGHT. What the hell right. Ok so I have different definition of what it means to have a crush.
I still find it amazing that I managed to get some work done after drinking. I'm not sure what I sent out, but it must have been ok since I didn't get any rude emails the next day from either my boss or the counterparty.
On Friday I woke up feeling a little bit fragile. The sun was so bright, and I had a slight headache. Nothing some Berocca couldn't cure. By lunchtime AMC and I had another pint of Guinness each.
At 7, we headed downstairs for another round of wine and beer where we met some of the Victim's teammates. She's got this gay teammate who's really very funny and apparently holds the wildest parties. At Christmas last year, the "admission fee" to his party was to drink punch from an ice-sculpture carved in the shape of a well endowed, naked man. The tool was hooked up to a funnel somewhere, and the drink was poured through the sculpture and you'd sort of use the tool as a straw of sorts. haha disturbing. One of his female friends turned up wearing nothing but nipple clamps (I just learnt this word yesterday!) and they thought she was hired help. Apparently she lost her nipple clamps some time during the night, and called the next day to ask if someone had found them.
Anyhow, we then went back upstairs where we opened another 2 bottles of wine that were appropriated from my boss' room. How convenient. For some strange reason, we then started talking in our really sucky Cantonese. AMC and the Victim have the most awful Cantonese accents. It really sounds like those Angmohs trying to speak it. The intonations are everywhere, and when in doubt, we'd just lapse into other dialects. But it was the most funny thing.
In line with the theme for the night (we were headed to Dragonfly thereafter to indulge in Cantopop), we forbade each other to speak anything but Cantonese. So this awful bastardisation of the beautiful dialect continued all the way downstairs into the car (someone drove), attracting a number of very disturbed stares.
My virgin entry into Dragonfly was a little disappointing -- they were singing some crappy Japanese songs! We left after 5 mins, and headed to Mono to indulge in public karaoke-ing (my first time too). There, we played drinking games (AMC again flirting with the Victim), and polished off, between the 5 of us, another bottle of MacCallum and half a bottle of Johnny Walker while belting out cheenapok songs on the public karaoke. Ok not me, since I couldn't read the Chinese words. I had to wait my turn for crappy English songs from Air Supply. Hopefully I didn't go too badly out of tune haha, but when I get drunk I can sing very high notes. We put in some U2 and Bryan Adams songs, but it didn't get round to our turn. At 4.30 am we decided to call it a night and crawled downstairs to get ourselves in a cab home.
I think the night of debauchery doesn't compare too favourably with RedRapture's night out to indulge in orchestral pleasure, listening to works from Chopin and Smetana. How cultural haha.
In what is becoming an increasingly common occurrence, I woke up today in bed semi naked, with my clothes strewn haphazardly all over the floor, needing for a moment to register where I was. Sounds very exciting doesn't it (ok please don't barf all over my blog), but no, there was no one else in bed. My mouth also tastes like a freshly crapped in toilet bowl.
The drinking actually started on Thursday, when we drank ourselves silly in the wine shop at the basement of our building. House aka crap wine, beer, passable wine, and then decent wine, in that order. We then went back to work where I discovered that my almost married colleague (let's call this one AMC) has developed a mini-crush on my other colleague (lets call this one the "Victim"). I think I was singing Kermit the Frog's Rainbow Connection in some other colleague's room and sprouting some nonsense, but we can leave that for another day. I don't know what it is with me and cartoon-y songs when I am less than sober.
His definition of a crush is very strange. In my semidrunken state I asked him "so do you want to sleep with her". His reply was no, he just wanted to sit her down somewhere and talk to her. TALK TO HER. THE WHOLE NIGHT. What the hell right. Ok so I have different definition of what it means to have a crush.
I still find it amazing that I managed to get some work done after drinking. I'm not sure what I sent out, but it must have been ok since I didn't get any rude emails the next day from either my boss or the counterparty.
On Friday I woke up feeling a little bit fragile. The sun was so bright, and I had a slight headache. Nothing some Berocca couldn't cure. By lunchtime AMC and I had another pint of Guinness each.
At 7, we headed downstairs for another round of wine and beer where we met some of the Victim's teammates. She's got this gay teammate who's really very funny and apparently holds the wildest parties. At Christmas last year, the "admission fee" to his party was to drink punch from an ice-sculpture carved in the shape of a well endowed, naked man. The tool was hooked up to a funnel somewhere, and the drink was poured through the sculpture and you'd sort of use the tool as a straw of sorts. haha disturbing. One of his female friends turned up wearing nothing but nipple clamps (I just learnt this word yesterday!) and they thought she was hired help. Apparently she lost her nipple clamps some time during the night, and called the next day to ask if someone had found them.
Anyhow, we then went back upstairs where we opened another 2 bottles of wine that were appropriated from my boss' room. How convenient. For some strange reason, we then started talking in our really sucky Cantonese. AMC and the Victim have the most awful Cantonese accents. It really sounds like those Angmohs trying to speak it. The intonations are everywhere, and when in doubt, we'd just lapse into other dialects. But it was the most funny thing.
In line with the theme for the night (we were headed to Dragonfly thereafter to indulge in Cantopop), we forbade each other to speak anything but Cantonese. So this awful bastardisation of the beautiful dialect continued all the way downstairs into the car (someone drove), attracting a number of very disturbed stares.
My virgin entry into Dragonfly was a little disappointing -- they were singing some crappy Japanese songs! We left after 5 mins, and headed to Mono to indulge in public karaoke-ing (my first time too). There, we played drinking games (AMC again flirting with the Victim), and polished off, between the 5 of us, another bottle of MacCallum and half a bottle of Johnny Walker while belting out cheenapok songs on the public karaoke. Ok not me, since I couldn't read the Chinese words. I had to wait my turn for crappy English songs from Air Supply. Hopefully I didn't go too badly out of tune haha, but when I get drunk I can sing very high notes. We put in some U2 and Bryan Adams songs, but it didn't get round to our turn. At 4.30 am we decided to call it a night and crawled downstairs to get ourselves in a cab home.
I think the night of debauchery doesn't compare too favourably with RedRapture's night out to indulge in orchestral pleasure, listening to works from Chopin and Smetana. How cultural haha.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Jamon Iberico!!!
One of the greatest joys of travelling is being able to sample foods from all over the world.
When I was at a supermarket in Spain last year, I wondered why it was that the price of ham ("Jamon" in Spanish) ranged from 8 euros / kg to 200 euros / kg. They certainly looked the same except that that the more expensive one looked darker. Kind of diseased actually. And so we bought a bit of both. The first set cost about 2 euros, and the other one about 20 euros.
It took only one bite to immediately tell the difference, and the difference was vast. The cheap one tasted flat - salty, meaty and smoky at first bite, but the taste disappears after a few bites, like chewing gum. Perfect for a sandwich with many ingredients.
The more expensive one tasted bland and subdued at first, but as you chew it, more and more flavour comes out. It was like a chewing gum that kept yielding flavour! Delicious meaty, smoky flavour, with a wonderful aftertaste. Perfect with cheese or grapes. I found out later that it takes years of air drying to cultivate this taste, and hence the price and colour.
Since I got back I've not been able to order ham in any restaurant. We tried once at Al Forno's (granted, it's an Italian restaurant, but Italian ham's supposed to be similar), and were so disappointed by the flat and bland flavour, that we just swore never to eat ham in a restaurant again. And that dish cost 30+ bucks.
And so I read with great delight, that Jamon Iberico is now approved by the AVA for import into Singapore!!!!! I can't wait to get my hands on some. It's the Mao Shan Wang (a premium durian) equivalent for hams. I'm salivating just thinking about it.
I doubt I'll find it in my local NTUC though.
Word of advice, don't bother with the other ham that they're bringing in: Jamon Serrano. It's bland.
When I was at a supermarket in Spain last year, I wondered why it was that the price of ham ("Jamon" in Spanish) ranged from 8 euros / kg to 200 euros / kg. They certainly looked the same except that that the more expensive one looked darker. Kind of diseased actually. And so we bought a bit of both. The first set cost about 2 euros, and the other one about 20 euros.
It took only one bite to immediately tell the difference, and the difference was vast. The cheap one tasted flat - salty, meaty and smoky at first bite, but the taste disappears after a few bites, like chewing gum. Perfect for a sandwich with many ingredients.
The more expensive one tasted bland and subdued at first, but as you chew it, more and more flavour comes out. It was like a chewing gum that kept yielding flavour! Delicious meaty, smoky flavour, with a wonderful aftertaste. Perfect with cheese or grapes. I found out later that it takes years of air drying to cultivate this taste, and hence the price and colour.
Since I got back I've not been able to order ham in any restaurant. We tried once at Al Forno's (granted, it's an Italian restaurant, but Italian ham's supposed to be similar), and were so disappointed by the flat and bland flavour, that we just swore never to eat ham in a restaurant again. And that dish cost 30+ bucks.
And so I read with great delight, that Jamon Iberico is now approved by the AVA for import into Singapore!!!!! I can't wait to get my hands on some. It's the Mao Shan Wang (a premium durian) equivalent for hams. I'm salivating just thinking about it.
I doubt I'll find it in my local NTUC though.
Word of advice, don't bother with the other ham that they're bringing in: Jamon Serrano. It's bland.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Trusty Getz
Over the weekend I drove my trusty Getz up to Malacca, expecting it to die on me halfway. I was pleasantly surprised that the car was still stable at 140 km/h. What's more surprising is that it could even reach that speed in the first place with its puny 1100cc enging!!! Go Getz!
It's a rather expensive trip though: Toll: RM 60. Petrol: RM 90. Money to grandpa and aunt: RM 300. Still, it was fun, and I stuffed my face silly on damn good food.
I am a fat fuck.
It's a rather expensive trip though: Toll: RM 60. Petrol: RM 90. Money to grandpa and aunt: RM 300. Still, it was fun, and I stuffed my face silly on damn good food.
I am a fat fuck.
Bizarre
I had the most bizarre dream last night.
For some reason or other, I was due to get married to this already married colleague (let's call this one MC1), but for some reason we were in Malaysia and I couldn't get some of the documents in order so I said ok let me go back to Singapore and get them over the weekend and come back on Monday (it was then Friday).
Meanwhile, back in Singapore, I met up with married colleague 2 (henceforth MC2), and for some strange reason I ended up proposing to MC2. We were bouncing around all delirious and happy and making out etc, until married colleague 3 and married colleague 4 (MC3 and MC4) started tsk-tsking me for (1) dumping MC1 at the altar and (2) not having the courtesy to call MC1. Boy did I want to kill MC3 and MC4 then. Talk about cold water.
So I called MC1, who, as expected was absolutely furious, since she'd already dumped the husband for me, and then was left at the altar so to speak. I can't remember what she said, but I remember shivering with cold that was due to either (1) the fact that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, or (2) the aircon turned on the compressor mode and funneled a blast of cold air into the room and hence the shivering.
Along the way I met a number of other colleagues who all gave me disapproving and unbelieving stares, and I was thinking "what's your problem???". I'm not sure if I should be more concerned about having immoral dreams about colleagues, or the fact that I'm so blase about the immorality that I would think "what's your problem???" to disapproving colleagues, i.e. I'm amoral.
So there you have it, I present to you: Mr. Geek aka Mr. Amoral (spelling?). Destroyer of marriages. Dumper of the objects of conquest. Paragon of amorality.
But oh boy, what a fun dream it was. I only wish it didn't have to end when the damn alarm sounded. Does anyone have similar dreams about their colleagues I wonder.
Maybe it all means I need to spend less time in the office.
For some reason or other, I was due to get married to this already married colleague (let's call this one MC1), but for some reason we were in Malaysia and I couldn't get some of the documents in order so I said ok let me go back to Singapore and get them over the weekend and come back on Monday (it was then Friday).
Meanwhile, back in Singapore, I met up with married colleague 2 (henceforth MC2), and for some strange reason I ended up proposing to MC2. We were bouncing around all delirious and happy and making out etc, until married colleague 3 and married colleague 4 (MC3 and MC4) started tsk-tsking me for (1) dumping MC1 at the altar and (2) not having the courtesy to call MC1. Boy did I want to kill MC3 and MC4 then. Talk about cold water.
So I called MC1, who, as expected was absolutely furious, since she'd already dumped the husband for me, and then was left at the altar so to speak. I can't remember what she said, but I remember shivering with cold that was due to either (1) the fact that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, or (2) the aircon turned on the compressor mode and funneled a blast of cold air into the room and hence the shivering.
Along the way I met a number of other colleagues who all gave me disapproving and unbelieving stares, and I was thinking "what's your problem???". I'm not sure if I should be more concerned about having immoral dreams about colleagues, or the fact that I'm so blase about the immorality that I would think "what's your problem???" to disapproving colleagues, i.e. I'm amoral.
So there you have it, I present to you: Mr. Geek aka Mr. Amoral (spelling?). Destroyer of marriages. Dumper of the objects of conquest. Paragon of amorality.
But oh boy, what a fun dream it was. I only wish it didn't have to end when the damn alarm sounded. Does anyone have similar dreams about their colleagues I wonder.
Maybe it all means I need to spend less time in the office.
Friday, June 20, 2008
The Spendthrift
I've been spending money like water recently. I just took my team out for dinner at Borgo's to sort of thank them for taking over my files while I was traversing Nepal and uncontactable while they slaved over my files.
Dinner was quite forgettable. I don't know why -- it seems as if my taste buds are changing very fast. The first time I went to this place I thought it was great. However the second time I went, I found fault with many things -- the quality of the bread, the quality of the olive oil used, the tastelessness of the ham. Hmmm.....is it true that coffee destroys the taste buds, or are my tastebuds becoming increasingly demanding? I can't be that demanding since I eat economic rice on an almost daily basis. I find myself increasingly thinking that if I'm eating out, either I eat properly, or just don't bother, and that means either I eat at hawker centres, or go all out and eat truly tasty stuff.
It's the same with wines. When I first started, a $30 bottle of wine from the wine shop below my office was great, but one year later when I revisit the same bottle, I find it increasingly undrinkable. We had some house wines the other day at the shop, and it was simply quite undrinkable. I don't know why.
Anyway, bearing that in mind, we ordered more decent wines at the restaurant and 2 GREAT bottles of wine. We started with a Pinot Grigio, which was a very flavourful white wine. Slightly sweet, good aftertaste. That was promptly polished off before the main course arrived. We then coveted this bottle of wine from a table full of angmohs but were told that it was their own bottle. Gagh. It's fine. We looked around and saw another group of rather distinguished looking old men, and asked the waiter what they were having. The price tag for that was a little shocking at first, going into 3 digits, but by god it was worth every cent. The flavours were incredible. The aftertaste. The smell. The way it just went right down the throat. Incredible. It must be one of the best red wines I've ever had so far. I don't think I can go back to the red wines at Cold Storage....sigh.
The final bill came up to about $500 for 6 people, but given the great time I had (I have very funny teammates and I'd like to think we get along very well), it was a very enjoyable evening. We went to one of their house after that just to look see (he just moved in), and I am struck by a desire to move to a bigger apartment. Me. Puny. House. Need. Bigger. House.
So now I feel like a bigger house, a cooler car (have been coveting for months), and a wine cellar and collection in the new house.
Talk about extravagant.
I need a promotion.
Dinner was quite forgettable. I don't know why -- it seems as if my taste buds are changing very fast. The first time I went to this place I thought it was great. However the second time I went, I found fault with many things -- the quality of the bread, the quality of the olive oil used, the tastelessness of the ham. Hmmm.....is it true that coffee destroys the taste buds, or are my tastebuds becoming increasingly demanding? I can't be that demanding since I eat economic rice on an almost daily basis. I find myself increasingly thinking that if I'm eating out, either I eat properly, or just don't bother, and that means either I eat at hawker centres, or go all out and eat truly tasty stuff.
It's the same with wines. When I first started, a $30 bottle of wine from the wine shop below my office was great, but one year later when I revisit the same bottle, I find it increasingly undrinkable. We had some house wines the other day at the shop, and it was simply quite undrinkable. I don't know why.
Anyway, bearing that in mind, we ordered more decent wines at the restaurant and 2 GREAT bottles of wine. We started with a Pinot Grigio, which was a very flavourful white wine. Slightly sweet, good aftertaste. That was promptly polished off before the main course arrived. We then coveted this bottle of wine from a table full of angmohs but were told that it was their own bottle. Gagh. It's fine. We looked around and saw another group of rather distinguished looking old men, and asked the waiter what they were having. The price tag for that was a little shocking at first, going into 3 digits, but by god it was worth every cent. The flavours were incredible. The aftertaste. The smell. The way it just went right down the throat. Incredible. It must be one of the best red wines I've ever had so far. I don't think I can go back to the red wines at Cold Storage....sigh.
The final bill came up to about $500 for 6 people, but given the great time I had (I have very funny teammates and I'd like to think we get along very well), it was a very enjoyable evening. We went to one of their house after that just to look see (he just moved in), and I am struck by a desire to move to a bigger apartment. Me. Puny. House. Need. Bigger. House.
So now I feel like a bigger house, a cooler car (have been coveting for months), and a wine cellar and collection in the new house.
Talk about extravagant.
I need a promotion.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Moods and Boredom
I have mood swings in the office. My teammates regularly email my roommate to ask, in the morning: "How's the weather". If I'm grouchy, the answer will be "oh it's stormy in here. Avoid at all costs". If it's fine, then "it's all sunshine". Do men have PMS too? But why am I not entitled to feel grouchy?
It seems to extend to work. On days I feel extremely hardworking. On other days, when the subject matter bores me, I just pass out looking at the same paragraph over and over again. I've just finished a deal that, just 2 years ago, made me pass out and hyperventilate. This time, it was like "ho hum not again. "
Lack of motivation. I think the problem is that I get bored very easily. And mental routine bores me. I think I do my best work when it borders (but not quite crosses) on chartering new territory. It's that fine line between stretching the brain and feeling utterly incompetent.
The boredom extends to my interaction with people. This is probably not a good thing (I acknowledge it), but it's just how I feel. Intellectually challenged people bore me, and if they bore me, I get irritated easily, whether it's work related or socially related.
Because I get bored with stupid people, but at the same time acknowledge that I'm really not all that clever, I get very insecure dealing with what I perceive to be very clever people because our positions are then reversed, and I wonder if they get bored with me. I think it's a combination of the fear of me looking stupid, and dealing with people more brilliant than me, that drives me to prove myself at work.
But anyway on the work front everything seems peachy at the moment. I keep getting dropped hints by this person that person and the other that I'm gonna get a promotion, but of course nothing's certain until it's done, though this is not imminent. On my part I wonder if I'm up for all that responsibility. It's scary - I'm expected to manage all these people when I can barely manage my own affairs. And then they come turn to me to ask questions for which I don't have the answers. What am I supposed to do? It scares me and keeps me awake at times, thinking about all that additional responsibility. The giants before me whose footsteps I'd walk. Yipes.
We'll just have to take one day at a time.
It seems to extend to work. On days I feel extremely hardworking. On other days, when the subject matter bores me, I just pass out looking at the same paragraph over and over again. I've just finished a deal that, just 2 years ago, made me pass out and hyperventilate. This time, it was like "ho hum not again. "
Lack of motivation. I think the problem is that I get bored very easily. And mental routine bores me. I think I do my best work when it borders (but not quite crosses) on chartering new territory. It's that fine line between stretching the brain and feeling utterly incompetent.
The boredom extends to my interaction with people. This is probably not a good thing (I acknowledge it), but it's just how I feel. Intellectually challenged people bore me, and if they bore me, I get irritated easily, whether it's work related or socially related.
Because I get bored with stupid people, but at the same time acknowledge that I'm really not all that clever, I get very insecure dealing with what I perceive to be very clever people because our positions are then reversed, and I wonder if they get bored with me. I think it's a combination of the fear of me looking stupid, and dealing with people more brilliant than me, that drives me to prove myself at work.
But anyway on the work front everything seems peachy at the moment. I keep getting dropped hints by this person that person and the other that I'm gonna get a promotion, but of course nothing's certain until it's done, though this is not imminent. On my part I wonder if I'm up for all that responsibility. It's scary - I'm expected to manage all these people when I can barely manage my own affairs. And then they come turn to me to ask questions for which I don't have the answers. What am I supposed to do? It scares me and keeps me awake at times, thinking about all that additional responsibility. The giants before me whose footsteps I'd walk. Yipes.
We'll just have to take one day at a time.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Attractions?
Today's papers talked about the free / cheap "attractions" that one could go to if one were not inclined to blow 100 bucks on the various other tourist attractions.
I'm thinking gee, they kinda suck.
I went to Night Safari on Saturday night for the first time to walk off the huge dinner at the Keppel Club where we stuffed our faces with very good Peranakan food at this restaurant called "PeraMakan". We didn't expect the servings to be so ginormous, and it was hard for the two of us to finish it.
Night Safari is pretty cool -- a little on the pricey end, esp those soft toys. Bought this frog for the boss. It must be made of gold or something. It's one of those things that I'd go once for and not go back again. It's a nice place to take visitors to though.
List of free or almost-free "attractions":
===============================
I'm thinking gee, they kinda suck.
I went to Night Safari on Saturday night for the first time to walk off the huge dinner at the Keppel Club where we stuffed our faces with very good Peranakan food at this restaurant called "PeraMakan". We didn't expect the servings to be so ginormous, and it was hard for the two of us to finish it.
Night Safari is pretty cool -- a little on the pricey end, esp those soft toys. Bought this frog for the boss. It must be made of gold or something. It's one of those things that I'd go once for and not go back again. It's a nice place to take visitors to though.
List of free or almost-free "attractions":
===============================
OLD FORD FACTORY
HAW PAR VILLA
GOAT FARM -HAY DAIRIES
FARMART CENTRE
JURONG FROG FARM
CHOA CHU KANG SWIMMING COMPLEX
ZHENGHUA NATIONAL ARCHERY RANGE
ORCHIDVILLE SINGAPORE
MARINA CITY PARK (EAST COAST PARK)
PULAU UBIN (CHEK JAWA)
SENTOSA (SILOSO BEACH)
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Elephant, uhm, seed
As I read this on Straits Times I thought about how fortunate I am to have a deskbound job....
"Two weeks ago, [Chawang, the Night Safari elephant] and Sang Wira donated their sperm - a first for Night Safari - to Sydney's Taronga Zoo to help boost its elephant-breeding programme.
"Two weeks ago, [Chawang, the Night Safari elephant] and Sang Wira donated their sperm - a first for Night Safari - to Sydney's Taronga Zoo to help boost its elephant-breeding programme.
For Chawang, that exercise had been even more trying than his wooing of Gambir.
...
Veterinarian Sonja Luz, 35, got the short straw: she had to physically stimulate Chawang to release the sperm. But the German doctor has been training for her task in the past few months.
'It's a bit like an aerobic workout. I was aching after that, but I went for a massage,' she deadpanned."
Y.U.C.K.S....Wednesday, June 04, 2008
The Fuel Ban
1. Malaysia's fuel ban for foreign vehicles
Malaysia reportedly spent RM40 billion on fuel subsidies last year. At current prices and consumption, they estimate RM 53 billion will need to be spent in fuel subsidies this year. In terms of percentage of the entire subsidy (I guess this would mainly concern food), it forms some 93+% of the total subsidy bill.
It's no surprise that they decided to do something about it. This has of course caused a ruckus both by the petrol station owners in JB and from Singaporean residents. I read with derision the letters to the ST Forum on this issue. Most of them are against the fuel ban citing some purportedly good reason or other. I just can't understand the fuss.
It's one thing to subsidize consumption within the country. It's quite another to subsidize consumption for use OUTSIDE the country, which is essentially what it is. Singaporean cars go into JB, pump petrol, and go back to Singapore. The subsidized petrol is bought for use outside Malaysia. I don't know of any country in the world allowing tax monies to be used to subsidize foreigners' purchase of a consumable for consumption outside the country.
For example, would it be justified for Singapore public libraries to open borrowing of books to foreigners not working in Singapore / not resident here to borrow books to bring back to Malaysia? For the same reason, library membership is not open to non-resident persons. Otherwise, Singaporean tax money would be used to subsidize non-resident persons' reading habits. They haven't contributed to the coffers, why should they be entitled to the benefit from the same coffers?
On the Malaysian side, they all deserve to be closed down. Every sale they make and profit they make by selling petrol to foreign cars is essentially funded by tax payers. The janitor on the street, the teacher, the hawker centre etc is funding the petrol station's profit with no benefit to the country.
Nonsense really.
Malaysia reportedly spent RM40 billion on fuel subsidies last year. At current prices and consumption, they estimate RM 53 billion will need to be spent in fuel subsidies this year. In terms of percentage of the entire subsidy (I guess this would mainly concern food), it forms some 93+% of the total subsidy bill.
It's no surprise that they decided to do something about it. This has of course caused a ruckus both by the petrol station owners in JB and from Singaporean residents. I read with derision the letters to the ST Forum on this issue. Most of them are against the fuel ban citing some purportedly good reason or other. I just can't understand the fuss.
It's one thing to subsidize consumption within the country. It's quite another to subsidize consumption for use OUTSIDE the country, which is essentially what it is. Singaporean cars go into JB, pump petrol, and go back to Singapore. The subsidized petrol is bought for use outside Malaysia. I don't know of any country in the world allowing tax monies to be used to subsidize foreigners' purchase of a consumable for consumption outside the country.
For example, would it be justified for Singapore public libraries to open borrowing of books to foreigners not working in Singapore / not resident here to borrow books to bring back to Malaysia? For the same reason, library membership is not open to non-resident persons. Otherwise, Singaporean tax money would be used to subsidize non-resident persons' reading habits. They haven't contributed to the coffers, why should they be entitled to the benefit from the same coffers?
On the Malaysian side, they all deserve to be closed down. Every sale they make and profit they make by selling petrol to foreign cars is essentially funded by tax payers. The janitor on the street, the teacher, the hawker centre etc is funding the petrol station's profit with no benefit to the country.
Nonsense really.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Ravings of a Mac lunatic
Can I just rave about my iMac again? The screen is just so incredibly beautiful. 24" of poor orgasmic goodness for the eyes. Unlike my crappy Samsung screen in the office (of which I have two in a dual display set up) -- the text doesn't blur in one part of the screen, the colour doesn't change in one part of the screen but not the next, and it's just incredibly sharp. 1920 x 1200 of pure pixel joy. Oh iMac I love you.
It was a great deal too (sort of), at only S$2100 refurbished. I'm a great fan of refurbished products, have bought quite a number and they've all worked fine and looked new. I save S$700 off a new version with slightly better processor and ram and bus speed, but really the specs are fine for my uses. It's the screen and all-in-one factor that I'm interested in.
Plus my model comes with Apple Remote whereas the new ones don't. I realise these things are universal -- when I pressed volume up on my Apple Remote, it simultaneously woke up my iMac from sleep and volume up-ed my Mac mini.
Have I raved enough?
No. I haven't.
I also just love how the sleep function just works. On my stupid Windows PC, I would close the lid on the laptop, and yes it'd go to sleep in a very noisy way like a bawling baby. Unfortunately, when I open it again, it seems as if the laptop has gone into an irreversible coma. It doesn't want to wake up. Hence the need to reset.
I hope my laptop dies then I can buy a new one.
It was a great deal too (sort of), at only S$2100 refurbished. I'm a great fan of refurbished products, have bought quite a number and they've all worked fine and looked new. I save S$700 off a new version with slightly better processor and ram and bus speed, but really the specs are fine for my uses. It's the screen and all-in-one factor that I'm interested in.
Plus my model comes with Apple Remote whereas the new ones don't. I realise these things are universal -- when I pressed volume up on my Apple Remote, it simultaneously woke up my iMac from sleep and volume up-ed my Mac mini.
Have I raved enough?
No. I haven't.
I also just love how the sleep function just works. On my stupid Windows PC, I would close the lid on the laptop, and yes it'd go to sleep in a very noisy way like a bawling baby. Unfortunately, when I open it again, it seems as if the laptop has gone into an irreversible coma. It doesn't want to wake up. Hence the need to reset.
I hope my laptop dies then I can buy a new one.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Mr. Grumps
I am afraid I have nothing but grouses last week. I am turning into a very grumpy old man.
First, I found out that it is incredibly difficult to get one's children into a "good" primary school. As a parent, you have to either (i) volunteer in the PTA since your kid is TWO years old, (ii) donate a bundle of cash (it seems one school was asking for S$40,000!!!!!) to be CONSIDERED on the balloting, (iii) buy a house near the school in question, (iv) have a member of the immediate family having studied there or (v) pull strings. One of the parents I spoke to was a bit disappointed 'cos she lives in Kovan where there are no "good schools" nearby. I told her that it doesn't really matter what primary school they go to, but was then promptly lambasted by my colleagues for giving wrong advice. Personally, I didn't go to any of the right school at all, nor did my brother or sister, and we ended up fine, but I guess I was lucky.
Colleagues told me that in Singapore it's all about meeting the right people, and letting the right tide carry you through life instead of having to work against the tide, which is why there are tons of dumb people from the right schools who get into all the right places. I can think of a couple of ex-colleagues here.
How does one find that tide? You find the "right" school. Meritocracy my foot. Pfft. It begins from young, and money begets money.
Second, the abomination that was Prince Caspian. No doubt this was slightly better than the first movie, but crappy nonetheless. Is it too much to ask for an ounce of originality? The whole thing looked like a Lord of the Rings ripoff with different sequences. My friend was just telling me a synopsis of the story: They get chased to the river by a bunch of evil characters a la LOTR. But then instead of getting washed away at the beginning by the river, they get washed away at the end. Battle scene - looks familiar? it's the same castle from LOTR.
No originality in the characters either -- why do the Telmarines sound like Spaniards? And their weapons -- from the Spanish Inquisition. Spears. Fierce masks a la Spanish Conquisadors (spelling?).
And oh, the Christian allegories. Ok granted that was in the book, but it comes more to life in movies. It's actually a lot worse in the last book - the last Battle, where the whole thing smacks of the whole Crusades thing where the Christians are the good righteous guys and the Muslims are the evil guys. Sample script (not sure if it's word for word - probably not)
"Lucy, why do you think it is that I can't see Aslan?"
"Just because you can't see him, it doesn't mean he's not there. You have to believe....believe in Aslan"
"Aslan will save us, he will lead the way"
I'm glad I didn't have to pay for the movie. Got a free ticket, but unfortunately was seated right next to one of the bosses. How weird was that.
I had two more grouses but can't remember what they were.
The only good thing that happened last week was going for the very excellent Prego Brunch Buffet. The food was really not bad - best Gnocchi I've eaten. With a 1-for-1 offer, it comes up to only S$30 a head. Very good value considering the type of food you get.
I've also managed to now connect my Mac Mini to my TV and Hifi. It's great, I get to watch all my movies on the big screen, though since I've now got a 24" iMac, the size is only marginally bigger. Still, when I finally get my study room done up and move the iMac there, I'll still have a mini-theatre machine hooked up to the TV.
Urgh it's Monday. I hate Mondays.
First, I found out that it is incredibly difficult to get one's children into a "good" primary school. As a parent, you have to either (i) volunteer in the PTA since your kid is TWO years old, (ii) donate a bundle of cash (it seems one school was asking for S$40,000!!!!!) to be CONSIDERED on the balloting, (iii) buy a house near the school in question, (iv) have a member of the immediate family having studied there or (v) pull strings. One of the parents I spoke to was a bit disappointed 'cos she lives in Kovan where there are no "good schools" nearby. I told her that it doesn't really matter what primary school they go to, but was then promptly lambasted by my colleagues for giving wrong advice. Personally, I didn't go to any of the right school at all, nor did my brother or sister, and we ended up fine, but I guess I was lucky.
Colleagues told me that in Singapore it's all about meeting the right people, and letting the right tide carry you through life instead of having to work against the tide, which is why there are tons of dumb people from the right schools who get into all the right places. I can think of a couple of ex-colleagues here.
How does one find that tide? You find the "right" school. Meritocracy my foot. Pfft. It begins from young, and money begets money.
Second, the abomination that was Prince Caspian. No doubt this was slightly better than the first movie, but crappy nonetheless. Is it too much to ask for an ounce of originality? The whole thing looked like a Lord of the Rings ripoff with different sequences. My friend was just telling me a synopsis of the story: They get chased to the river by a bunch of evil characters a la LOTR. But then instead of getting washed away at the beginning by the river, they get washed away at the end. Battle scene - looks familiar? it's the same castle from LOTR.
No originality in the characters either -- why do the Telmarines sound like Spaniards? And their weapons -- from the Spanish Inquisition. Spears. Fierce masks a la Spanish Conquisadors (spelling?).
And oh, the Christian allegories. Ok granted that was in the book, but it comes more to life in movies. It's actually a lot worse in the last book - the last Battle, where the whole thing smacks of the whole Crusades thing where the Christians are the good righteous guys and the Muslims are the evil guys. Sample script (not sure if it's word for word - probably not)
"Lucy, why do you think it is that I can't see Aslan?"
"Just because you can't see him, it doesn't mean he's not there. You have to believe....believe in Aslan"
"Aslan will save us, he will lead the way"
I'm glad I didn't have to pay for the movie. Got a free ticket, but unfortunately was seated right next to one of the bosses. How weird was that.
I had two more grouses but can't remember what they were.
The only good thing that happened last week was going for the very excellent Prego Brunch Buffet. The food was really not bad - best Gnocchi I've eaten. With a 1-for-1 offer, it comes up to only S$30 a head. Very good value considering the type of food you get.
I've also managed to now connect my Mac Mini to my TV and Hifi. It's great, I get to watch all my movies on the big screen, though since I've now got a 24" iMac, the size is only marginally bigger. Still, when I finally get my study room done up and move the iMac there, I'll still have a mini-theatre machine hooked up to the TV.
Urgh it's Monday. I hate Mondays.