New Member of the Fruities?

I feel like adding another member to the Fruities gang.


Hmm mm...First, lemme intro you to the original gang...the most recent picture, just taken 2 Fridays ago...at Brazil Churrascaria at 6th Avenue...

Glenn on top is the known as The Lemon..
Sunshine smiley on the outside..He can be extremely sour and bitchy when he wants to.....lol

The lady in black is known as The Cherry.
How this name came about seriously I cannot remember. But Lemon & I had a discussion.
A theory says Chloe & Cherry ( and Chiew Huey ;p private joke) both share the same starting letters of CH...
Another theory says is of an unpopped cherry...fresh, sweet, succulent and inviting..oh well, but we all know, we all know the sordid stuff...

And the one in yellow...oh well...is known as The Kiwi.
And I seriously cannot recall how it came to be as well. Only know that it came about because of a conversation I had with the Lemon. About fuzz and furry round things...which can be sweet at times and extremely sour at times...

And the one thing common with all 3 fruits is that...when not sweet, they're probably sour sour bitches.. hahaha....

And then came another member...

Jenice with the wavy hair is known as The Lychee...
Hmm...maybe cos she's rosy & fair at the same time...generally sweet & juicy...
The clueless innocent bystander when lewd jokes are flying around...

Ok, I think See Soon should be a member of the Fruities...And he IS the King of sexual innuendos..Ok, though his age differs from us by a great deal lol...he's still a darling to be with...
I wonder what we can call him...hmm mm...The Pisang?

I would love to have our MSN conversation plastered here but oh well...too much sordid details to put out here in cyberspace....Let's just say it involved the words "keras" and "tembak".

Lol....

hmm mmmm...

Je pense que j'ecris en francais plus mieux que je parle en francais....

I think I write better in French than I speak in French...

Je dois practiquer parler en francais plus qu'avant...Peut-etre je peux meme pense en francais aussi..

I have to practice speaking in french more than before..Perhaps I can even think in french also...

Night out with Enigma

Had dinner with Enigma at Changing Appetites in Marina Square just now.
My virgin time there...didn't know that the restaurant served Mexican & American cuisine..

Had a grilled dory served with plain Fajitas...you were supposed to wrap it all up in the fajita or was it tortilla..
Can't remember...some prata looking plain piece of flour that you were supposed to wrap your food in.
Much like the Mexican version of the local popiah...
Interesting lah haha...had fun playing with the food..

We conversed in French (albeit broken French) abit...He spoke more though cos he was more used to conversational French plus he had a colleague who speaks french too and can practice with....

I hate speaking in French cos my thought processes get really very slow so I switched to Mandarin or English half the time...lol..
Nevertheless, it gave me a good opportunity to practice a little...

Caught up on each other's situations, blah blah blah.....

And we left early, around nine-ish...We happened to be on the bridge in between Marina Square & Suntec Convention Centre and the VOILA!!! The fireworks started!

How timely!!

Got a good space along the bridge and just stood there for 15 minutes watching the fireworks display...
Hmm..would have preferred a more appropriate companion to watch the display with but oh well... haha shan't gripe too much....;p

As I watched the fireworks go off in a myriad of colours, shapes and proportions...
I realised something...One knows one has become a cynical adult when one looks at the fireworks and thinks to his or herself the following...

There goes my taxes. There goes your taxes. There goes our taxes!!!??!!!
How much money has been spent on these fireworks??!!!
Not only for this display, for the 3 NE rehearsals, one preview show and the actual NDP?
There goes lotsa money which maybe could have ben put to better use?

I mean, the though that the fireworks were nice to look at did cross my mind...But it was only transient beauty...
I was drawn more to the fact that *bham* $5,000 was gone in 2 seconds...
Another *bham* and $8,000 was gone in 3 seconds...

Ah well...the SG government is rich..................................

Took the long walk through citylink to get to the MRT station..
Passed by the new ice-cream parlour shop (forgot the name)..the one selling French sweet parfait.....
Bought a waffle cone titled Chocolat Sienne to share...
It was essentially chocolate ice-cream mixed with chopped-up brownies and chocolate chips...

What a sinful night......Hmm...and my throat is not 100% well yet...
Opps........;p

Oh yah, Enigma's treat tonight....woot woot! ahhaa...

Take a Deep Breath

If every sigh really makes you lose a drop of blood.
Then I have prolly lost more than pint since the past 2 weeks.

The workdays have been peppered with sighs.

Sighs as a result of being caught in a situation in between two people..
Sighs as a result of frustration.
Sighs as a result of not knowing what to list a priority item.
Sighs as a result of impatience.
Sighs as a result of trying to maintain my coolness.
Sighs as a result of keeping a check on my emotions.
Sighs as a result of exasperation.
Sighs as a result of not being able to do what I want.
Sighs as a result of not knowing what to do.
Sighs as a result of dealing with people who act like they know what you want.
Sighs as a result of people who are nice but really cannot deliver their work.
Sighs as a result of feeling breathless cos of a stuffed nose.

Hmm mm, that's a lot of sighs hor?

Oh well, may a rainbow appear soon and drive those sighs away...
May the sun permeate through my skin and warm me through and through...

Le Test Francais

Ok, I am gonna do something guilty.

Am gonna skip French test on Saturday...

Really didn't have the time to revise for it.

Totally not confident of the test...and I hate the oral...:(

Egalitarianism & Moral Law

Egalitarianism....That's a big word...
But it essentially means "asserting, resulting from, or characterized by belief in the equality of all people, esp. in political, economic, or social life."

Thought the below was quite interesting...
Busy as I was, when Sandra sent it to me during the afternoon's dreary hours, I took some time off work to read it line by line...Mind you, I didn't just scan through hor.. ahha

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

By Lee Wei Ling (daughter of LKY)

I was born and bred in Singapore. This is my home, to which I am tied by family and friends.
Yet many Singaporeans find me eccentric, though most are too polite to verbalise it. I only realised how eccentric I am when one friend pointed out to me why I could not use my own yardstick to judge others.

I dislike intensely the elitist attitude of some in our upper socio-economic class. I have been accused of reverse snobbery because I tend to avoid the wealthy who flaunt their wealth ostentatiously or do not help the less fortunate members of our society. I treat all people I meet as equals, be it a truck driver friend or a patient and friend who belongs to the richest family in Singapore. I appraise people not by their usefulness to me but by their character. I favour those with integrity, compassion and courage. I feel too many among us place inordinate emphasis on academic performance, job status, appearance and presentation.

I am a doctor and director of the smallest public sector hospital in Singapore, the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI). I have 300 staff, of whom 100 are doctors. I emphasise to my doctors that they must do their best for every patient regardless of paying status. I also appraise my doctors on how well they care for our patients, not by how much money they bring in for NNI. My doctors know I have friends who are likely to come in as subsidised patients. I warn them that if I find them not treating any subsidised patient well, their appraisal - and hence bonus and annual salary increments - would be negatively affected. My doctors know I will do as I say. I remind them that the purpose of our existence and the measure of our success is how well we care for all our patients - and that this is the morally correct way to behave and should be the reason why we are doctors. In NNI, almost all patients are given the best possible treatment regardless of their paying status.

My preference for egalitarianism extends to how I interact with my staff. I am director because the organisation needs a reporting structure. But my staff are encouraged to speak out when they disagree with me. This tends to be a rarity in several institutions in Singapore. The fear that one’s career path may be negatively affected is what prevents many people from speaking out. This reflects poorly on leadership. In many organisations, superiors do not like to be contradicted by those who work under them. Intellectual arrogance is a deplorable attitude. ‘Listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story,’ the Desiderata tells us.

It is advice we should all heed - especially leaders, especially doctors. I speak out when I see something wrong that no one appears to be trying to correct. Not infrequently, I try to right the wrong. In doing so, I have stepped on the sensitive toes of quite a few members of the establishment. As a result, I have been labelled ‘anti-establishment’. Less kind comments include: I am indifferent to these untrue criticisms; I report to my conscience; and I would not be able to face myself if I knew that there was a wrong that I could have righted but failed to do so. I have no protective godfather. My father, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, would not interfere with any disciplinary measures that might be meted out to me. And I am not anti-establishment. I am proud of what Singapore has achieved. But I am not a mouthpiece of the government. I am capable of independent thought and I can view problems or issues from a perspective that others may have overlooked.

A few months ago, I gave a talk on medical ethics to students of our Graduate Medical School. They sent me a thank-you card with a message written by each student. One wrote: ‘You are a maverick, yet you are certainly not anti-establishment. You obey the moral law.’ Another wrote: ‘Thank you for sharing your perspective with us and being the voice that not many dare to take.’ It would be better for Singapore’s medical fraternity if the young can feel this way about all of us in positions of authority.

After the SARs epidemic in 2003, the Government began to transform Singapore into a vibrant city with arts and cultural festivals, and soon, integrated resorts and night F1.

But can we claim to be a civilised first world country if we do not treat all members of our society with equal care and dignity?

There are other first world countries where the disparity between the different socio- economic classes is much more extreme and social snobbery is even worse than in Singapore. But that is no excuse for Singaporeans not to try harder to treat each other with dignity and care. After all, both the Bible and Confucius tell us not to treat others in a way that we ourselves would not want to be treated. That is a moral precept that many societies accept in theory, but do not carry out in practice.

I wish Singapore could be an exception in this as it has been in many other areas where we have surprised others with our success.


The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.
Think-Tank is a weekly column rotated among eight heads of research and tertiary institutions.

prayers...

I pray that

Tomorrow will be a better day...

Next week will be a better one...

The months and years to come will be good and wonderful...

All things will solve themselves...

All things will sort themselves out...

I will be healthy, happy and strong...

I will have more patience...

I will know what to do when situations arise...

People do not irk me...

Operational issues will smoothen themselves out...

I have the answers to what the staff ask me...

I have the answers to what the bosses ask me...

Things will be less busy...

I will be more confident and self-assured...

The path ahead of me will be clear, smooth and free of big obstacles...

And I pray that....

Granny is ok...

Mum, Dad, Bro, Mei, Marc are ok...

Choy family are ok...

My friends and family are ok, healthily and happily leading their lives...

Love and hope will fill us all with happier thoughts...

Horror of Horrors

*SCREAMS*

Yikes~!!! I have the Chloe-syndrome~!!!

*AAAHHHH*

I just sent an email out to my colleague & said "Hi Michelle"

**AAAAHHHH**

disclaimer = this post was not intended to harm anyone or any c-hole or any nana or any cherry or any purpleskies....muahahhaha ;p

Sights of Siem Reap (III) - the ancient ruins

Used to be named one of the 7 Wonders of the World...the Angkor Wat. This is just one of the small temples leading towards the Angkor Wat.This temple is called Ta Phrom. Or "Old Brahma" as translated by the English-speaking guide I hired. This temple has many strange trees growing on top of the ancient walls & structures...
The lady...aiyah!! spoilt my picture!!! %$%&%^(*

Some more weird trees growing on the stones.....

Scary hor? Roots like tentacles....

One of my fav pics..heee!
Wonder how those people built all these structures all those years ago...

This was built in the 9th century...

Lots of steep steps to climb...

And man-made steep stairs if the original stone steps have been worn away by years of erosion.
Check out how steep this one was...with only railings on one side...
And it was raining when I took this pic...Was concentrating really really hard when I was going down the stairs...Both hands were on the railings man hahaha..

It's a pity the pic turned out dark..Not a pro photographer lah ahhaa.

There's a lake in front of Angkor Wat...Check out the perfect reflection of it in the lake...

Pure symmetry!!!

And here's another section of the Angkor Wat...
Reflected in a smaller pond within the compunds of the temple itself....

Hehe...

Some of the stairs are so steep, it's almost vertical...maybe close to 75-80 degrees....
You need to get use both hands & feet to climb...else you'll fall backwards....
Some are too steep and they don't allow anyone to climb..like this one in this pic

A different perspective. There's a singular tall palm tree in the background...
The Cambodians believe that palm trees are a symbol of goock and fortune...

One side of the 4-faced Buddha..

What more can I say??
Tired, sore & muddy feet... ahahha after lots of climbing & walking in the rain....:)))

Sights of Siem Reap (II) - the rural life

I used to think and imagine what Singapore looked in the days of the 19th century and early 20th century...maybe like this?

Attap houses next to rivers. Coconut trees growing tall in your courtyard...no fences around you..the doors aren't even closed...

Took this whilst I was in a hired van, hence the grainy, blurry picture...

But it's enough to show the kampong lifestyle of the rural areas just outside of Siem Reap

And in the areas nearer the bigger sections of the river, they build the houses on stilts..
Just in case the river swells and overruns its banks...

Fishing Village of Tonle Sap, about a 10minute drive from the main city area of Siem Reap..
It was quite an overcast day...

Life on the waters....These people cook, bathe, play, study, fish in & on these waters...

There are even schools built permanently over the river, police stations...and churches as can be seen in the next picture..

Not all are Cambodians..there are about half of them who are Vietnamese..staying here in Cambodian waters illegally without any valid passports...and without any valid visas...

Hearsay the policemen just close one eye about it...cos well, it's their livelihood...and of course, maybe the policemen earn extra $$ from not reporting these people to the authorities...if you know what I mean....

It was a Catholic Church if I recall correctly...

Policemen making their patrol rounds in the fishing village...Secretly snapped....but I think the last policeman on the right saw me....hmm mm....;p

Oh yah...I saw a little boy in a boat wearing a yellow ACS singlet...wah lau..I went like HAR???
"ACS singlet ley!!!" I shouted to ahboy...He looked stunned too...and replied "Probably donated by some guy in Singapore and it somehow found it's way into this fishing village.." hahaha...possible possible...

Sights of Siem Reap (I) - the "city" life

Was sitting at the 2nd storey of a little Parisien cafe...(Cambodia wass a French colony beofre)

A nice spot to observe what's happening below you..with lots of light streaming in through the windows...

In a country still so steeped in its own past and history and still so burdened by the troubles of its past...Tourism offers one of the alternative ways out of poverty and boredom.

It really sustains a whole sub-economy on its own.

From shops to hotels to tour agencies to massage parlours to restaurants to cafes...

They seriously look more appealing that those found in the Swensons menu!!

Here are some streetkids who happaned to notice me taking pictures from above.

They were on their rounds, picking up scraps from the sidewalks and from rubbish bins.

I guess picking up whatever they could still use or perhaps sell for a small sum of money.

Some more sights from the cafe...

This is in an area where the streets are more cleaned up cos it's a touristy area...

Other areas do not really have paved sidewalks...rather it's just sandy sidewalks...which makes the air kinda dusty...

Some of the common sights in the streets of Cambodia..

A streetkid wandering around barefoot on the roads...and a vendor peddling his wares...in this case, his coconuts...

Cute little girl who was playing hard to get with me.....running around and hiding before I finally got this shot...

She was munching on a piece of papaya...

Her dad was minding a shop selling sunglasses and watches at a "pasar malam" of some sort...

All prices are in USD. Check out the last sentence at the bottom...
"We don't serve dogs, cats, monkeys, rats or worms"
*faint* The more you proclaim, the more I won't step in hahaha...

*cough**splutter**hack*

Call it old wives' tales or what...
But I am starting to believe that when you have a cough, you shouldn't eat chicken...

I had a craving for claypot chicken rice today...and so I had it for lunch.

Byt mid-afternoon, my dry cough developed into a cough with phelgm.

TMD...-_-''

Conspiracy

I swear there's a conspiracy to not have me sleep in the afternoon.

From 1 plus to 3pm. I was working...

When I started getting drowsy from the medication at around 4pm, I decided I shold go have a nap.

And that was when the calls came. About 3 or 4 of them.

At regular intervals for the next hour.

Gosh. And no one was home to pick the calls except me.

The nap was aborted of course.

And a grouchy me plonked myself in my chair to read a book instead.

Bleah.

Needless to say, for thenext 45mins when I was reading my book, there were no more calls.

Double bleah.

Mingjie & Evelyn

Mingjie is the only person in this world who calls me by Mei Kim. Not even my parents call me that.

It irritates the hell out of me and I'd always give him a gruff reply or just a grunt in acknowledgement..
Still, it doesn't faze him and he'd continue with whatever he's going to say...

Lol, what can I say? I can't jeopardise a 15-yr old friendship just because he calls me by me dialect name..,.and he knows it as well. haha...just continues to call me that.

He called me up when I was having my Kway Teow Noodles soup for dinner just now.
Chatted for awhile, updated each other on things....

But mostly it was updating about his health situation.
He was warded recently for a 1-day observation cos of chest pains...did some tests and found out that he's got irregular heartbeat.

Regularly irregular as he calls in. haha.....

More tests need to be done though to ascertain if there's any other underlying issues. Hmm...hope there's nothing serious...

Asked him how was Evelyn. And then he tells me that eh just went for a day-op a few days ago.

"Wah lau!!" I exclaimed..."What happened to the two of you???"

Turned out Eve had a cyst on her neck and had it removed...thank god that it's just a small issue...nothing serious.

It's been a year since I last saw the both of them...at their ROM.. haha.

It's funny how Eve used to be jealous and suspicious of me...especially when I'm MJ's listening ears if and when he has problems...

I've seen them come a long long way...Really, since like 9-10 years ago maybe?
And am happy for them that things finally turned out right for them last year... :)

Wah nabeh.

When you have a red angry pimple on your left butt.

Every other irritating element in your life just seems to pale in comparison.

Help~!!!

August 18 2008

4 years 3 months....woot woot...!

Just realised having a dry cough is kinda irritating too.

Heng no fever though.....

Complain Queen

I've complained before and I shall do it again.

I had a working trip to KL in May. I had to fork out $700 on my own.

And till now they have yet to re-imburse me for my money spent.

I just checked my bank balance.

The claims were not paid together with my August salary...

Wah lau eh!!! If they only pay me in September, means they'll take 4 freaking months just to pay me this miserable sum of $$???

What about my opportunity costs lost? Who's gonna compensate me for that????

*seething*

Which reminds me. The $3K they owe me for my June trip has not come in yet too...

Woe behold me.

I told a friend that day that I had my funds tied up.

"Oh, in investments? shares? stocks?" she asked me.

"No, tied up in claims of which my finance department is taking a god damn long time to pay me back."

argh.................

Mind Over Body

And finally, my mantra has fizzled out a little in its power...
It managed to keep me going for the past week and a half...

"Mind Over Body" has served me well in the past few years.

But alas, the body is weaker than expected...the mind is also not as young and strong as it used to be... hahah lol.

The sore throat's there fr the past 4 days..and a dry cough has developed.
A leaky nose appeared yesterday and it was aggravated by the indescribably cold office I have in Suntec Tower 3.

Lol, I'll be on MC tomorrow.

Though still armed with my trusty Lenovo X61 lappie at home...every ready to respond to any email which might crop up suddenly.

Come to think of it, it's my virgin time taking an MC in IDA.
Wah....record man. One full year without any MC...woo! Power!!

Whee~!!

Singapore is a small & boring place...How to keep a relationship going?
Lol...I hear many say that. I hear many ask that. I hear many lament that.

I lament about it too sometimes.
And then at other times I try to find things to do...haha..could be something simple like just chilling out & stoning the day at Sentosa...

Or it could something like...............

Exploring the Southern Ridges!! ahhahaha
Or going to Bottle Tree Park!!! Heeee....there's prawn fishing there!

We should be heading to either of these 2 places in the last weekend of August when I don't have any French class...:)

Yet to do any research & planning yet though haha...

Looking forward to it!! :)))

Yipee!

Mr Wu Gui

Maybe I'm one of those whom people know will just somehow always be there.
Whether right up in front or lurking in the background. I'll just be there.

People who have disappeared for 1 or 2 years suddenly appear seeking help or just seeking a listening ear.

And in today's case. Someone who has disappeared for the past 1.5 to 2 years at least. Eversince he found a girlfriend.

I received a call on my mobile just now. 3pm on a Sunday afternoon.

That's extremely rare. The man wouldn't call me at this hour.
So I was wondering who the hell could it be? If it's one of those marketing calls, I'm gonna be a hostile bugger.

Ran from the kitchen to my room and saw the number. It was an overseas call.

It was even more perplexing. Who the hell could be calling me from overseas??
Was it a wrong number? A prank call?

Me: Hello??

And then a male voice said...."Hello?! Can I speak to Gao Jie??!!!"

OMG. It was Yiyong.
He's the only person in the whole wide world who calls me by that nickname.

It was abit of a shock to me. I could only muster up a "Where the hell have you been????" as my first response haha.

Rather, it was worded in a rather unpleasant Chinese sentence haha...."Ni3 Si3 Dao4 Na2 Li3 Qu4 Le4???"

Couldn't help it. Cos the bugger did not bother to contact me for the past 2 years ever since he had a girlfriend.
He didn't even wish my on my birthday!!! And we're only 10 days apart!

Nevertheless, I think I might be a person people go to when they're lonely or feeling down.
As was in this case. Lol. He's feeling kinda low and shitty.
2008 hasn't been very good to him I suppose.

Turned out that YY's back in Texas for another AirForce stint for 2 years.
Been there since Jan this year and will only be back in October 2009.

As we spoke on for the next 1.5 hours, I discovered he's single again, the girlfriend broke up with him only 4 months after he left SG.
And this happened even though promises were made and they already had plans to get married end of next year when he gets back home.
Sigh...the poor bloke has had relationship woes for as long as I can remember...

He as usual, is feeling lonely & homesick in Texas...

It's good to know in our 11 years of knowing each other that we're both as crappy with each other as when we were young & foolish 17 year-olds.

I remember when he called me on my 25th birthday from Texas (he had another overseas stint back then). I was super super touched.
And when he sms-ed me from overseas just before my brain operation. I was uber touched too...

Hearing his voice again after a hiatus of 2 years felt good...nice & warm. :)

The States & SG is about 13 hours apart so it was 3pm Sunday here in SG and 2am on Saturday in the States when he called me. Promised to call me again.

The only irritating thing is that there's a one second time lag in the phone connection between here & there.
I'll say a sentence and wait for him to respond to it haha...

I hope that goondu takes care of himself over there.
I hope he stops drinking & smoking & clubbing so much.
And I hope he manages to think through what he wants to do after his 10-year bond with the Air Force is up.

Looking forward to December when he'll be back for 2 months.
He promised a dinner & drinks appointment with me. I hope he follows through on it.

Take care over there my dear friend....
Yiyong..or affectiontely known to me as Wu Gui (turtle)...

W-E-I-R-D-O

Just saw this message in my Friendster. From a weirdo guy who wants to be a friend.
Lol. Perhaps his account was hijacked by some other weirdo.

Mobile number & full name has been sanitised just in case I am accused of blasting out other people's numbers.

(1) His grasp of the English lingo is quite lacking.
(2) Who starts off a "pick-up" email by tlaking about panadols & peanut lotus soup??????

========
Good evening.just woken up from sleep after getting home at about 5plus .bit unwell so eaten two panadol after that go to sleep .you ended your wrk? just eaten dinner .eaten rice with peanut lotus soup for dinner.drink plenty of water as weather quite hot and stuffy.mind be a friend ?.let me intro myself first ... Andy XXXX XX here, 23yrs old Singapore Chinese guy , height 1.72m n weight 60kg .

Short profile of myself. Single.staying woodlands area .completed army last year sep . wrking in outdoor sale line for coke. Tend to care for others more and also be truthful to others .wrking hard and hope to get my car licence so can drive mitsubishi lancer .love to eat dim sum and drink Soya bean.hardly clubbing , maybe once a year ,no smoking .Sincerely hope you give me chance to know you more.sometime do help out in housechores.always tend to care put others ahead before me.i do drink but it like only abt twice in half a year .me quite love to eat nice food

hi . my friendtser always very hard to access in . log off suddenly . keep on trying to log in so can send you this message you can sms me at 8222XXXX if you don mind .Sincerely hope able to recieve your sms .

Am i allowed bring you cross over to malaysia to eat next time or perhap in time to come ?Do known of famous stall selling herbal roast duck , japanese food , secret recipe and also bu kut teh.next time bring you go try .you like bu kut teh ?

When you are free i make fried "BEER" chicken wing for you to try .

sincerely hope can bring you go eat nice food next time

twitterings on a sunday

Aiyah!! Eyes kinda tired man... haha...
Puffy from last night's crying at the movies...bleah!!
Throat is still scratchy, think I should have a few water parade sessions today.. haha

Mum made barley water today...shall gulp lots of it to cool myself down..

======

Am a little jittery, nerves twitching, restless and I feel like there's pent-up energy in me waiting to be released...
Hmm should I go for a run later? The bed seems a nice companion too though haha...

======

Went for a run after class yesterday...
Went over to Marine Parade where ahboy picked me up...

Wasn't feeling a 100% okay with a slightly stuffed nose and a sore throat...

But surprisingly, I managed to run quite okay haha...
Thought I'd be out of breath by the time I hit 1.5km...Managed to tahan till more than 2.5km haha....

Ahboy did't run yesterday..lol. He brought his John Grisham book along, sat on a stone bench and waited for me to be done haha...

I call this a role-reversal....hahahaaaa. Woohoo!!

======

Khaled Hosseini's "A Thousand Splendid Suns" has managed to keep me hooked to it.

I was on the train yesterday, rumaged through my school bag and realised I forgot to bring the book along...

Man..it was a disappointing train ride!! haha...

======

Shit, mum cooked Mee Siam today.
Hmmmm....not good for a queasy tummy & my throat! hahaha

======

Ok, I shall try to be a patriotic citizen and watch the table-tennis finals this evening.

Afterall, PM Lee has even gottan the TV stations to postpone the telecast till tomorrow evening instead....

I'll try to feel proud if we really get gold. Really I'll try even if those playing for SG were all not born & bred in SG?

Hmm..did I start on a touchy subject?

What can I say. I'm in the mood for lovin'.

And yes, please think straight for those who have a tendency to do otherwise.

I miss the man already. And it's only been an hour since I last saw him. Lol.

Love this cute lil' pic because of the lamb in it.

I don't know why.

I like lambs & monkeys in cartoons & soft toys but not in their real form. Hehe.

Money No Enough 2

Watched Money No Enough 2 with ahboy just now.

Thought I was in for an easy show.....easy on the mind and laughter for the soul.

Gosh. I think I ended up crying more than laughing.

For those who have watched.

The part where the Mother asked Ah Hui "Have you eaten?" umpteen times....

It was something I could emphathise with. Gran does that all the time.

Though not with such a short interval between each question.

She'll ask the same question about 3-4 times in 30 mins.

The last 30mins of the show seriously worked my tear ducts....

This time round, the show is 90% in Hokkien. I dunno, I found it a little too much.

Haha...heng I could understand most of it...

And still, Jack Neo has touched on issues close to Singaporeans' hearts.

Edged with the usual political nuances of course.

And the usual human side of things people know of but don't usually acknowledge.

Sigh.

I am so dead.

Just found out that French test is the coming Saturday.

I thought it was on 30th August.

Sigh.

I don't think I have enough time to revise.

Argh.

Coming of Age...??

The age where you discover you are not as young as you used to be.

The point in time where you realise shit, I'm hitting the Big Three-O sooner than soon.

And the point of time in your life where you take a look back at your few years of working and wonder "What have I done anything significant??"

Slight sore throat, slightly leaky nose.
Slightly swollen tired eyes and aching shoulders.

It's really different being 28 and 24.

When I was 24, I could "cheong" late nights and still have energy for the next day.
I could work long OT, I could hang out with ahboy & friends till 2am and still get up bright & chirpy for work the next day...

At 28, after a few days of working doubly hard...wah, sibei shack man!!!
Haa ahhaha....

I need chicken essence & gingko biloba!!! hahah...

Of nicks & monikers & pet names??

Chloe

aka purpleskies

aka C-Hole

aka nana

aka Cherry


Hmm..what more shall we add to the list...
Muahahhaha.....*evil laughter*

==================
Michelle

aka shell

aka sardonica

aka giap or giappy or giap giap

aka datou or big head

gosh, I hope there's no more nicks coming along the way.....:)

Books Glorious Books!

I like books....
And I can be prety anal when it comes to my own books.

Lol. I was just having a conversation with Sandra in the afternoon... haha...
Was sharing with her that all my books are wrapped in plastic...I hate my books looking like dog-eared moth-eaten tattered literary pieces.

And I read my books in such a way that I try not to create any creases in the spine of the book.
The cover of the book needs to be protected as well, no creases there too....else it'll just break my
heart... ahhaa...

I just did a count...there's 33 books on my shelf...vying for space with my age-old CDs...

Oh yah, I have 4 books floating out there somewhere.

Two have been with an ex-bf for the past few years. I think they've migrated and are never coming back. Sigh.
Another is with a current colleague. And the last one is with an ex-colleague and has been with her for the past 2 years at least...I hope to get this one back though....It's the "5 people You Meet In Heaven" by Mitch Albom.

My hands are itchy..I feel like buying some more...But I don't really have spare space on my shelves already...:(

Sandra asked me why I wanna buy books. I said it's nice to own a book. It just feels nice.
And I feel happier reading a nice new book with clean pages and straight spines and covers with straight edges.

I'm anal I know. Hahaha..

Oh yah! And I hope I am being a god influence to the man. Lol, he's the owner of 2 John Grisham novels already....Which was an unheard of thing if it were 4 years back hahaha lol....;p

Am currently reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. This is his 2nd novel after critically acclaimed and full-blown success of "The Kite Runner".

The setting is still in Afghanistan in the same era as that of The Kite Runner.
I've yet to read enough to know the full storyline though. And I did not read any synopsis just so I really read it with a clean slate of mind without any preconceived notions & expectations haa...

But I do know, it's yet another simply written novel. Centering around human emotions.
Of love lived and lost. Of hopes alive and dashed. Of resignation, faith and dogged perserverence.

Think I shall go bathe now & then have a round of reading before I go to bed.

Work can be done tomorrow....:)

Meat Meat Meat Meat Meat Meat

*burp*

I feel meaty now.. haha...as in I'm full of meat.
Beef, ham, fish, salads...and my fav sauteed onions!!

Needless to say, I went to Brazil Churrascaria @ 6th Avenue..
I can't spell the name of the restaurant for nuts, just trying my luck & hoping I got it right haha...

Me & Glenn counted. I think it's about the 4th or 5th time we've been there as a group...Hee.

I had a lot of beef today. Ranging from well-done cuts to medium well to medium rare...
The medium rare pieces left patches of blood on my plate haha....much to the queasiness of Chloe!

Lawrence joined us today...1st time he's joined us on our outings...=))
But glad he came haha...

Jenice as usual looked pretty with her glitter eyeshadow & perfect complexion!! haha....

It's a pity Ah Kok couldn't make it at the last moment....I'd looked forward to seeing the old man...
Miss him!! He ran off after only about 30 mins at the previous gathering too....

Sexual innuendos and mindless chatter
Picture-taking and funny faces
Happy laughter and firm friendships
Private jokes and chirpy banter

It's nice to end a tough work week on such a note.
The weekend's here. I brought work home again this week.

But time to switch to French mode for tomorrow. Hmmm hope she doesn't question about homework. It's nil for me. Argh, the test is at the end of the month, I've not started any revision....!!!

Crossfire

I was in a meeting this morning. 15 or 16 of us were in there.
And for close to 15 mins, there was a verbal crossfire between 2 people. Between a lady & a gent.
With 13 or 14 others as spectators.

Sigh. Both are my teammates.

Bad blood spilleth over.

It was a tense and awkward situation. The boss had to step in.
The rest were stealing glances at each other. Wondering what happened.

I was sitting next to the guy.
I didn't know what else to do but to keep my head low and stare at my laptop in front of me.

If this persists between the two of them, it will be detrimental in the long run.
Gosh.

The lady SMS-ed me just now when I was on my way home.
Asked me if the guy didn't like her. Asked me if she had stepped on his toes unknowingly.
Asked me why he was so hostile towards her.
Told me that the way he treats me is so different from the way he treats her.

I don't want to be caught in between these two.
Not healthy at all for the team. Both me & some others are caught in the middle.

Come to think of it. Both are older than me. Piangzz.
Both have worked a combined total of 30 years.

And now this kind of situation.

I don't quite know how to handle it. Letting things remain the way it is no go.
Getting them to talk things out is not for me to suggest.
So?? No conclusion. Sigh.

Oh yes, the guy is a Dragon. The lady's a Dog.
Dogs & Dragons don't mix I suppose...hmm mm.

Coach for men?

I am perturbed.

I saw a guy carrying a black coach postman bag today.

And it totally looked weird to me.

I dunno. Coach on a guy just seems plain weird.

And I saw a guy using a Coach long wallet the other day too.

And it was equally weird to me.

Nah, I think BIZARRE is the correct word to use. haha.

The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible.

sibei motivating! haha...

The Day

I guess I spoke too soon.

My morning post about the day being seemingly better probably jinxed the rest of the day. lol.

I was 101% a grouchy bear whilst on my way home.

Pondering about the unfinished tasks on my plate.

I felt a sudden sudden urge to go jogging whilst on the train.

And so I went.

It took up some time.

But I'm glad it gave me the much needed adrenalin to keep the night going strong.

And it's been proven again.

I run better & more steadily when I feel agitated or stressed. haha.

I have been distracted.

I am supposed to be working on something now.

A paper to be submitted tomorrow morning.

I have not started on it at all.

FCUK.

Ok, off I go.....ciaos.

Can Do Can Do - We Can Do It If We Set Our Hearts To It!

This afternoon, I attended a very fun seminar talk by a Mr Ramesh Muthusamy from the Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group.

Very animated. Very vocal. Very comedic. Very loud. Very affable.

I sat there for 1h45mins. He talked for each & every second of it.

It's still a little fresh in my mind. And I had some take-aways fron the short workshop.
But whether or not I take action & work on it...remains to be seen.

The talk was about mindsets, perspectives & expectations. About how one is conditioned since young to bahave in a certain way.
About how winners & successful people break out of their conditioning to think new paths, break new grounds & try out innovative ideas.

Daring to dream was a main focal point.
The brain is an incubator...whether the eggs hatch into useful ideas or not.....
Depends largely on how you believe in yourself and how determined you are into putting your thoughts into actions.

What you turn out to be in life is determined by 2 things:
(1) The way you think
(2) Whether you DO or not

Can-Do versus Can-Die.

It doesn't matter how many times someone says "No" to you. What matters are those who say
"yes" to you.

And I like this point he made about setting goals.
The best goals you can set for yourself are those which when people hear of them, they say "You're nuts!!!"

Lol.

I had some of those before. But I'd rather call them day-dreams....

I guess....I'm ever the true-blue Singaporean.
Pessimistic, skeptical, selfish and ever complaining.

He asked who wrote down their goals. nobody put up their hand. Perhaps we were shy.
He encouraged us to do so. To jot down our goals. To read thjem regularly and take stock.

I'm glad to say I have been doing that on my own already.

Doesn't matter if I fall short of some. I guess the crux is that I'm trying? :)

And you know what? Adrian's email prefix is daretodream.
My big brother...who has always been strong in the heart and mind. We're so different...hmm mm.

One Years Old

Come September 17th, I'll be a year old in IDA.
How time flies really.

The 1 year has made me some good friends.
People whom I can absolutely crap around with and people whom I know I can turn to for help if problems arise.

HC has been a great help in work...
From solving my issues, to providing insight...to having long discussions over tea...
I've now developed a very good crapping rapport with him...Talking nonsense has never been so fun lol...He starts off a sentence to have me finish it and vice versa...
It's great that we're on the same wavelength! However warped our sense of humour may be haha...

KH has been wonderful...think I freaked him out when I started crying on the phone with him a few months back haha....
But he's since proven to be a good listening ear.....hehe...

In my short year, I've seen 3 people go...and many others join...
Really hope I don't get to see the day HC leaves..
And well..hope I make more good friends in the next year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years......in IDA???

Today seems a more positive day!!

Jiayou Jiayou Jiayou!!!

By the way, that's Zack. Daniel's Golden Retriever.

Less than a year old but already an overweight slob of a dog.

Brought him to the beach during Ahboy & Dan's OSIM triathlon at East Cost sometime back in July.

Most dogs will run around, Zack just picked a nice spot on the ground and laid down.

The only actions he did was to erm, wag his tail, pant and swat at insects.

And the only time he got up was when we had to go off....Lol.

Quotable Quotes

If I need to do more systems testing next week, I'll puke on my Technical Manager.

~~~~~~

~~

I have not been good this week. I have not done my French homework for Saturday's class.

And I don't think I have the chance to.

~~~~~~

~~

To know you have a precious someone in your heart just keeps you going.

~~~~~~

~~

I have not gone for any jogging session this week. And from the looks of it, I don't think I will too.

Maybe on Saturday with the man.

~~~~~~

~~

I feel like a wrinkled prune.

~~~~~~

~~

If I really need to go to Hyderabad (India) later in December this year, I'll scream at the boss.

~~~~~~

~~

Sometimes, you just need a break from everything. Question is, when will that time come?

~~~~~~

~~

Voila. I am still doing testing at home.

~~~~~~

~~

You need cute little pictures like this to brighten up your life sometimes.

Lol.

I am looking forward to the weekend.

But oh darn, it's only Tuesday.

Frustration to the Max.

Oh my effing god.

There's so much to do.

I don't know how to divide my time amongst all my tasks.

Work, test & personal..

*slaps forehead to the table*

AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Back!!! to reality...........

Voila! Je deja retourne de Cambodge.
Nous sommes restee pour 4 jours mais il ne fait pas tres beau.
Il a pleure tous les apres-midis. *xianz*

Je serai mettre les photos bientot...

Je suis fatiguee...Je veux me coucher maintenant..

Au revoir...zzzzz

~~~~~~~~~
Voila! I've already back from Cambodia.
We stayed there for 4 days but the weather wasn't very good.
It was raining every afternoon. *xianz*

I'll put up the photos soon....

I'm tired...I want to go and sleep now...

Bye...zzzzz

DQ...the resurrected memory

I think that Malaysian guys usually look younger than their age..
At least those I know look much younger than their age...

Spending 3 full workdays with the 2 vendors suddenly made me realise how much Danny reminds me of Daniel Quek.
Younger than me...shy...doesn't speak much but has a sense of humour...

This Dan I know of now is much more shy though and a little more awkward around me...And he definitely doesn't know how to sweet-talk a lady...
Maybe he's 4 years younger. DQ was only 2 years younger then..

Sheesh. Why am I still thinking of DQ on and off?
That happened 6 years ago already...

Sigh. Maia wrote about it in My Paper today. About how human beings lust after things they cannot get or are forbidden to get. And it's human nature to be like that.

Perhaps that was the case with DQ then...a slight yearning for something which could have been.

For something which slipped through the cracks. Lost into the crevice within.
The cracks which were already fully visible when things started stirring.

Thought I let it go already...it's funny how Dan dredged up memories of DQ from somewhere in mind.

Dear Blog,

I will not touch you for the next 5 or maybe 6 days.
May you keep growing and glowing.

Bonne nuit et à bientôt! Good night and see you soon!

Whimsically yours,
Michelle

ooooh!

Gotta go home on time tomorrow after work...

Cos I need to wake at 315-330am in the middle of the night...or should I say early in the wee hours of the next morning?....

Flight's at 6am...so gotta be at the airport at 430am??

zzzz.......

Half-packed haha.

Angkorwat here I come!!!

fuzzy wuzzy

Too much systems testing leaves your eyes fuzzy, blurry and extremely tired.
My eyes are gonna pop out of their sockets anytime soon....

Just gonna risk a few more minutes playing a few moves on scrabbulous before I head to bed...
Darn shack.

Another full day of testing tomorrow again...

1976

The year of the Fire Dragons.

Normally genial, out-going, friendly, easy-going with a good sense of humour.

But risk incurring their wrath, stepping on their tails or getting in their bad books....
And you'll be horribly burnt.

I've seen it happen. I've experienced it with the man as well.
And lol. I saw it happen yesterday again.

HC blew his top at the vendors...I can understand where he's coming from though...
When he's pissed...I don't mind being near him. I am just mighty glad I am not at the receiving end. haha.

Jet-setting family?

If it's not Adrian leaving the country, then it's me.
It it's not me, then it's the parents.

Gosh. Macham we're rich folks. haha.. lol...

I'll be in Cambodia while Adrian will be in the States.
When we're back, a few weeks later, the folks will be off to Genting again.

And when they're back. Adrian will be heading to Germany.

Gosh.....

04082008

For the umpteenth time this year I will say this:

Time Flies.

It's August already.