Monday, October 06, 2008

Can-Do

Disclaimer: I got this in an email and am just repeating it here lock, stock and barrel. I apologise for whatever grammar mistakes within. I think there're a few. Whatever it is. Do watch the video.

But read the story first before you watch it...
It is truly inspiring. This is what I guess people call "Can-do".

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The girl (Ma Li) was a beautiful and promisingprofessional ballerina when she lost her right arm in acar accident in 1996. She was only 19 at that time. There after, her handsome boy friend walked away fromher.

She tried to kill herself only to be saved by her parents. Her love for her parents gave her the strength to live. She learned how to live her life independently and one day someone asked her to coach a Children’s dancing group.

From that point on, she realized she could not forget dancing. She still loved ballet. She wanted to dance again. So she started to do some of her old routines. But because of the lost of one arm, she had also lost her sense of balance. It took a while before she could even makie simple turns and spins without falling. Eventuallyshe got it.

Five years later in 2001, she was invited to compete at the 5th national special performing art competition for handicaps and won the gold medal. That success gave her the hope to return to her beloved stage.

In 2002, a handsome 20-year-old young man, Li Tao fell madly in love with Ma Li who ran a way from him for fearof being hurt again. After she disappeared in Beijing,Tao searched her up and down despite his parents' strong objection and ridicule. He finally found her dancing in a bar. They have never been separated since.

They were very broke when SARS was spreading because all theaters were closed. In 2004, he got a license to be her legitimate agent and was trying to help her develop a unique performance. In a cold snowy night, when the two huddled in an underpass to wait for sunrise in order to catch a bus after a long day at a movie shooting site working as extras, she suddenly had the urge to dance in the snow with him. She had used her dance to tell him her story so manytimes before and this time, after their 'dance' ended, he suddenly realized that THIS should be her unique performance.

In September 2005, Ma Li came to know of a 21-year-old young man, Zhai Xiaowei who had lost his left leg in anaccident. He climbed on a tractor when he was 4 years old and fell off the tractor and lost his left leg.At the point when the doctor told him that his leg will have to be amputated, Zhai Xiaowei's dad asked his young son, 'The doctor will have to amputate your leg. Are you afraid?'

Young innocent Zhai Xiaowei couldn't comprehend whatwould be so different so he said to his dad: 'No, I amnot afraid.' His dad then said, 'You are going to face many challenges and difficulties in life, are you afraid?' The boy asked, 'What are 'challenges and difficulties?' Do they taste good?' His dad laughed with tears, 'Yes, they're like your favorite candies. You just need to eat them one piece ata time!' Then his dad ran out of the hospital room in tears.

In 2005, when Ma Li first came to meet Zhai Xiaowei, he was being trained to be a cyclist for the national special Olympics. He had tried high-jump, long-jump, diving,swimming, and just settled on cycling. He had never danced before. Ma Li persuaded Zhai Xiaowei to dance with her. As he had never danced and suddenly he was being asked to dance with one leg. He turned her down.

But she didn’t give up. He finally agreed with some reluctance. Zhai Xiaowei initially didn't understand how he could'dance,' so Ma Li invited him to see her performing in a dance, with another male actor. The title of the dancewas 'Hand-in-hand'. Zhai Xiaowei felt that he saw a perfect soul dancing on the stage and agreed to give it a try.

Ma Li and Li Tao (Ma L's boy friend) treated Zhai Xiaowei like their younger brother and they stayed under the same roof during the intensive training and practice that were more than one year. One would not be able to imagine the kind of challenges and difficulties they faced.

Zhai Xiao Wei had no dancing background and Ma Li is a perfectionist. She started to teach him Dancing 101. Their dance partnership broke up a few times because Zhai Xiaowei had no concept of using muscle control with his body and a few other basic things about dancing. When Ma Li became frustrated and lose patience with him, he would walk out.

Eventually they came back together and started training, hiring a choreographer to design routines for them. All they did was to train and to practice from 8 a.m. to 11p.m. day-in and day-out until the three of them ran out of money. Their future looked very gloomy until early 2007 when Ma Li and Zhai Xiaowei decided to participate in the 4th CCTV National Dance Competition in China.

And the rest is history.

In April 2007, they were one of the finalists among 7000 competitors in the dance competition. It is the first time a handicapped couple ever entered the competition. MaLi and Zhai Xiaowei won the Silver medal with the 99.17 high score and not to mention the highest audience popular votes. They became an instant national hit. The end result was beyond their wildest dreams.

In the video you will see them dance beautifully, and legitimately beat others in the competition!Here is the video of their performance at thecompetition. The dance title is 'Hand-in-hand' which in fact tells the life stories of both Ma Li and Zhai Xiaowei

http://www.learningchamp.com/hand-in-hand/dance

Their performance brings tears to my eyes each time when I watch it. It was just so touching and motivating. You will be touched...The next time when you hear yourself or someone else say,“I can’t”, just play this video.

I sincerely encourage you to forward this email to your spouse, your children, family members, relatives, friends, colleagues and everyone that you know. It is just so heart warming to read the story about these two young people and watch their performance. Please spread the words as the world need more of such encouragement and inspirational stories.

Growing Older is Mandatory, Growing Up is Optional

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.

I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, 'Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?'
I laughed and enthusiastically responded, 'Of course you may!' and she gave me a giant squeeze.

'Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?' I asked.
She jokingly replied, 'I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids...'

'No seriously,' I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
'I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!' she told me.


After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.
We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this 'time machine' as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.


Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards o n the floor.

Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, 'I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.'

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began,

We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty -eight.

Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.

She concluded her speech by courageously singing 'The Rose.'

She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.

These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.

GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.
We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

points points points

Dinner on Friday with the Duckie gang...Ichiban at the superbly ulu place called NOVENA SQUARE.

As usual, we made more noise than the other patrons around us. We had people tsktsk-ing us, we had stares, we had some irritated looks.

But oh well...who cares??? hahahha....

Gossips & laughter through the night again....
Till December when we have our next session...

============
Class on Saturday as usual..

Went for Zhang Hui Mei concert at the Indoor Stadium..

She rocks big time man...She's soooo petite and her voice like just overwhelms all of us.
I teared during most of her slow songs...

And it was amazing when she stopped singing, sat in the middle of the stage and the whole stadium just continued singing her songs for her...
Amazing...simply cool~!!

And oh yah, nabeh....I wanna change my digicam!!! Old model...argh...
I can't even zoom in close to her face...
And the guy next to me was like zoom-zoom-zooming in so close......argh..
The pics I had of her were just 2-cm sized miniatures of her.....BLEAH!!

============
It was impromptu. But 6 of us trudged down to East Coast this afternoon.
Went to try out the Kangoo place...

Rented the stuff and basically tortured ourselves for the next 2 hours...Piangzzz, I think tomorrow my feet will ache like nobody's business....:(
Think we ran/hopped/jumped/jogged/walked on the Kangoo stuff for close to 4km....

Killer afternoon.

For those who haven't got a clue what the hell a Kangoo is...No, I am obviously not talking about the Renault line of vans.
Check out this link! www.kangoojumps.com

It seems harmless enough. But put it on and you'll feel like falling immediately...


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

Anyway, me shack. Tres fatiguee...
Je voudrai me coucher...

Bonsoir...

zzzzzz
zzz
zz
z

Friday, October 03, 2008

Mid-day SMS

Me to the man: Love you baby...:)

The man to me: Love you sticky! ;p

it's been a whirlwind

Busy few days.

Tuesday, had dinner with some of the uni folks...Bobby's Taproom Grill & Ribs at Cuppage Terrace...
Nice ribs & grilled chicken...Lovely caesar salad...

Having Sky & Yanling around made the night absolutely fun...
We were laughing like mad cows in there and could see the next table of Indian tourists giving us "the eye". hahaha..

==========
Watched "Painted Skin" on Wednesday...
Err....the movie was so-so...but I thought Qi Yuwu did put up a good effort for the show.
At least better than the "dumb-fuck" wooden roles he had in some other movies..

He's getting bigger...in terms of exposure I mean.
From the small screens to the big screens and now to the China & HK markets.
This guy's going places man...And I think he's getting more exposure than Fann Wong in the Chinese markets...

Way to go! Jiayou Qi Yu Wu!

==========
Thursday was a tiring tiring day....

Kym & XL's wedding day!

Reached XL's house at 630am for the day's festivities...And the day ended at 1130pm...

Shall not write anymore though...will see if I can post some pics up haha.
Am working from home today....though I'm on leave...

There's things to clear...zzzz

==========
Dinner with the Duckie gals later on...
More gossip and hysterical laughter haha

Monday, September 29, 2008

Je me practiquer mon francais

J'envie de beaucoup d'argent. N'importe personne peut aider-moi?
Il y aurai le wedding de Kym et Xingli, le wedding de Alison et Keith, ;e wedding de Eddie et AyeMun, et finalement le wedding de Eugene et YanHui.
Il y aurai aussi des robes et des chaussures que j'envie d'acheter.
Il y aurai des "angpows" que j'envie de donner.
Et la fete de Noel est venira bientot!

Ah mon dieu!!

======
I need lots of $$. Anyone can help me?
There will be the Kym & XL's wedding, Alison & Keith's wedding, Eddie & AyeMun's wedding and eventually Eugene & Yanhui's wedding.
There will be dresses and shoes which I need to buy.
There will be ang pows which I need to give out.
And X'mas is coming soon!

Oh My God!!

When Work Makes You Bonkers

Jane: Babe!! I miss you!! I love you!!

Me: err...

Jane: Eeee...Why you never say "I love you too"???

Me: Okay. I LOVE YOU TOO!!!

Me & Jane: *blows smooches in the air to each other*

Jane: WOO!! HAHAHAHAH!!!

Florence: *walking by* Eh, the two of you. XIAO AH? Sit next to each other still must like that???

What the?? $#@%$ Complain Time!!!

Wah lau, think I am 24-hours on call meh???

SMS me at 10pm to get me to settle something??
Cannot say earlier?? Must wait till at night 10pm???

*growl*

Just finished settling things for the boss.

Sigh, shall head for my warm shower soon....
He'd better give me a good bonus next April....

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Surrealism and Reality

I was high and dancing in Zouk.
And as always, it seemed a little surreal when you're woozy from the booze.

Dark and hazy. Cold, artificial smoke blasting at you once in awhile.
Tingling your skin, making you shiver. Distorting your vision. You feel ensconced in your own little space for that few seconds till the smoke clears and you can see others again.

Green, purple, blue light displays.
Cutting across the faces of the people on the dance floor. Their visages sliced up by the light rays and taking on an eery mix of colours.

Writhing sweaty bodies. Couples gyrating against each other.
Dancers all in their own world. Just them and the music.

The music. Pulsating, alternating between fast and slow.
Booming beats and synthetic electronic rhythms vibrating through your body. While the booze just keeps travelling through your blood stream. Round and round.

Let's dance.
Just dance.

Hmm mm....

Let's dance.
Just dance.

========
And then the clock strikes 3am and you think you've had enough of surrealism.
Time to head home.

But it sucks when the transition from surrealism to reality happens jarringly.

It hit 3am. Me, Xingli and Xingni were ready to go. We were gesticulating to the Susan & the Frenchman that we had to leave.

And then suddenly I felt a tap on my arm.

I turned. To see a bespectacled Chinese man. Slightly pudgy, dressed in jeans and a black polo-T.

Him: "Err Err...Can I...Um...May I may I get to know you??"

Me: "Actually I'm about to leave."

Him: "Nevermind. What's your name?"

Me: "Michelle."

Him: "Oh Tricia issit?"

Me: " MY NAME IS MICHELLE!!!"

Him: "Oh ok! Hi Michelle! I'm Cedric"

Me: " Hi Cedric. Look I'm really gonna have to go..."

And Xingni drags me off. *phew*....
Susan followed us out...and we bade her goodbye near the exit....She was going back to her Frenchman inside....

I waved a final goodbye to Susan...turned to walk out...And then wah lau!!!
Another tap on my arm again. Same guy.

Him: "Err err....May I have your...your contact? Your contact?"

Me: *continues walking* "Har?"

Him: *follows me* " Your contact! Your contact!"

Me: *continues walking* "Actually I don't think so...."

Him: *disappointed & a little embarrassed* "Oh....um...then nevermind..." *turns and heads back into Zouk*

============
Hahaa....A small morale booster?
It's been ages since I got picked up by anyone man....lol...

Oh yes, the pics from my Sentosa stay-over that day... haha...


The room we had on the second night. 4-poster beds are so so grand!! haha
Bed from the front view...

This is to the right of the bed.
A little winding staircase to lead up to the little alcove above.
Voila! Here it is!
Two rattan deck chairs, a jacuzzi, an open air shower on the right and a lovely lovely view of the sea in front....
The little open-air shower stall
And the jacuzzi in full blast!
Took us almost 30mins just t ofill up the jacuzzi with water hahah...Imagine soaking in there and enjoying the sea view in front...Woo!!
The sun was setting when I took this from where I was sitting in the jacuzzi...

*cluck cluck*

It was not a wild hen's nite on Friday.
Haha, it turned out mild but we still had a blast!

Reached Wine Bar at 10-plus and we hung around for awhile waiting for the bride to finish her chicken nuggets (for dinner) before heading in to Phuture and then to Zouk.
6 of us girls plus one frenchman haha..2 ladies left eaarly so it was just 4 ladies and one frenchman.

This was before the drinks. Hair still in place, make-up still ok, eyes still bright.
We didn't tekan her enough on the drinks...but well, we made her wear a fake veil and carry a wand with trailing feathers and ribbons and a big shiny star at the end of it hahaaa....

Drinks for the night: 2 jugs screwdriver, 2 jugs vodka lime, 1 jug whiskey green tea and a couple of glasses of long island, lychee martinis and I can't remember what else hahha...

We made the bride go around getting some kisses from strangers. Most were game enough. And surprisingly, the younger ones were the most shy. Gosh.

How could they reject the chance to kiss a pretty girl??? I don't understand man! haha...A girl comes up asking for a kiss and ahug and they refuse??? *faint*

And as the night wore on, we moved from Phuture to Zouk. Which surprisingly was kinda quiet. When we went in nobody was on the dance floor. People were just crowding around it.


I have to applaud Xingli. Haha, as a barter trade for one drink which we orderd for her, she volunteered to be in the middle of the dance floor. Pity I didn't get good pics. It was kinda dark & smoky in there haha...But I have a blurry pic to show her efforts!!

Voila, the happy bride all alone on the dance floor hahhaha :)

Towards the end of the night. I think my camera's good...Haha, at concealing the red eyes and ruddy complexions...And I think we all don't look like we're approaching 30..Hehheee!!!
Woot Woot!!

Oh yah, I can't stress it enough, the crowd at Phuture was sooooooo young. Gosh.
The guys looked like they all just came out of the army. No real eye candy for me...xianzzz haha.
Happy Hen's Nite Xingli~!!!

Uh-oh, I really signed up for it.

Official French exam on 2nd December 2008.
Tuesday morning 9am for the written paper and after 130pm for the oral

written paper = 2 hours
oral = 20mins

Paid $65 for it.
Plus some admin charge so they can send the exam papers over from the official institute in France, and then send the results over... lol

Time to revise my past year's work.
Time to bite my nails.
Time to memorise the verbs and conjugations.
Time to memorise my vocab words.

Oh yah remind me to panic too. When end November comes...

Jiayou!!!

Friday, September 26, 2008

hen's nite

Speaking of which...

Heading to Zouk later for XL's hen's nite.

hmm mm..none of my friend's has ever had anything like that so I've never gone for any hen's nite....

But well, we do have some stuff lined up for her...

We'll see how it goes later...

I didn't go work today.
Been telecommuting from home the whole day.

Kinda lazy to drag my bum out of the house...hmm mm...

This is hilarious!!!

Below is a conversation which really happened on Singapore's Power 98 FM radio station recently.

DJ : Good morning. This is Power 98 & do you want to play a game?

Contestant : Yeah, why not.

DJ : Good. It is a simple game.
When I say something you have to give an answer that is opposite to what I have said.
For e g. when I say Sharp, you have to answer Blunt. OK?


Contestant : OK.

DJ : Sun

Contestant : Moon.

DJ : Black

Contestant : White.

DJ : Tall

Contestant : Short.

DJ : Man

Contestant : Woman

DJ : Cock

Contestant : CHIBAI

DJ : Ok, these things sometimes happen and we are on live.......
Let's take a commercial break here!!!


========
Voila and good ol' Jane sent me this during a team meeting and insisted I read in immediately. She was just sitting opposite me and we couldn't help but giggle silently to ourselves whilst the boss was yakking away hahahhha....

F1

Had to go into the F1 site yesterday to settle some work business. Hahaa...
Went to the main site near the Singapore Flyer.
That's where all the main ops centres are and where the media communications booths are set up.

A colleague who's stationed there came to fetch me in with an F1 buggy. Damn cute...like those you see on the golf courses.

The whole place was buzzing. Not with excitement I feel...Rather it was buzzing with a kind of nervousness and last-minute rush.

Foreign workers were still setting up fences, barricades, scaffolding. People were milling about looking lost. Since not all barriers were up yet, there were members of the public who were wandering about all over the place. Taking pictures and adding to the chaos.

Security personnel were here and there. But generally looked lost as well.

Loads of BMWs were plasterd with F1 stickers and had sirens and flashing lights placed on top of them. All driven by big burly ang mohs. All of them looked like bodyguards. They were driving here and there. Not quite sure what were they supposed to be doing though.

I saw the track. A portion of it at least. Cordoned off to all cars and vehicels and buggies. Only the marked BMWs were allowed to go onto the tracks....

Hmm mm....I seriously wonder, if our contract is for the next 5 years, will the lights be taken down till next year? Or will they be left there...? Hmm mm....
Where will the buildings go? Or will they be left there as well?

The Cuzzie & Rising Prices

It was nice having dinner with Suli last night...:)

The gossips about our families, our other halves, our work...yada yada...
We hsould do this more often perhaps haha.

Gosh, she's so slim...dunno how she maintains it.. haha...

We munched at Sudoku? Shokudo??
That new jap restaurant at the corner opposite the Adidas outlet in Bugis Junction.
Food wasn't too bad. But prices were a rip-off I think. Gosh. A $60 dinner meal for two.

My chicken meaball pasta was quite good. Sauce was not too creamy and meatballs were nicely marinated. Tasted like those Tori-Q meatballs.

The Apple Vinegar drink however, was a huge let-down. Supposed to be their signature drink.
Probably cost them $1-something at cost price. It was charged at $5.80.
It tasted like any normal Zapple drink, with 5 small cubes of apple thrown into it, loads of ice cubes. And perhaps a dash of cider added into it for that extra sourness.
I can do it at home lor.

Conclusion. I'll prolly only go back there if I am feeling rich.

Drinks at TCC were a rip-off too....
Her tea tasted weird and my Russian Earl Grey tasted like PVC plastic.

$20 for 2 pots of hot tea.

Gosh. Prices these days are really atrocious.

The Grocery List

Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of thestore in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries.

She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work, they had seven children and they needed food. John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store at once.

Visualizing the family needs, she said: 'Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can.' John told her he could not give her credit, since she did not have a charge account at his store.

Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation between the two. The customer walked forward and told>the grocer that he would stand good for whatever she needed for her family.

The grocer said in a very reluctant voice, 'Do you have a grocery list?' Louise replied, 'Yes sir.'

'O.K' he said, 'Put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you>that amount in groceries.'

Louise, hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then she reached into>her purse and took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her head still bowed.

The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when the scales went down and stayed down. The grocer, staring at the scales, turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly, 'I can't believe it.'

The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales.

The scale did not balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on them until the scales>would hold no more. The grocer stood there in utter disgust. Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement.

It was not a grocery list, it was a prayer, which said: 'Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in your hands.' The grocer gave her the groceries that he had gathered and stood in>stunned silence. Louise thanked him and left the store.

The other customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said: 'It was worth every penny of it . Only God Knows how much a prayer weighs.'

THE POWER OF PRAYER: When you receive this, say a prayer.
That's all you have to do. Just stop right now, and say a prayer of thanks for your own good fortune.

So dear heart, trust God to heal the sick, provide food for the hungry, clothes and shelter for those that don't have as we do.

Amen & Amen

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Boo Boo!

I love my boo-boo.

Haha, a lovely lovely man, a lovely lovely friend, a lovely kaki, a lovely bitching partner, a lovely listening ear, a lovely guide....

All that and much more!

I know I can count on you Burong...

Thanks for the fun, help & laughter!

Loads of MUACKSS!

Slack a little..woot!

My horoscope yesterday said
"Maybe it's time to slow down abit and even slack a little"
Hmm...well said well said..:)
Looking forward to October when the boss is out of town for like 85% of the time.
Time to take it slower when October comes.
Maybe my eye bags will fade a little.
Maybe my face will look that little bit brighter.
Maybe my fine lines will disappear.
And yeps!! Maybe I'll look less grumpy!
=)
Take a deep breath.
Zzzz

The Soup Spoon

Its been ages since I last had a meal at The Soup Spoon. More than a year and a half.

I think it's because of my refusal to slurp a bowl of exorbitantly priced soup.

Plus that fact that the last two times I ate there, the soup was laced with tablespoonfuls of MSG.

Today felt different.

The man & I were looking for something "light".

Given how "vain" we both are these days.

And the fact that both of us are watching our weights closely.

We decided to have our dinner there. At the branch in the basement of Bugis Junction.

We ended up having a medium sized bowl of Mushroom Soup, with a small bowl of Caesar Salad and some stuffed fried mushrooms.

It was alright.

The soup wasn't too great.

But the amount of mushrooms given in the soup was generous enough.

The creaminess of it all however gave me some shudders.

I was wondering how many cans or bottles of cream went into the soup to give it that texture.

It was anything but "light" actually. Haha.

The salad was good though.

Decorated with dried cherry tomatoes and sprinkles of bacon bits. Lovely.

With all that said, I still think it's overpriced.

Will not go back there anytime soon.

The Ker-Ching...Or Rather, The Lack Of It

I spent $1,000 in 3 days. On a trip, at The Body Shop and at M1.

With 4 upcoming weddings from October to December...

I think my bank balance will feel the heat of it pretty soon.

Looking forward to December

And the Year-end BONUS

I hope too that the bonus next April will be one to trigger a grin lasting for days.

Twenty-O-Eight

2008 seems to be the year to give birth and the year to get married...

Perhaps I was supposed to do one of the above too..things turned out otherwise...
But that's a different story altogether...

Anyway, Ah Ger had a little boy on 4th Sept..Gail had her own little boy on 17th Sept..
And now, Ah Seng will have his little daughter in early October...

Lots of baby rattles, nappies, booties and bibs flying around.. haha...:)
Well done, Singapore's population statistic has improved a notch!

Monday, September 22, 2008

The Horror of It All

Just because we humans have superior tools and gadgets doesn't mean we can have the right to treat animals this way.

WARNING: Some scenes are extremly shocking, gruesome and disturbing. So watch with um, some measure of self-control. Don't be like me..I watched a similar video without any warning this afternoon when someone sent me the link...and now I have some of those scenes stuck in my head...

Whatever it is, how could someone skin an animal while its still alive???
The world is seriously fucked up at times. These people are seriously fucked up.

And this all boils down what??? MATERIALISM AND CONSUMERISM. If there were no demand, these wouldn't have happened...If people were willing to pay exorbitantly high prices for such things, then these killings wouldnt have happened...

Sigh. What this what God had in mind when he first created the world?
I think not. I think not at all.


Sunday, September 21, 2008

Of Words and Promises

promises, ever so easy to make
promises, ever so easy to break
words are but cursory?
words spoken hold little value?
words come cheap
actions speak louder I guess
it is always easy to say
but difficult to follow through
so please say what you really can do
and not just speak for the sake of sounding good
sincerity and insincerity
are but barely separated by a thin line
it holds true of so many
from friends to family to colleagues to bosses
how oft have you said something
but failed to deliver?
are promises made to be broken?
like the old adage reads
say what you can do
say what you mean
words aren't meant as a broom
to brush off others

An Addict

  • of Post's Honey Bunches of Oats
  • of plain water
  • of Scramble in Facebook
  • of Word Challenge on Facebook
  • of sleep and 40 winks
  • of whining and complaining
  • of the strange worlds found in fiction books
  • of century egg porridge
  • of Il Divo
  • of feeling strange in my own skin
  • of chicken wings and sausages

Friday, September 19, 2008

You Can Tell

How productiveI have been at work today right?

Lol...Hmmmm... But at least I did do work in the morning hor.. haha...

TGIF!
Moving off to Sheraton Towers soon..!

Looking forward to Chinese Double-Boiled Soup!

I guess

我喜欢

我喜欢

和你趟在一起做梦
和你狂欢大笑
和你度过的每一分每一秒

看着在睡觉的你
保着我不放的你
带着灿烂笑容的你

爱你的力量
疼你的狂恋

想你的冲动


LOL...my virgin attempt at a cheena poetic post.
Err...think it's a chessy attempt!! Lol....
Seriously, pardon me if I have unwittingly used any wrong phrase or word haha....

GB 和 GB

我的两位 Guest Blogger 都对我说: "I have writer's block. 最近比较累, 想不出要写些什么..."

好奇怪, 两个都说了同一句话.

那么...我就耐心的等下去吧!!

The Economist Wannabe

Consumerism and Materialism
Aka C&M

Was thinking about this whilst on the way to work this morning.

3rd World Country
= Low levels of C&M with little or no growth in the rate of C&M in the country

Developing Country
= Exponentially increasing growth rates of C&M with mid-levels of C&M

Developed Country
= High levels of C&M with little or not growth rate in the level of C&M in the country

Make sense? Hmm mm…

Thursday, September 18, 2008

uh-oh

"Stomach spoil" period again..
Been feeling a little queasy the past few days..

Greedy pig this morning. Had a char siew bao and two samosas..
I've skipped lunch liao..dun think I can take in anything for the time being.

Aiyah!! I have a dinner at Li Bai Restaurant at Sheraton Towers later!!

Hope I recover in time for the dinner lol..Good food leh!
Li Bai's one of the best Chinese restaurants in SG!

I is Comprain Queen

It is a little disturbing.
But I’ve become such a whiner that I can’t stand myself!
Shucks. Now I’m a typical Singaporean.
I whine and I complain and I bitch before I even know it.
*horrors*
Ok, I shall endeavour to improve my attitude.

Happy Anni.

It's been 4 years and 4 months and counting.
Voila..:)

That Little Space...

It was a little enclave situated above the room, accessible via a small winding wooden staircase from the room itself.

Two concrete walls bounded the left and right faces of the enclave, painted with a thick coat of pastel yellow. The back wall was all but a piece of dark glass, opaque and slightly ominous in the night. The front face had no wall, only a piece of see-through glass one inch thick and standing waist-high.

Two rattan deck chairs took up half of the space in the enclave, the half which was nearer to the stairs. A jacuzzi sat in the other half of the space. A small cavity in the ground, set amidst the wooden floorboards.

Mosaic tiles of varying shades of blue lined the entire jacuzzi. Tiny tiny lights were set within some of the tiles, changing colours in a synchronized rhythm, pulsating from purple to blue to green to yellow to orange to red to pink and then to purple again. Colours of the rainbow.

An open-air shower was set in a corner near the jacuzzi, lined with similar blue tiles. The same tiny lights in the jacuzzi also lined the base of the shower, changing colours ever so often. It was a rain shower that was installed. Big, round and definitely inviting.

There wasn’t really a roof or a ceiling. Wooden slates set two inches apart from the next one ran along each other across half the space, over the two rattan chairs. There was no roofing at all over the jacuzzi area.

A lone balding frangipani tree stood in a far corner, its branches trailing on the top edge of the glass balcony wall. Stray white flowers tinged with pink lay scattered on the floorboards around the tree. Dead leaves dotted the ground around the tree as well, making light scratchy sounds whenever the breeze blew stronger.

A single yellow light shone from its mounted rack above the tree. And another was mounted just above the shower. Each cast a warm swath of orangey light across the whole area. Shadows danced away in murky areas where the light rays fell short of.

And of course, there was the moon, sitting fat and rotund amongst a flutter of clouds in the night sky. Its milky rays seeped through the gaps between the wooden roof slates, illuminating those beneath with its slivers of light.

There in that little enclave we sat next to each other in the middle of the night. Each stretched out on a rattan deck chair. Each ensconced within a bubble of self-thought.

Music emanated from the laptop which he brought along. The likes of Jay Chou, Snow Petrol, David Tao and Green Day spewed forth from its speakers.

It was tranquil though. Save for the occasional bout of laughter which could be heard from the café 8 storeys below. And save for the occasional blare of a ship horn which punctuated the air with a sudden outburst.

Oh yes, the horizon was dotted with ships. Big ones and small ones. Long ones and shorter ones. Each only a speck of slow-moving orange light in the distance.

Sitting there and staring out at the dark sea carrying its load of ships, it felt peaceful. It was a little nostalgic. It was a little out of the world. Time seemed in control of itself and there seemed not to be any worries in the world.

There was a breeze, albeit a gentle one. And it carried with it a strange mix of night smells, the wilted aroma of dank flowers and bushes and the sticky saltiness from the sea.

It was a spoiler not to have had wine with us that night. We made do with what we could find earlier in the night. And we were sipping Jolly Shandy in champagne glasses. What an irony. Oh well. Life and its ironies.

We sat for quite awhile and only moved back downstairs to the room when it got too chilly for comfort. Oh, how nice it would be too to have a room or a balcony as such in my own home….It would be my favourite chill-out area…..

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Little White

This 4-eyed geek needs some strength.

In the meantime though, she also hopes Xiao Bai will find her own ways to settle her issues at hand.

The going will be tough here and there...but there's nothing which can't be talked out.
Give a little, take a little.
Misunderstandings can be cleared. Arguments can be muted.

Going through such occurrences are part and parcel of relationships you should know.
But if things cannot be settled. Then perhaps it's just as well.
If two cannot weather a bout of rain, then what happens when a thunderstorm occurs in the future?

My listening ears are here.
Though I must apologise for the lapses when I'm extremely caught up in work.

Till here for now...
Hugzz from the auntie

Deception of Leave

Am back to office today.

Am beginning to think taking leave is just a form of delusion.
Perhaps a direct result of escapism.
And perhaps, a form of self-denial.

The work is still there.
The deadlines are still there.
The not-so-nice colleague is still there.
The various forces pulling from different directions are still very much there.
And yes, the freaking freezing central air-con is still there.

=================
Spent 3 days over in Sentosa with the man...
His birthday..32 years of age and looking none the older.

Damn it. At the rate I'm going and at the rate he's going (or not going)...
I'm gonna look older than him very soon.

Spent Monday afternoon taking a dip and swimming a few laps
Went for a run on Tuesday morning...
Felt good to exercise a little after the past few weeks of being unable to..

Did touristy things...took the sky train, went on the luge..
Had a nice dinner at the new atas Sakae restaurant..

Dipped in our own private jacuzzi...sat by the seafront..
Enjoyed the seabreeze at 2am..
Fought with ants..
Cursed the rain on Monday morning..
Ate cheng ting..
Munched on snacks...
Did not manage to get wine so slurped on the only thing we could find...jolly shandy
Snoozed alot...
Listened to music...

Pictures will be coming soon...I hope I have the motivation to post them..;p

For now.
Oh well.
It's back to reality.

Friday, September 12, 2008

OOOOOO!!!!

I have another guest blogger...who has insisted that SHE not be named for the moment.
So I shall call HER the MGB....my mysterious guest blogger.

The topic shall be "TOES"....

My first guest blogger declined to write anything about toes lol...Instead, she said she'll write something about me...or us.
Hmm mm....

Akan datang the submission of both entries...
Hmm mm....

*rubs hands in glee again*

muahahahha

oooi~!

My guest blogger hasn't contributed yet...:(
hahaha..

Word Challenge

HC & I are on a quest to out-do each other on the Facebook game "Word Challenge" haha....

He's going mad..playing during the day and during the night.
I just went up 3 levels above him last night and he went ballistic...

Immediately went to play the game this morning and finallly managed to move a few notches ahead of me...

Lol...he's a mad cow!!!

Ladder Theory

http://www.laddertheory.com/ladderconstruction.htm

Lol...interesting site..
Sent to me by Xiao Bai...

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

*Rubs Hands in Glee*

Wah shiok!!
Might be getting 2-3 days of telecommuting from 24 to 26 September!!

Lol.....
Cos the roads and many areas around Suntec will be closed/barricaded/blocked due to the F1 race...

Muahaha....
Don't need to go into office...Woot Woot!!!

I is Rubber Band

I is Rubber Band..
I get stretched but I bounce back...
(And um, no side thoughts allowed on this phrase...ahem.)

I woke this morning feeling shitty and breathless.
It was a "Don't-make-me-go-to-work-PLEASE" shit ass morning mood...

But oh well, did the usual rounds and by the time I waltzed through the office doors, I was feeling better.
Sat at my desk and started typing furiously away....

Morning was made that much happier cos I was chatting to Kel whilst doing some work...
Some work which did not need much brain power, hence the ability to juggle a chat with Kel...

Chirpy bird!! That's what I'd call myself today.

Dunno leh, maybe when the stress and work havoc reaches a certain point, you react by turning a little bonkers...Job hazard? Hmm mm..maybe.

Anyhow, my brain synapses seem to have gone into overdrive today haha...
As was HC's. He has been absolutely mad these 2 days...crazy, whacky and nonsensical hahaa.

The brief but extremely fun MSN chat with the C-hole in the afternoon brought many a silly grin onto my face...lol...
And it provided a nice respite...pity it had to end though cos I had to go for a meeting...

And being the chirpy bird today...
All I could do in the meeting was to grin at my boss, present my back to him and say "OOOOO...Shoot me! Shoot me! I want more!!!"
.
.
.
.
And so he off he went...firing arrows into me..
Came out of the meeting wounded and bleeding.
.
.
.
.
Nabeh KNN.
.
.
.
I have 5 papers to write now.
4 projects running con-currently.
Of which 3 are headed by me.
I only have 2 hands
And 1 brain.
.
.
.
God Help Me.
.
.
.
Oh yah, I forgot.
.
.
.
.
.
I is Rubber Band.
I get stretched but I bounce back!!!

GUEST BLOGGER!!!!

Yay!!! *drum rolls*
TADA!!! I will have a guest blogger soon!!!
Guess who??
It'll be Chloe...!!!
Aka C-hole aka Purpleskies aka Nana aka Cherry!!!
Yay!!!

Monday, September 08, 2008

The Biggest Mistake You Can Make as an Employee

This was extracted from an email advert which I received....
==============
When you were a child, you were programmed from young that someone or something else is responsible for much of your life. Your parents provide you with food and everything you need for growth, survival and happiness.

Unfortunately many people adopt this same mentality when it comes to work. They think that it is the employer's responsibility to take care of them. So many of them wait and wait. They wait for 3 main things:

1. Bosses to send them for training (assume that the boss will know what skills they are lacking);
2. Promotion. Many didn't even know the career path and thought that their title will remain the same until they die. But they expect their salary to increase to 'catch up with inflation' and 'higher standard of living'.
3. Opportunities to come to them. They look around and when their boss assigns them a difficult task, they ask "Why me?" instead of asking "Is that all?"

The starting point of your success in your work is to accept complete responsibility for who you are and everyting that you become. If you want things to change, you must change first.

Sometimes in my seminars I ask the audience this question, "How many of you are self-employed?" Usually fewer than 10% will raise their hands. Then I point out to them that this is a trick question.

Listen here: the biggest mistake you can make is to think that you work for anyone but yourself.
Everyone is self-employed, no matter you are on salary of commission basis.
You are the President of your company. Your company's name is "Me Pte Ltd". Your biggest customer is your employer. Your biggest asset is your mind.

You are in charge. The top 3% in every field treat their company as if it belonged to them. They see themselves as 'self-employed'. They act as if they own the place. When they refer to their company, they use words like "we", "our", "us" and mine".

The average employee, on the other hand, always refers to the company as if it were something seperate and apart from him. They treat it just as a job, with no other meaning and significance.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Mon cours de francais

I have slacked alot in my French.
I need to realign my priorities and objectives.

I need to spend more time revising on the language if I am to advance further.

It's terrible. I've forgotten alot of the tenses which we learnt in the last 6 months.
Argh. But at least I'm not the only one.

5 of us had lunch yesterday just before class...
Cher, Kyne, Eric, Tung Ling and me.
Some sort of a mini gathering to mark the start of a new semster. Our Intermediate 5 semester.
And we all agreed that we're all feeling the heat.

Lol...do or die.
It's a matter of choice and a matter of effort...

So ganbatte to myself and yes, I will work hard...!!!

I hope a half hour or hour each night will do the trick..Hmm mm...

Passion

Passsion hmm...
I really admire those who really are passionate about their "loves" and things they like...

There's Tazzee who can be found in one of the links on the right of the page.
A running fanatic...
www.run-to-live.blogspot.com

It's fantastic how many pairs of running shoes he owns and how many pairs he wears down within a year...
He can tell you which are the best routes to run, how to run properly, which are the best heart-rate monitors around yada yada....

And then, there's Kym. A newbie to blogging...
But a definite passion wielder for watches...his big love in life..apart from his wife-to-be of course lol...
I've just added him to my links as well.
www.kymwatchlog.blogspot.com

This watch lover currently owns around 40 pieces. Some are age-old timeless pieces.
Others are rare finds due to a stoppage in production and yet other pieces he owns are specific finds he trawls the Net for.
A true-blue fan of tickings and "beatings"...of steel straps and leather belts...of little nuts and bolts...of crystals and jewels...

Lol, I'm seriously wondering how much his watch collection is worth lol....

So what is it about the people I admire?
Perhaps it is their unwavering passion for pursuing something they enjoy, something they love...
A hobby which they are passionate about. A love which they are passionate about.

Looking at them, I wonder about myself.
What am I passionate about? Is there a hobby I truly am pasionate about?
Is there something I can lay claim to knowing alot about?
I couldn't think of something specific. In fact, I couldn't think of anything in particular.

Books and reading? That perhaps comes closest as a hobby I have.
But it is still not somethingI am 100% passionate about.

Art and craft? no...
Cooking? and even bigger no...

I am a touch-and-go person. Too easily distracted to sit down to one hobby or one "love".
Which probably explains why I am so amazed that I've stuck to French classes for 1 year and 9 months already. But that is another story altogether...

So what am I passionate about? I don't have an answer for myself.
And I find it somewhat distressing.
Perhaps though, in time to come, I will find something I can lay a claim of "passion" to.

And what are you passionate about?

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Bigger Longer Better??

In the wake of the Olympics...
Of which the credo of Faster, Higher, Stronger permeated the minds of many athletes...

I guess another credo of "Bigger? Longer? Better?" occupied the minds of others...

I was reading this article in the Straits Times online archives...I think this was an article a few days ago...

==========
KUALA LUMPUR - A MALAYSIAN welder had to have a nut removed from around his penis after an attempt to lengthen it before he gets engaged next week went embarrassingly wrong, a news report said on Sunday.

The nut got stuck on his penis following an erection, the Star newspaper said, forcing him to seek help at a hospital in southern Johor state.

Staff from the Sultanah Aminah hospital had to drain some blood from the penis and cut away a top layer of skin before the object could be removed, the newspaper said.

It said the fire and rescue department were also involved in trying to remove the nut from the unnamed welder, who is in his 20s and hoped the nut would weigh down his penis to make it longer.

'The patient is now recovering and we hope to discharge him today (Sunday),' hospital director Daud Abdul Rahim told the Star.

On August 25, another young man in Kuala Lumpur had tried to increase his sexual prowess by slipping a steel ring around his penis, forcing the fire department to cut off the ring after doctors were unable to remove it, the newspaper said. -- AFP

jiemei jiemei

Jiemei on October 2nd.
Jiemei on November 15th

After the above...I would have been a jiemei for 4 times liao...
Hmm...hope there's no quota for such things...haa...

Quotable Quote?

天下乌鸦一般黑!
Lol, this phrase was muttered by my boss during the weekly team meeting yesterday afternoon...
Literally means "All the crows in the world are black"
I think he meant to say something to the effect of...people of the same "pattern" and characteristics will behave in a certain manner...
Hmm mm...

aiyah!!

遭糕!! 我肥了!!
着么办???
裤子和裙子都紧了!! 手臂也粗了!!
希望只是水涨。。。hmm mm..




Of Punctures & Pumps

Had dinner with Mr Bull yesterday...Been quite awhile since I had dinner with him.
Since before I went to Paris I think, which would make it sometime back in June.

Just before we parted, he told me I’d changed.. haha.
Said I seem more subdued, a little deflated...
Somewhat like a tyre having a small puncture and air was slowly flowing out…
Mentioned that the energy and cheerfulness he saw earlier in the year somehow seem to have gone into hiding haha…

Yah man!! I feel it too!! Haha…

My reply to him was “Get me a pump lor…And pump me up.”

And then I froze. Oh shit, that just sounded extremely lewd….
Kept a straight face and hoped his straight mind wouldn’t think of anything else hahaha……lol...

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

=(

It's only 1030am.
And I have made so many mistakes at work already.

Argh. 2 of which relate to external parties.

Sigh. My brain is out of sorts this morning.
Hope it gets better later on.

Monday, September 01, 2008

The Southern Ridges

It was rise and shine early on Saturday morning...
Bathed and got ready to go out...Ended up waiting for the man to pick me...
Did some housework in the meantime...
Voila, he finally came...went for brunch...
Then popped by Granny's place for a visit...Stayed there for about an hour
Brought her to pee, watched her have lunch, brought her to poo...
And then it was off to the Southern Ridges..!!
We started walking at 12:45pm...with the sun way up high in the sky...
I was out of breath for the first 0.5-0.8km.
Reason being it was super hilly...
And the only way forward was to climb flights and flights of stairs...
And as you can tell....the man obviously wasn't interested in pics...lol...

And then before I knew it...

Ehhh???? I was at the top of Mount Faber already!!
Forgive me for the um...wanna-be scenic picture...
Singapore lah...
What else (beside HDB flats) is there to capture that is more iconic and representative of our SG landscape??

Walked past Jewel Box and went on downhill...
Realised that one of the poubs where we had our first few dates was being demolished....zzz...
Walked by lots of foliage...and saw some weird ones here & there..
Including this one below...with reddish tendrils growing out of the leaf stalks...
A little creepy if you saw a whole bush of it...and not just a tiny branch in the pic below...

And on towards the Henderson Waves...
There was a little park-like clearing just before bridge they call the Henderson Waves...
And right smack in a very obvious place was this cute little sign...
Check out Point Number 5...
"Please do not engage in acts that would cause discomfort to other users
How succinct can they be man??? LOL.....
Part of the Henderson Waves

More of the Waves...

ME!

It really amazes me the signs these people come up with.
What the hell does this mean man????

Ok, but these signs I can definitely understand...

Not that I saw any monkeys though...
Quite disappointed! Thought I'd get the chance to see some of my cousins....
And maybe spend some bonding time with them...hmm mm...;p


One of the last portions of the walk before we made a U-turn to go back to the car...
This is called the Forest Walk...
And yes, the heights made my knees go weak at some point....


And last but not least...what better way to celebrate our 6km walk in 2h15mins...
By having a sinful sinful meal of course haha...
I was too busy tucking into my chicken rice to bother about taking a picture of his Mee Goreng!!
Hehehee.....
And oh yah, It's Monday...And my calves are still aching....
Gosh....

Brother Lawrence!!

It's really funny..
But I seem to have that little bit more fate with Lawrence than with others..

In the past 3-4 months, I've met him coincidentally on the streets about 4-5 times!
Sometimes with Tina, and sometimes alone (but on the way to meet Tina haha)...

And voila, I was walking past Suntec Tower 1 just now on the way to City Hall MRT...
When someone called out to me..and hey, it was him & Tina!
Both sitting on one of the benches just outside Tower One and just having a chat...

It was dark, almost 8pm already and I hardly would expect anyone to call out to me haha..

But am happy for them!! They just got a flat!
A little steep price-wise but the flat's just in between both sets of parents.
All within walking distance!! How cool is that man!!

It's really funny how I seem to be always updated on their house-hunting expeditions..
Really happy for them..:)ROM-ing on 28 Dec this year..


I still remember those rare times when me & him would have a chat about their relationship..
How he had some problems..how he didn't know how to tell her some things...

Things have panned out well and dandy for them now...
And I'm happy for this matchmaker of mine..;p

Oh well, if not for him hmm mm..prolly me & the man wouldn't have met? haha...