speedo!!

I think sometimes I am obssessed with speed and efficiency.

I get grumpy and agitated when..

• the bus is late
• the train is late
• the food queue is too long
• the food takes long to arrive
• the person walking in front of me is blocking my path
• the lift takes too long to come
• the lift opens at too many floors
• the cab stand has too many people
• the cabs do not come in to the can stand
• people bump into me
• people squeeze with me on the escalator
• people squeeze with me on the way into or out of the train
• and the list goes on......

Hope it ain't just me... =D

I was hit on! By a butch!

But in my dream...Heng ah...haa...

But my dreams are getting more bizarre..Had one last night. Shall try to put it into words as best as I can.

It was the present me in that dream. Long straight hair, contacts and all.
But the environment I was in was actually TPJC’s lecture theatre and I was clad in TPJC’s uniform.
Can’t remember which lecture it was though, might have been Accounts cos I remember seeing figures and calculations on the OHP screen.
Yes, the dream was detailed right to the fact that it was OHP and not even powerpoint slides.

I was sitting next to this butch whose face I simply can’t remember too.
She was on my left and I didn’t know her in the dream.
Not sure who was on my right, but I know it was not Peiqi. Probably some other obscure student.

I was frantically taking notes and trying to pay attention. Suddenly noticed that the butch was leaning closer and closer to me.
She had cologne on and it was quite overpowering for my poor nostrils. And quite suddenly, she just turned to me and said: "I really like you alot. Care to go steady with me??"

And I think I just flipped to the max! Still remember her hair was short and styled like a rooster's crown. Was also wearing those plastic rimmed glasses, red rimmed. Power siah...

The school bell rang then and it kinda saved me from the awkward situation as I mumbled something intelligible and then scurried away to the other side of the LT where I met up with Peiqi.
Along the way to meet Peiqi, I also bumped into Marcus Khong who followed me to meet Peiqi.
And then somehow, Steven Seow appeared! In our dirty green PRSS uniform…*faint* Simply unbelievable…And then the 4 of us ended just chatting…and the dream ended there.

Aw man…..no wonder my dark eye rings have not gone away!!

hari satu....

Lunched with Sherwin today...muahaha...
Treated him to Fig & Olive at Clifford Centre...woohoo...superb BBQ Chicken with pasta!!

Had fun gossipping about NTUC Club's scramble on how they were gonna handle the negative press after the 2 girls fell off their rollercoaster at Escape Theme Park last week.
Promised to show me his wedding pics!! Will pass me his CD another time...

============
Jen pulled me in for a talk or maybe a small discussion on how marketing might be in the next few months...am still not exactly clear what she is thinking of.

Dire straits? Hmm...not exactly dire, but well..disorganised...
In her words "trying to change the wheels while the car is still running..."
How aptly put.

Proposed some stuff to me..some shifting of roles and change of responsibilities. Asked me if I was okay with the suggested changes.
Am okay with changes, just as long as you don't change again 3 months down the road....

============
Oh my.
Didn't manage to go visit Jo this evening. EH was sick...hmm..have to re-schedule.

============
Counting down to Wednesday...kekeke...my first lesson!!

G R O W L !!!!!!!

Grrrr.......Part I

Point #1
It doesn't mean that you own the pavement if you are pushing a pram with a bawling baby in it.

Point #2
It doesn't mean that you can roll that same pram over somebody else's toes without apologising or even acknowledging that person (whose face is cringing by the way).

Point #3
It also doesn't mean that you can terrorise other users of the pavement just because you are pushing that bloody pram with a bawling baby in it!!!

ARGH. Met a pavement bully whilst on the way home today.
Along the congested walkways and pavements of Tampines Interchange.
This lady, whose race I shall not reveal lest I be charged in court, was pushing a pram adorned with pretty pink finishes. She seemed intent on bulldozing through the crowd.

And the innocuous me just happened to be one of the suey ones to cross her path. Didn't realise she was coming my way before it was too late and she happily rolled over my left foot, without even batting an eyelid, without acknowledging my existence and without saying a simple word of sorry.

Bloody Toad.
Grrrr......

=============
Grrrr.......Part II

Hypocrite: one who puts on a mask and feigns himself to be what he is not.

There's a hypocrite in everyone of us I believe. It's just a matter of the degree of it and being hypocrital in a good way or bad way. I won't be shy to admit, I can be hypocrital at times too. Good or bad, I shan't comment too much haa...But I try to be as fair to others as much as possible...

There's someone in my office. Gets along well with everyone, well mostly. Laughs, jokes, buddy-buddy with them...yada yada...
Then turns to me and says: "You know what that XXX told me this morning? I can't believe she actually had the cheek to think (s)he's so great!" or says: "Wah Lau, that so-and-so, can't stand his/ her nonsense!"

Sighz...sometimes..I just wonder if behind my back, that colleague is saying something about me too?
Grrrrr....

monday...cold & cloudy again

Wow, the office is super quiet today...

The FND gals are on exam leave. Siva is on leave. Serene's on leave too. Zenne has shifted to 6th floor. May & Win are at an event. Elaine is forever as quiet as a mouse...

haaa....good conducive environment to work in...
Though it's really getting abit too quiet. MP3 to the rescue!

Festive mood is eating into me man....Whoopee!!
Don't feel like working already!! *evil grin*

=============
Going to visit Johari with EH & Ginger later this evening.
Hope my tears don't fall.

teenage lolita

Came across an interesting blog.

Teenage Lolita. A 16 yr-old girl. Seemingly intent on living the high life.
Writes pretty well and judging from a few entries I've read, she's got quite a feisty mind for her age.

Youngsters these days are much more exposed and grow up faster I guess.
Come on. A 16 yr-old prostituting herself so she could live the high life?...

saturday & other thoughts...

Dragged myself to office today cos of ICP's new product launch...and discovered that no one was in the 35th floor office. Happily kena locked out. And all the props, sales kits were in there.
Pathetic, had to call people for help. Managed to get Jen who was at Parliament House...
So paiseh, she had to drive down to IP to pass me the key...

Haaa...but anyway..the launch was a subtle subtle subtle affair. Was like a flower vase at the reception to register those who had signed up to attend the seminar. Didn't have much for me to do after that so I ran off at 2-plus hehe...
Ah Kok's the best!!! :) Got my hint and released me...muahahaha....

Went Ahboy's place after that. Bought BK there, binged on it and well...
Both of us just became our alter-egos. Couch potatoes. Slouched in front of the TV and watched Cinderella Man.
Continued with The Longest Yard after that..but I simply CMI midway through and went to sleep haa...

============
Woohoo!!! It's really been awhile since I watched a full soccer match. But I did so today!!
Liverpool vs Wigan...Pool's ground....

BEST!!! You'll Never Walk Alone!!

Liverpool 3 - Wigan 0

But it could have been a 4-0, 5-0 or even a 6-0 match...

friday...

Lemme see...what did I do on Friday?
Met up with Ahboy and went to Orchard...I've not seen the new foodcourt at Wisma Atria yet so thought we could go there and look see look see and maybe grab a bite if possible. Bad bad mistake.

The bloody place was jam-packed with people.
Big, small, tall, short, fat, thin, adults, kids, old, young...you name it. Super frustrating...
And to borrow a quote from Lydia's email signature...those faces ended up just being "apparitions in a crowd"...blurred images. I was groggy and felt kinda claustrophobic...
Not a very nice experience there. Plus, the bak chor mee I ordered tasted like rubber.

But I think the concept of the place is pretty good. Decor and everything, with pushcarts selling drinks and other snacks. Just that the crowds spoilt the nice side of it.

============
Think my energy level has ebbed alot compared to pre-op days.
Previously when it was TGIF, I'll be uber happy...looking forward to the weekend and all.
Now, by the time Friday arrives, I'm still happy cos it's the weekend. But I'll be pretty shacked out too...haa...

============
Whee, got my Levi's yesterday at the Taka branch!! :)))
Ended up with 599 instead of the SquareCut...but think I got the wrong size...hmm...
Extra material at the crotch area...hmm...???

lotsa random thoughts...

Just came back not too long ago from the dinner with the duckie babes..EH & Selin didn't join us..always these two "problematic" ones..haa...
Anyway, as usual, bitched the night away...talked about stuff ranging from relationships to Vietnamese brides, food to movies, Hepatitis to pets and jobs to erm...yeast infections...hahha....=p
Really amazes me on the stuff we talk about...when the few of us 38s get together... :)

Dinner was at Spaggeddies @ Paragon... I had my usual tri-coloured fusilli in tomato sauce...with ham and mushroom...yum yum...proceeded to Ah Mei for some hot milo and kopi after that...

============
Was updated that Johari met with an accident...Think it happened only in the last few days.
Run over by a lorry on his way to work...
Think it's pretty bad. One leg's been amputated in an op today. Shucks...the news caught us all in surprise...

What's gonna happen to his wife and 4 daughters? Driving's his best skill...what's he gonna do?
Does he have enough insurance coverage? Is the company gonna help clear part of his medical bills?
Who was at fault during the accident?

Giner, EH & me are gonna visit him...not sure when though...gotta find out more...
Sigh...the uncertainties in life...fate plays its hand...

============
Ok...I've really signed up for my Malay class..gonna start next Wednesday..Ganbattene!!
Mesti blaja bagus bagus. Tidak boleh give up. Sumpah? hehe...

============
Ahboy's back tonight..think reaching SG around 11-something... :)
Looking forward to hearing his stories...think he's got some complaints about his customers haha....
And the amount of entertainment he needed to subject himself to in order to build relationships with them...

============
Kena "bua" left right centre whilst in a meeting this afternoon...
Piangzz....argh.....Constructive feedback is good I agree...
But constructive feedback delivered in a not-so-nice tone does put people off at times...as was I this afternoon.
Or maybe I was already prejudiced from the start?
Hmm....nvm, am a newbie still learning the ropes, shan't complain too much...haa...

it's mid-week already!!! whee!!!

It's funny. Usually, Xmas time brings a whole load of excitement to me. The air seems more crisp, the heart lighter and I find I might even skip along to the tunes of Xmas carols running in my head...

This year's different though...less excitement. Hmm..like as if I'm a jaded war veteran.
Been there, done that, don't bother me with it anymore. Dunno leh...hmm???

================
Didn't really know what I was doing in office today..just whiled the whole day away...didn't do much...well, unless you consider tying ribbons on wine bottles something meaningful.
Me n the lian decided to do that brainless task instead of getting the interns to do...
Haha cos we were quite xian today anyway... =p

================
Gonna dine with the Duckie babes tomorrow...woohoo...haa...finally can get to congratulate Selin on her ROM...=))

On the topic of marriage, was seated next to a couple today on the MRT. On my way to work.
Tried to nap but was distracted by their incessant discussion over some matters. Peeped over discretely to see what they were talking about...oh...aiyah...discussing their wedding day schedule...

But kudos to them man, everything was so neat and organised, schedules, roles and responsibilities were all done up in excel sheets and printed out nicely...Church solemnisation, tea ceremony, wedding dinner...who's the I/C, who's the caterer, who's the emcee, who's supposed to be where at what time...

Haa...yeah, cun believe myself...
Was trying to be discreet lah, but ended up being openly blatant about looking at their documents..hahaha....

Ok...off to bed....
xoxoxo

self-analysis with a half-asleep mind...

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:
Physiological --> Safety --> Belongingness --> Self-Esteem --> Self-Actualisation
An individual moves from one level to the next, never skipping a step but can be concurrently trying to achieve a few steps.

Physiological = check. Safety = check. Hmm..as for the next 3 levels..let me see...
Think I am still working on those? Or rather, am slowly plodding along, feeling my way around with them.

Belongingness. I feel I "belong" in certain groups. Yet, am abit of an "oddity" with other groups. Generally okay though. Guess there will always be a "not-so-good" fit with some groups. It's a natural thing I suppose.
If there's always a good perfect fit, then life might be too dull too eh?

Self-Esteem. Sometimes there, sometimes not there. Independence, confidence, achievement, dominance, mastery, managerial responsibility..blah blah...Working on it? haaa.....

Self-Actualisation. Wah...this one how to say? Hmm...not even there yet? haa...
Self-fulfilment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences...S L O W L Y lah...haa...
When I'm there, I'll know I'm there.

That Voice

Tis heart of mine
Full of hope, love and passion
Yet tumultuous, murky and fuddled at times
Are other hearts as such?

Tis mind of mine
Full of drive, clarity and chutzpah
Yet clouded, wavering and delusional at times
Are other minds as such?

Tis me
The one and only me?
Tis you
The one and only you?

The heart hums and
The mind buzzes
Inexplicable warmth permeates the being
When that voice comes through

Ah, such simple joy
Such simple bliss
Just that one bright spark

Enough to light up the day
Enough to rejuvenate the being
Enough to just feel complete

===========
Haha he called just now around 9pm SG time, 8pm Indon time...
Just to boast again that his hotel room is "bloody big"! =p
Think the second appointment has more hopes than the first one...mentioned that the first one is a goner.
Hope his 4 appts goes better for him tomorrow. *clasps hands and prays fervently*
Hmm...wonder if that vainpot went for his spa session too??

Happy just to hear his voice...muahahha.....sucker....
macham sillly infatuated schoolgirl... :)

hitting the sack liaozz....
CMI big time...
zzzzz............................

Tao Zhe....Wheeee.....

The concert last night was nice... :D :D :D
Not mind-blowingly spectacular but good enough to etch itself in my cupboard of memories.

He looked better than ever before. Though slightly tired, perhaps from his others concerts in the region?
More toned and his smile simply makes a person feel so very good! Very sunny, sincere personality...down to earth.
His entrace to the show was well...being strung up on two wires..somersaulting whilst being lowered down onto the stage area...haaa...

The band was impressive. The accompaniments were sibei good too!!
From Jia Jia on the erhu, to Xiaoyan on the pipa and the other two girls on the violin and the dizi(flute)...simply impressed.
Not to mention the back-up singers...who sometimes came upfront to "do their own thang" too..haa...Lisa, Kewei & David Tan..Kewei & David are from SG.
And David Tan is quite good actually...in a class of his own man...p/s: he plays the bass guitar too..
And who can forget King Long?? the ultimate pianist? Our very own too?

The best part of the concert was when they had a 10-15 minute section where TaoZhe and the rest of his band and back-ups did renditions of English songs from the 70s and 80s and the early 90s...
WOOHOO!! Damn POWER!!
They performed short sections of those songs...song like Sweet Child of Mine, Uptown Girl, Every Breathe You Take, etc...

*swoon*
=D

dream..

Guess I'm a dreamer, both when I'm awake and when I'm not.
Had a dream last night again. And I saw Joyce in it. Joyce as in LHUB's accountant who dumped her resignation letter a few weeks back.

Was weird...cos she was looking all sad, weary and very melancholic in the dream.
She did not utter a single word in the dream. I remember being surprised when I saw her appearing in front of me and greeted her cheerfully.
Even called her by the nick I have for her: Joy-C. She was in a light blue short-sleeved shirt with a bright colourful long skirt, one of the outfits she wore to office.
I tried engaging her in small talk but slowly realised something was amiss when she still did not speak at all.
Rather, she just stood there looking sad and all, almost as if she was in deep emotional pain.

Can't remember what happened after that.
Hmm...

============
Had a shiok shiok shiok 3 hours' worth of catch-up sleep this afternoon.
Simply concussed all the way from 3 plus till 6 plus...haa...
Neck was sore when I got up, think I didn't shift position at all...

============
Went for Dad's advanced birthday lunch at Different Taste at Downtown East this afternoon.
Marc was running a slight fever...looked quite xian...
Food was good and cheap muahaha...and yours truly being a union member settled the bill for the day. :)

Kaozz again..

Ack...I have become the customer service recovery person?
Yesterday one case, today another case.
Piangzz...CC1 called me up just now.
Waaahhhh...and kena shouted at by customer again..
Life is tough! Hmm...

Kaozz...

TMD. Left office at 9pm today. Super stoned...

Met up with Tien Phey at Cuppage for makan..both of us were hungry hippos...ordered quite alot from a zi char stall haa...he oso poor thing, left his office at 9 too...

All because of the customer service training thingy in the afternoon lah..aw man..
Took up 3.5 hrs of my time..Abit dry at times, but sometimes interesting lah...
But bottomline is that it took up god-damn so much time. While I had things pending to be settled...Me n Win were kao-beh-ing...

Thought I could run off around 7 or 7plus and then MK pulled me in for a discussion which unwittingly lasted for almost an hour...till 8plus.. *faint*
Briefed me about WSH matters. Was struggling to concentrate haaa...
Had a frown plastered on my face.."mock concentration"...

I've not done up the staff presentation for Monday yet. How How How???
Big time orh-bak-kak...
Have to rush through it over the week end liaos...

*sulk* cun go JB too...

Gonna have a quick shower then hit the sack...

===========
Karmic law =
Good begets good
Evil begets evil
What goes around comes around

Will strive to be a better person... :)

===========

Tomorrow's the concert! haaa...

Daniel Quek

It's uncanny...somewhat surreal in a way.
Whenever someone whom I've not seen or kept in touch with for a long time suddenly pops up in my mind, that person will suddenly reappear in my life one way or the other a few days/weeks later.

Quite a mouthful of a sentence, but it's the simplest I can get to express my thoughts.
It's happened many a time. The first few times it happened, I attributed it to mere coincidence.
But the subsequent times that happened simply left me in wonderment that such uncanniness can occur? Kinda like bordering on mysticism already.

It happened again. This time round, with Daniel Quek.
Dreamt of him a few days ago. I even remember blogging about it.
And whilst on the train home today, I thought I saw him. I couldn't be 100% sure cos' it's been a few years?
But his aura and the way he looks around, the way he dresses, still feels like him. Plus, the guy I saw got off at Tanah Merah...Daniel Quek's stop. Made me all the more certain it was him.

Just seeing him again made me feel unsettled.
Hmm...still remember the promise he made...which of course was not and never will be fulfilled.

tired shell

Was already abit edgy during the day cos of the call centre stuff. Complaints coming in left right centre that the call centre ain't helping much to ease the load on our team.
Am tasked to set things straight. Only have 2 ubiquitous words to say: Kio Sai.
For those not familiar with the Hokkien tongue, its the equivalent of its English cousin known as "picking up shit".

Then when I was preparing to leave office, I received an email from the boss, was in the cc list.
Got more agitated. A particular sentence in there made me dulan.
Showed ah lian and her first reaction was wtf? haa...well, we are the vulgar ones in office...
But bottomline is, even she felt that the way the sentence was worded didn't feel right.
It sorta sounded accusatory. Sigh..things were already put in place before I came back...
Now ask me to be the change agent..I can only say, try my best...

It's always the same thing.
Do a rushed job, execute poorly...
And then scramble and point fingers when the thing botches up.

Wahey...welcome back to the battlefield...think I shall go adorn meself with more grit and armour, bows and arrows.

============
Could feel my energy ebbing from the start of the workday till the end of it...
Haa..like as if my laptop absorbs the 'qi' from me or the telephone zaps the energy out of me...

Anyway, guess the saving grace for the day was my dinner with Joyce!
Went to Sketchers at Bugis. Abit disappointed though, the food wasn't that great..hmm..or maybe I ordered the wrong mix of stuff?
Haa, should have just gone to Tian Tian...gian for the corn soup base...

Had a nice time chatting with her and just catching up..haa..
And as usual she was entertaining me with her animated actions and facial expressions... :)
Hope she gets her scholarship man!

=============
Ok, eyes more than half closed...
Signing off...tata...

Rainy day...cold and shivering..

Went for dinner with HB yesterday at the Timbre. It's within The Substation.
Interesting place. with a stage and all set up for live bands. A different band every night.
And it has those kind of laid-back feel to it, a place where you can just chill and really forget about the hustle and bustle of working life...

Saw John Molina there too. With two other guys and a gorgeous gal..haa...

But food wise, so-so only. Nothing much to shout about.

============
Ok, I've got to kick myself out of the fried fish noodle fanaticism.
I took that yesterday for lunch and I had that today again!
Pathetic man!

============
His trip to Indonesia next week is more or less firmed up already...waahhh....*sobz sobz*
Never been 'away' from him for that long before? haaa.....
Oh yah, gotta remind him to take the flu jab before he goes...

============
One last dumb thing.

The Chicken Little dance...and the song accompanying it is running through my head!!!
Can't get it out of my head!

No Ba No Ba No Ba De
Maia Hee Maia Ho

xialanxue

Just read Red Biscotti's (or angpia or madbluesky or whatever other moniker he goes by...) blog.
He thinks XiaXue's blog entries are hinging more and more on controversies - planned controversies. Sorta like a "business strategy" to attract more people to visit her site.
He sounded disappointed and to a certain extent, abit disgusted.

Well, can't blame her for that though. A few thoughts come to mind.

For one, she's got quite a few advertisers who pay her monthly dues just to post their web billboards on her site to get exposure to at least 20,000 'eyeballs' per day.
And they, as clients, definitely expect a certain amount of traffic to justify the amount they are paying her.
From a 'business' point of view, of course she has to work hard to get people to visit her site lor...

The other thing is a simple hypothetical theory conjured up in my mind.
Without demand, there'll be no supply.
People (there are exceptions though) love controversies and the more they lap it up, I guess, the more XiaXue feeds it to them.

And well the last thing is that , she simply wants attention, likes attention and craves attention. If this is her way of achieving it, who are we to judge her?
At least she has the guts to air her views, whether they be bimbotic opinions or intelligent analyses.

Annabelle Chong

I think Ignatius Low's article on Annabelle Chong in last Sunday's papers must have sparked quite a number of letters to be sent in to the ST desk.
Short of hailing her as a "national hero", he did sound mighty proud that she had the chutzpah to step out of conventions and do things her way.

ST published 3 letters today: Two from 2 female readers and one from a male reader.

Haa..wonder if it was a coincidence that both the 2 female reader's chastised Ignatius Low for glorifying Annabelle Chong's deed done a decade long ago in 1995. Even felt that ST as a national paper, should not have allowed such articles to be published, will lead our young to having wrong ideas yada yada...
Sounded irate and a tad bit prudish.

The guy on the other hand, commended Ignatius Low for airing his views and trying to get the society to be more open and gracious...and also to encourage people to have the gutso do their own thing...

ST style as usual..? Gender-based views...pitting women against the men...

It's been a decade...yet Annabelle Chong still manages to stir up such pointless, cock and bull discussions...
In a way, why stir up a ghost of a story long past?
Are our journalists running out of ideas to pitch and stir up public interest??

what to put as a title??

Ever wondered what you were in your previous life?

Your Past Life Diagnosis:
I don't know how you feel about it, but you were male in your last earthly incarnation.You were born somewhere in the territory of modern Burma around the year 925.Your profession was that of a seaman, cook or carpenter.

Your brief psychological profile in your past life:
As a natural talent in psychology, you knew how to use your opportunities. Cold-blooded and calm in any situation.

The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation:
Your task is to learn determination and persistency. Youd should not allow to let misfortunes take influence on your strong will.



Kaozz......I was male? haaa....

============
Am wondering how's Yiyong in Texas..
Dropped him an SMS...but he didn't reply me...
Dumbass must be partying his brains out...
Or getting fat on his sambal fishballs...

============
Roy Keane is out of Man U!!

Nothing much of a news to hoot about, it's expected anyway. Just that there'll be less fodder for the tabloids to pick up on? Hmm...then again, maybe not.
The papparazzi dogs will still sniff out others to strip bare for the public to see. It's their job.

Food Glorius Food!!

Wheeee.....

Ok, am looking forward to the CNY period next year...think I can start eating the usual food....=D =D =D

Muahaha..And Kel has made a pact, we'll go makan the oatmeal prawns at the kopitiam near his place...think he's got the whole menu lined up in his mind already haha...
I want my Furong Dan!! With lotsa prawns and spring onions in it!!

==========
'Nuff crap...Am not making much sense as usual...gonna nap..and then head for expo later on!
Curios about the Sexpo thingy....

zzzzz...signing out...

Weekend!

Went to catch Harry Potter : Goblet of Fire yesterday with Ling & gang.
Effects were great but other than that, nothing much...
Oh, but there were some small eye candy here and there.. Like the Chinese girl..and the guy called Cedric.

Am not even sure this is instalment number what in the whole series...it's getting extremely draggy. And Harry and his sidekick Ron Weasely are looking more and more erm...too old to reprise their roles in this show.

p/s: Potter's specs = simply CMI

===========
Had a nice lunch yesterday with Mike n Gary...It's been a super long while since I had the porridge buffet at Suntec Convention Hall...Not bad la, still as good...hehe....

And yessss, the poor me kena bully like nobody's business...haha think Gary's not seen for too long liao..more than half a year? haa...but glad to see him looking so fine and peppy...

===========
OK OK, Jay has not disappointed me..
I apologise for wavering in my confidence in his ability to deliver his debonair music...
Can you even use "debonair" to describe music?? haa..

I had some reservations about some of his songs after hearing his new album for the first time.
But as usual, the more I listen to it, the more I fall in love with it..
It just grows on you...that's the X-factor of his songs I guess... =)

============
Dark eye rings = pain in the arse.
Quite a number have asked me about it already...
I don't know what to do about it..Can only hope that after I back to work, with a more "regular" routine of sleeping and waking...they'll go away soon...

Breakout = pain the arse.
haa...need I say more..all of us have through this at one point in time or another...ARGH!!
Qing Chun Dou!!!
Wo Bu Yao!!!

Belly Belly Cold...

disclaimer : got this off blinkymummy's blog..haa..good comic relief man..

有一天魔王把公主抓住, 公主一直叫...

魔王: 你尽管叫破喉咙吧, 没有人会来救你的! 哈哈哈!!
公主: 破喉咙~ 破喉咙~
没有人: 公主~ 我来救你了!
魔王: 妈的! 说曹操曹操就到!
曹操: 魔王! 你叫我干嘛?
魔王: 哇唠! 看到鬼!
鬼: 靠! 被发现了!
靠: 胡说! 谁发现我?
谁: 关我屁事?
魔王: Oh my GOD!
上帝: 谁叫我?
谁: 没有人叫你啊!
没有人: 我哪有?

从此, 魔王精神分裂...


很冷, 小心感冒... =))))

almost TGIF!

Devastated!!

Ok, an exaggeration. But I'm still upset.
Went for the Group Publicity Meeting just now. And saw Huiling there...been quite awhile since I last her..maybe 5-6 months?

First thing she said to me was nice: "Hey so nice to see you! Been so long!! And I no longer bump into you in Tampines! haaa..."
Then came the whammy: "But errr...you matured alot..hmm...yah, you look errr...more matured...dunno how to say lah...but definitely more matured...haa." She repeated the word 'matured' at least 3-4 times in that sentence!

And then she gave me a face that made me feel like as if i look like I'm 35 already.
*sulk sulk sulk*
=((

============
Work wise...things are going okay...think I'm in gear 3? Slow but steady...
And irritating the peeps in office (most notably Shirley since she sits in front of me hee...) with my loud laughter.
MK told me this today: "I'm giving you a one week break first...next week I'll sit down and brief you..."

OOOkie...am not looking forward to next week!! haa....but well..am curious to know the way he works...only worked with him on a minor thing once...

=============
Saw this really sweet young thing at the interchange today..dressed in harajuku style.
Prolly 15 or so? Was standing around with a group of her friends, dressed likewise.
Hair like feather duster, wearing those pumps and in a short short skirt barely covering their arses.
Thought she looked kinda cute lah in a young girl sort of way...till she took out a ciggy and lit up.
Puffed away and away...the rest followed suit. Seemed to me that she wa a 'leader' of some sort..

Sighz..kids these days...smoking at such an early age...girls somemore..

The prior generation always looks upon the following generation with a tsk-tsk view. Yeah?

me sleepy sleepy...

Quite fast, today's my 3rd day back at work..things are getting heavier since the discussion yesterday to delineate and segregate the various mktg roles between me, win and celia.
Got some tasks lined up here and there..some cleared, others pending...wonder how things'll be...

Today was quite stoned...got up feeling stoned and was stoned till about 2plus 3...
And as purpleskies puts it, quote unquote: "Michelle is perpetually stoned anyway....."
*hmph* but true lah..haaa.... =p

Abit disappointed that the sec sch gathering had to be postponed...TH & PQ sick, Ally, Kaemin late...
No choice but to postpone to another day...gonna have to arrange meet-ups with some others too...
Though have to spread out abit to conserve energy haa....

===============
Went for dinner with Choy family at Da Dong Restaurant in Chinatown, quite near the Food Street thingy...
As usual, dajie was damn entertaining. Er jie seemed abit tired and quiet..Mama c was sibei cute and papa c was his usual self...damn funny.
And hmm...they seem to enjoy opening champagnes during dinners...haaa...

Muahahah!! Ate wat mum did not allow me to eat for the past month!! I.e. eggs, beef and erm..dried scallop.
The dried scallop was an accident..didn't realise it was dried scallop till much later.
Or maybe my subconsciousness told me to bo chup and not pay any heed to it..haha..

================
Walked from OUB Centre to the dinner place..think me n him took about 15-20mins?
The old injury on the right foot acted up again..damn..was hobbling at one point in time..
As we were walking, there was this small sidewalk cafe and voila!
Kristin was there having dinner! Super small world..can meet at such an ulu place...
And miraculously, after meeting her, the pain in my right foot was gone and I managed to walk as per normal...hmmm...weird....

================
Silly me Silly me!!!!
Am super happy!!!! HAHAHAH!!!!
Finally got to eat my fried fish noodles for lunch today!! WOOHOO!!!!
My Earth Kitchen Fried Fish Noodles with Shao Xing Wine!! *slurp slurp*
And the soup was inflinchingly, inexorably, tenaciously : GORGEOUS!!!
hmm..maybe I shdn't use the word gorgeous, should use the word : SUPERLICIOUS!! =D
Lotsa good food today...haa.....I'm a happy woman!

================
Ok. Me smelly. Me go bathe now.
Me sleepy. Me go sleep after bath.
Me tired. Me go drink chicken essence later.
ME STONED.

*burp* after dinner

Muahahha….my doppelganger is…..JESSICA ALBA!
Yeah, I wish.

Loved her ever since I saw her in Fantastic Four. Wow…think she looks so pretty and her figure’s great!!
Big expressive eyes, voluminous hair, super flat tummy…*slurp*

But think the latest Tiger Beer ad doesn’t really do justice to her though…
It didn’t really capture the qualities of her dapper image.
Plus, her exposure in the ad wasn’t really long leh. Or maybe she was too expensive?

============
Since we’re on the topic of Tiger Beer.

I’m kinda proud that our homegrown beer brand is doing so well…
Hell, they've got 35 breweries all over the world…with the latest one being commissioned to start construction in Mongolia…

Cool. Simply Cool. :)

============
The red biscotti messaged me yesterday to tell me he got accepted into NIE.
Good for him. Haaa....just wondering if he is happy with his last resort?? Cos the bond's for 3 or 4 yrs I think.

Cun imagine him teaching chemistry to a bunch of disinterested pubescent teenagers...
Hmm...pouring chemicals, distilling liquids, differentiating nitric acid from hydrochloric acid and handling test tubes??
Will also be teaching PE...hmm..meaning it'll be a total of 2 yrs in NIE. He'd better train up man!

HeH.

============

~To comport in the way that I have is inevitably my right~

B A C K @ w o r k

1st day back at work! Wheeee....

Got up at 7am as opposed to the usual 11am during the last 7 weeks..trudged my way through the morning rituals. Was surprised that the clockwork mechanism was still somewhere within me.
Thought it would have faded or gone awry with the hiatus. :)

Anyhow, Lady Luck must have been with me when my feeder bus came just as I reached the bus-stop.
Also managed to get a seat on the train. Caught more than 40 (thousand) winks en route to Tanjong Pagar..

Maybe it's been awhile since I last took a train to work amidst the masses of our forlorn-looking lot of office workers. Cos I kinda felt abit tired by the time I reached and made my way up to office.

Swiped my access pass, went in quietly and was bombarded with a series of welcomes, cheerful calls, huge smiles and hallos! Haha...think they were more excited than I was! =D
Said I looked about the same…but as usual, kena suan, haaa…
Siva mentioned: “Outside look okay. Inside don’t know okay or not!!”

Spoke to Jen too about the doc’s memo of my working hours.
Am very appreciative of the flexibility extended to me. And the welfare too…

Felt nice to be back amongst the denizens of LHUB.
Felt nice to be exercising abit of brain muscle too. Ha…
=))

==========
Vanity strikes yet again! Crankiness after a day's work...
Well haha..almost a day's work considering I spent 80% of my time chatting and updating myself with the rest...tsk, I should be ashamed of myself!! *muahaha*

Specially for Purpleskies & Cheerleaderjen

Hey babes,

Not sure if you'll get to see this anytime soon.
Just wanted to let you know that though things are very heavy-going in office now and that you gals are getting damn exhausted..almost to the point of collapse...hold on tight to the railings yah!
Jiayou Jiayou Jiayou!

I can't do much to alleviate anything.
Except to morally support you and lend a listening ear if need be. And maybe to entertain you gals more in office..haa..
Nah, kidding...shall spare you both of my ridiculous antics... =)

And hey red tomato, it's always tough juggling work and studies..but remember this :
"When the going gets tough, the tough gets going"

Who knows, your performance bonus next year might be a big and fat one? ha...something to look forward to yah..a simple motivation to spur you gals on..

And purpleskies, when you do get that fat bonus, pls remember to save ah!

Cheerios,
Shell

Dragon Squad

Went to watch “Dragon Squad” today. Wanted to see Vaness Wu in action…nice hairstyle and great smile...*salivate*

But man oh man..it was yet another gory action flick.
Wasn’t as gory as Tom Yum Goong…but think it was 70-80% there…with chopped legs, hands and ears. Blood splattering everywhere and brains spilling too.
Generally quite an okay show, with some little parts of romance and a minute dose of comedy thrown in for good cause.

Was abit disappointed that Simon Yam’s role in the movie was a limited one. Think his total appearance was less than 10mins. Would have loved to see him and his crinkly laughing eyes much more… :))

The other veteran in the show was…Samo Hung…Kaoz…Don’t know what to say. Quite amazed at some of the stunts and action bits that he did (or maybe it wasn’t him but a stunt double??). Considering the fact that he’s piled on lots and lots of extra blubber.

There were a few scenes which caught his side profile and he did seem like he was in his “last trimester” or his “fourth trimester” (if there was one).

And I thought Maggie Q looked great as usual..cool, calm and there's also this "don't f*ck with me" look about her that I think she carries off very well..haa...

~little girls~

Popped by an arts and craft cum knick-knacks push cart stall at Century Square while out just now. Was looking through some interesting stuff when a voice next to me suddenly greeted me: “Yes, how can I help you?” It was a shrilly voice, definitely a child’s. I turned around and found myself staring at a wisp of a girl with a ponytail, around 7years old.

Wah seh, not bad siah! I thought to myself. The little girl sounded professional, mature for her age and was even adept at instigating me to "take my time" and browse around.

I was kinda caught off guard and didn’t reply. She continued and launched her sales pitch: “Are you looking for something? That one costs $2 and you can actually use them to make…blah blah blah..the pink colour one is not bad....”

I shushed her up..and then glanced around. Where the hell’s the mother? Oh ok…right there entertaining another 2 customers...Guess it's the festive season and lotsa people are shopping around for small gifts..

And then suddenly, another girl came over to serve me too. This one was prolly the elder sis, not more than 9 years old. She sounded equally mature and was also more polished and well-trained in her sales pitch…this elder sis could even cross-sell and up-sell me other products too man…

And come to think of it, their English was immaculate!
Whoa, I AM SIMPLY IMPRESSED!!!

Good idea to use one's kids to help out at one's stall. For one, with their innocence and child-like sincerity, it's easier to close sales..who can say no to a little girl in pigtails with puppy-dog watery eyes and dressed in a cutesey dress?? And also, guess it builds on their character and confidence too...a good way to expose them to different situations out there...

========================================================

Tao Zhe ~ LOVE CAN Concert 2005

COUNTDOWN : 14 more days to go!!

========================================================

This is probably dumb...but erm...can anyone help me out here?
Out of the two sentences below, which is the grammatically correct version?
Suddenly both versions seem correct to me...hmm...*scratch head*

1. 14 days more to go!!
2. 14 more days to go!!

Newspaper ads

Been reading the papers with more zest and thoroughness lately, since I’ve the luxury of having more time on my hands. Noticed that the number of car ads have increased especially over the past week and a half or so…Most notably Mazda pushing their Mazda 3 model series…haa…

Advertising space in the papers can be broken down into the following rough categories I think.
40% of adspace will be taken up by condos and other private property homes.
30% will be taken up by furniture/electrical goods stores like Harvey Norman, Courts and Ikea...
with them splurging on huge centrepage ads and fullpage ads…
10% will be for beauty ads like slimming and bust enhancement.
And the remaining 20% will be for other stuff like retailers, banks, etc...

Can’t help but notice the advertising budget of some companies.
Fullpage full colour almost everyday.
One fullpage full colour ad costs almost $20K leh..excluding design costs somemore.
Phew…wonder how it’s like working in their mktg dept…hmm….*evil grin*...MUAHAHAHA

Aw man…"job hazard"…to think that when I flip the papers, I will also go and notice these kind of things..haa…

the works of one's mind...

What's with love and jealousy and hatred?? It's creepy how people change when love transcends into hate and jealousy. It's scary how people morph into another alter-ego ala Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

There's so much in the news lately..the Indian man who chopped his wife into pieces cos he was suffering from acute jealousy syndrome (a mental disorder) and was under the impression that his wife was committing adultery...the Chinese man who stabbed his young Indonesian wife...the married Chinese man who stabbed himself to death when his Filipino girlfriend spurned him...

And just today in the papers, the married man who, after his mistress ended their affair, hired 3 teenagers (aged 15 to 16) to murder her and gouge her eye out. The first thing that came to my mind was : Anthony Ler..

But anyhow, the bottomline is..it's just plain scary how a person can behave when love/jealousy/hatred/anger or some other strong emotions cloud his/her mind.

An out of point observation: the 3 teenagers hired to do the killing were offered $500...which they accepted...$500 only????? and they agreed to do the deed???? piangzzz......*faint*

============
Woohoo!! My dearie Jay Jay is sooooooo talented! Just read Life which said that he's directing his own music video for one of new songs "Snow-Like Hair" and is even in talks with S.H.E to direct some of their MTVs too...

muahaha....Go Jay Go!!

cohabitation & our local TV scene

Hmm...I think most adults of my parents’ generation still frown upon the concept of cohabitation. A couple yet to be married but already living together. Tsk, absolutely detrimental to the girl’s reputation they would say. And absolutely ungentlemanly of the guy. But err…seems like an okay idea to me though haaa…

What you see ain’t always what you get. How will you know if you have seen all there is to your other half? Besides, marriage is a lifelong commitment and well, I think cohabitation before marriage allows the couple the chance to interact and communicate in closer quarters and in new circumstances compared to the usual dating plateau.

Haa…spoke to some friends before…most like me are open to the idea..but they wouldn’t really go ahead and do it, out of respect for their parents (unless their parents really don’t mind). And some guys say, out of respect for the girl’s reputation, even if she doesn’t mind.

Hmm…wonder in SG how many peeps out there are actually sharing an apartment before marriage..Are there any stats on this? muahahah....

===========
Actually come to think of it, our local programmes, variety shows, infotainment shows, etc aren’t that bad lah. It’s quick and easy to throw criticisms and caustic remarks, but hey, cut the TV station some slack…

Programmes like Man-O-Man, Yuan2 Lai2 Jiu4 Shi4 Ni3, Ye4 Shang4 Hai3, Super Funkies, etc are quite interesting actually. Though some themes might be repetitive at times (like food, travel and fashion), who are we to blame the scriptwriters and producers of these shows? They, who have to constantly churn out innovative ideas of presentation about things to do/see in tiny tiny Singapore or about other social issues?

Then there’s the criticism of local copycat spoofs of overseas programmes, like our gameshows and even the Singapore Idol, yada yada…Take it with a pinch of salt lah, if there’re winning formulae which work overseas, I don’t see why can’t we import the same idea to our local shores? With appropriate customisation to the local context, that is.

As for dramas, IMHO, think they have improved a lot over the years. Kudos to the team too for collaborating with other TV stations in HK, Taiwan, China and Malaysia to bring fresh angles and slants to the storyboards.

unsound sleep...

T’was a night of unsound sleep again..didn’t pop any sleeping pill the doc prescribed beforehand…

Thought that the day’s activities would have rendered me tired enough to just enter a deep sleep. But I think my sleep throughout was marred by dreams here and there. Can’t really remember most of it…just fuzzy, blurry images..all except that I remember someone who appeared in my mind : Daniel Quek. Can’t remember what scene did he appear in though.

Lost touch with him for so long liao..hmm..slightly more than 2.5 years at least? The last I ever saw of him was during his 21st bday at East Coast Costa Sands. And then again, that was like a 10 minute thingy only to pass him his pressie.

Kinda miss those fun days we had, he and Lawrence as the Hugo Boss guys and me and Magdalene as the “tie” gals…Wonder if he still stays in Bedok South?

rainy day today...

Had another review with the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Centre today...hate to say this again but this time round, things are even more screwed up..waited for 2.5hrs...went in for 10 minutes or so and I was out..

And can't believe it but mum kinda made a scene at the registration counter when my appointment was over and was making payment for the consultation..was asking the staff why the system's so screwed up, made so many people wait.. and blah blah blah...seriously didn't know where to hide my face...everyone else at that clinic was just staring at her...

Went PS after that..managed to catch some glimpses of YanDaoKia strutting his stuff on stage...pity that fella didn't smile too much..haa...else he would have "killed" more pple with his cheeky grins...ahboy commented his bod looked great....haaa...

went for dinner at Pasta Mania...hmm..not a very satisfying dinner..but better than having rice at home hehehe...

Oddity

Autumn leaves of
Gold, brown and red in hue
Spiralling through the air
Sailing on carpets of wind
Denizens of Mother Nature

They fall
Ever so gracefully
From trees of age old descent
Onto the moss and lichen
Covered ground below

The adventurous ones float farther
And lay themselves
Onto gurgling streams
Riding mild torrents
Towards lands of yonder

Alas I stand there
Amidst the falling specks of gold
An ugly gash in the canvas of serenity
And hitherto I realised that
I am out of place

Perplexity & Listening

When one can
And another can’t
When one does
And another doesn’t

It all adds to strain
Will it not?
What an anomaly
To decipher

Hey, sorry that I wasn’t of much help...

===============
Listening is such a rare commodity nowadays...Glad I still have people to rally around and listen to me…Likewise I will do so for them..even if I can’t do much to alleviate the situation, the least I can do is to be an outlet for them…an avenue of letting off…and to just be there for them...

Back to.........w o r k

Had my review with JT today..will be going back to work next week...

Partially glad cos I'll be able to see the rest and have things to do...partially apprehensive cos stamina's not too good and I might get tired easily...anyhow, doc gave me a memo too...more like a tickt pass entitling me to a 6hr workday every week till the end of the year....when he handed that to me..I was like..."WAH?? Like that also can???"

Anyway, guess things will have to discussed with Jen & ET...haaa...the lian was hopping for joy...says her "saviour" and "entertainer" is coming back...haa...

And guess what? In the few moments after I sent out the email informing HR & Jen & ET that I'll be back next week, I received a mail from ET...Piangzz....workplan for the week ending 18th Nov...

Rendered me speechless...simply speechless...and my name was on some of the things to do...yup, can understand that they do need to delegate as I'm officially back as part of the team..haa...but hey!! I need some time to get back on track! It's been almost 2 months!! I've lost touch! aaaa.....lian has to be my babysitter and guide me back on track....dun care *hmph*

late afternoon ditziness..

Don't know how come but Xingli suddenly popped up in my head...
Haa...the infamous big head & small head in hostel days...
Ah well, till now actually..haa..Needless to say who's the big head too..





===================================
About 3 days after the op..
Eyes were super bloodshot..
Head all wrapped up..



About 5 days after the op..
Feeling better after more rest

Just discharged!
Head's in a scarf cos mum was paranoid...
About the wind blowing dust particles into the wound.




At home..
En route to full recovery!




Haaa...a 4-pic mini chronicle of my recovery path...
1st two pics in hospital were courtesy of my dad...who was "proudly" taking pics of his daughter to show his friends...
Piangzz...made me feel like a zoo exhibit on display...

I'm Glad There Is You

Heh, yet another song from Catching Tales...

I’m Glad There Is You

Said I many times
Love is illusion
A feeling result of confusion
With knowing smile and blasé sigh
A cynical so and so, am I

I feel so sure, so positive
So utterly unchangeably certain
Though I never was aware of loving you
‘Til suddenly I realized
There was love in you

And oh
In this world of ordinary people
Extrordinary people
I’m glad there is you
In this world of overrated pleasures
And underrated treasures
I[‘m glad there is you
I live to love and
I love to live
With you beside me

This role so new
I’ll muddle through with you
If you’ll guide me through
In this world
Where many many play at love
And hardly any stay in love
I’m glad there is you
More than ever
Said I many times, love is illusion

Oh God

In relation to my previous post..about so many things happening in this world...
There's this song in Jamie Cullum's new album "Catching Tales"

OH GOD

I know it's been a while
Since I have talked to you
But maybe you’re the one who
Makes the winds blow
We’re looking at the stars without explanation
We contemplate as kings and simple men on trial
Our little world’s fragile

Oh God
Can you tell us when
It’s going to stop
Maybe it’s not
Just down to you

Oh God
Can we win back
What we have lost
So who’s the last resort
Oh God

Tumbling towards unclear destinations
Do they wash away the pain
The wind and the searing rains
As our powers interchange

Oh God
Can you tell us when
It’s going to stop
Maybe it’s not
Just down to you

Oh God
Can we win back
What we have lost
So who’s the last resort
Oh God

Lazy Tuesday Afternoon

Think going out for a few times has helped..I do feel happier...and less grumpy..
Smelling some "outside" air has done my insides some good...wooooo......

==========
Read an article yesterday's about UN funds being crippled cos of the huge number of disasters which have occurred this year...things from Hurricane Katrina, to the India/Pakistan quakes, to the ones in El Salvador...

Liews..Pakistan's death toll hit 73K...figures are rounded up to the thousand...with margins of error also up to the thousands...so many of those who survived are still starving with no shelter available...

Then there's the riots in France, bombings anywhere and everywhere...the bird flu epidemic thingy..

Sighz...what's the world coming to??
~Feeling safe on our tiny island~

===========
Might take up a Malay language course.

Did some mini research and was hoping that the community centres will have what I'm looking for (conversational malay)....because afterall, it's cheaper learning with them...but AIYAH!!! As fate would have it, all those CCs that do offer the course are so FAR away, all the way in Jurong, Woodlands and Marsiling..argh!!

Had no choice but to research on the private schools and learning centres instead. Found one located at Simei's Eastpoint Mall...course starts around end November...hmm...$250 for 10 lessons of 2.5hrs each...

hmm....yeah...think I should go for it...

============
Oh no. Think I've succumbed to it already.
It's taking some conscious effort on my part not to type in SMS or MSN language.

Was updating my CV the other day when I realised I actually worded some phrases with short forms and other such weird lingo...

TSK TSK.

=============
Ah San's wife has given birth! On Sunday..
Baby Girl... :) At the age of hmm...32...
haaa...father of 2 liaos...must suan him when I see him the next time round..