brother kel

Thanks for saying a chirpy "Morning Mich" every so often on MSN...
Thanks for that cheerful little blinking orange light flashing on my screen sometimes...
And thanks for keeping me in your heart...:)

Apologies for not being able to talk to you these days..
Apologies for not being there to hear your little nuggets worth of information...

Hope things are okay for you?
Hope the sprained ankle is well okay by now?

Are you still running?
Are you still munching?
Are you still gobbling?

Has the weight been increasing? ;p
Are the rabbits ok?
How's the new work location? Miss the old one?

Still mahjong-ing with the rest?
EPL started, your socccer bets can start again too...lol..

Take care bro...
Till next time...

STOP IT.

Why the fuck are people so excited over my flat? More than myself?

Please stop asking about it. Please stop asking when can I get it and when it will be ready.
I seriously don't fucking know ok???!!!

Stop telling me "I heard it's going to ready soon. When ah?"
Or "I heard keys can be collected next year January. Is it true?"

I know some of you mean well. And I apologise for my "what-might-be-seen-as-over-the-top" reaction.
But I've been hearing enough of this for the past one year. So please...

STOP IT.

I told myself the next person who's gonna ask me will get it from me.
And the unfortunate soul was Mingjie. Friends for 15 years.

This morning. On a day when I was seriously busy.
When my nerves were frazzled at being chased by people.
When my patience was thinner than Nicole Richie.
And when my frustration was escalating every minute cos of operational issues at work.

He called. And as usual asked "Can I speak to Mei Kim??"

GAWD.
I was ready to scream.

And then he asked the question. "How's your flat ah? Getting it soon right?"
And then he followed it up by another question.
"When is your wedding dinner ah???"

Wah lau. Triple whammy.
I've told him before already to shut his trap before such questions spill out of his mouth.

Either he forgot. Or he just wanted to see how I would react.

It wasn't exactly a screwing session.
More like an extremely exasperated session verging on extreme irritation.
Laced with a little dose of anger and a little sprinking of frustration.
And peppered with two or three forced laughter to take the spice out of the barrage of words spewing from my mouth.

The least is that he's been there and done that. So he understands. Perfectly.

After I was done with him...Yes, I did feel a little bad for the lash-out.
But it felt equally good to be airing out how I feel.

He's kinda suay lah...always catching me at the wrong time, wrong place, wrong mood.

Man & Nature

Here's the text if it doesn't show up clearly in the pic.

This picture by Hindustani Times lensman Himanshu Vyas (right) has won the IFRA Gold Award for News Photography, General News. Vyas has heard about an orphan fawn being looked after by aBishnoi woman near his hometown Jodhpur. At the mud dwelling, he noticed the fawn playing with her children. "When hungry, the woman breastfed the fawn and her daughter simultaneously. Wildlife activism is publicised around the world. But this connect between man and nature is unparalled," he says.

The bro

Adrian called up just now...
Had a nice chat with him, maybe 30 mins or so?....

Been quite a long while since I had a phone chat with him...
A few months maybe?
I mean come on, how often would you chat with your elder brother on the phone hmm mm...

He's learning blading now...together with Marc...on the sly...
i.e. This piece of information is only for me and my ears...FYI and P&C in his words haha...

Reason why we need to be so hush-hush about this is that the folks are PARANOID.
GOD DAMN PARANOID about blading.

"You'll fall and break your spine!"
"You'll break your arm! Your leg! Your neck!"
"You'll hurt yourself!"
"You'll bleed...!!!!"
"What about paralysis? What about concussion? What about this and that and and and and and and and???!!!!"
"There's other sports you can do??!! Why must it be blading???!!!"

Still recall the fight we had in 2006.
Me Vs The Two of Them.
Me in tears.
Them victorious.

WTF.

Me jealous...I wanna learn blading too...haha.
But I guess that'll only happen when I get my own place and space to keep my blades...sigh...

Let me concentrate on my running first...

Tai Ji

I was on a quest to find out how to write Taiji in Chinese this afternoon.
Taiji as in the wushu form....Tai Ji Quan.

I honestly thought it'd be an easier job asking my colleagues that trawling the Internet for those translation sites.

I asked Sand. Who gave me a blank look. Err......
And then proceeded to scribble something the likes of 泰级.......
And then we realised...hmm....that doesn't look right...Isn't the 泰 supposed to be 泰国 as in the country Thailand??
Ok, thought I'd better move on...NEXT....

I asked Kel, the potato who is on a quest to master Chinese. He's been so into speaking Mandarin lately that he just brings us to stitches with his English-accented Mandarin.
I thought he might have improved a wee bit and impressed me with an answer...
He gave me his best answer...spoken with his best Mandarin accent..(which still sounded astutely English anyway...lol) : "我不知道!"

I went to Xiao Mei...our little temp girl...who could only grin at me...
Gosh, and to think each of us spent at least 10 years learning the language when we were in school.

I didn't think of KH at all...but decided to ask her when I walked past her desk.
And she wrote this for me....太极
I picked up my paper and unwittingly scoffed at it..."Eh, you sure or not? Looks weird ley??!!"
"Hmmm, ok...Let's go check on Google..."

Wah lau...she was right!!! Smart girl.
I know who to look for when I need to do translation liao...
hahha.....

Oh yah, I forgot to share. The purpose of asking how the words are written....was cos I wanted it on my MSN nick...
超级无敌。。。太极选手。。。

Dedicated to another colleague of mine of whom I shall not mention.
Hmm mmm...

hack hack

When I fall sick, it's a sure case that there'll be a cough.

And it usually drags. Hate it hate it hate it.

Just got a new bottle of cough mixture from the clinic just now.

I've not gone for a run for close to 2 weeks already...Argh.

I feel like "lardy".

>:(

reel life vs real life

Was having lunch with the colleagues and someone brought this up about the average person...

Those who look better in pictures usually don't look as good in real life...
Vice versa, those who don't look that good in photos usually look better in real life...

Hmm mm...Hope I fall under the latter category ahha...
Hahah....

Of Perspectives and Positivity

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet.
He held up a sign which said: “I am blind. Please help.” There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat.
He then took the sign, turned it around and wrote some words.
He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.
That afternoon, the man who had changed the sign came by to see how things were.
The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?”

The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.”
What the man had written was: “Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.”

Do you think the fist sign and the second sign said the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind.
But the first sign simply said that the boy was blind.
The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.
Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the story:
Be thankful for what you have. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.

Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets.
When life gives you 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile.
Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence.
Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.

Great men say, “Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness.
In the journey of life, if you want to travel without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience.”

And of course, the most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling.
And what is even more beautiful is knowing that you are the reason behind it!

e-motions

The man was pissed off just now.
Been quite a while since he uttered so many expletives in a single conversation with me lol.
And I bet the colleague who pissed him off will need bear many dagger glares from him in the next few days.

That is, if he even bothers to acknowledge her presence.
Hmm mm...

===========
Am fidgety and on the edge at work today again.
Damn it. I feel like as if a ticking time bomb is about to explode any second.
That anticipation of something to come but which hasn't come yet.

The anticipation of the possible doom and gloom which might come.

Oh this feeling sucks big time.
Argh. I'm so on the edge as I brace myself for somethign which I think might come.
Then again, I don't relaly know if something might come.

Argh. I put the nervousness down to the 7th month.

It's kinda upsetting because it's making me cranky. And sulky and morose.
And the fuse has become so very short.

Snapped at mum just now....
Darn. Darn. Darn.

Dinner with Daniel

Dinner with Daniel at Seasons Reasons was a plain one.
Simple, no fuss.

No bitching. Just catch-up.
No complaining. Just catch-up.
No silly stuff. Just catch-up.

A little too plain perhaps.
A little too boring.

Ok, when my cough tapers off maybe it's time for another Ice Cold Beer outing.
Booze does get the tongue relaxed.
And chicken wings does set the stomach hungrier for more gossip.

Voila. That shall be it.
Been ages since I had alcohol in my system as well.

My Scrabulous???!!!!????!!!!!!!

Am a little confused as to what happened to my Scrabulous application in Facebook.

It just suddenly disappeared yesterday.

And when I checked today.

It still wasn't there.

OMG OMG....How to survive my nights and kill my boredom???

=((((

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....:)))