Thursday, 31 January 2002

Just got a call from this "timeshare holiday" salesman saying that I (and another 249 lucky people who did a survey last year - err..oh please!... since when??) have won "Free Holidays For Two" to I-can't-remember-where. durrhh?? these people are so incredibly pesky and he kept pestering me to commit myself to a 1 and a 1/2 hour presentation on time-share holidays.. very suspicious.. but (just for the heck of it) am actually quite curious to know how they sell it - I'm always quite amazed by how incredibly surreal these hard-sell salespeople make you feel as they talk to you... they are like Info-mmercials come alive, going on and on in front of you even when you show the most bored, disgusted, annoyed, PMS-ed look. Where did they learn to talk like that??

Them: Miss, got time or not? (flashes fake million-dollar smile)
Me: No. (looking really sian)
Them: Won't take up much of your time.
Me: No. (avoiding eye contact)
Them: We have here this product hor, you find in shopping centre...
Me: (you give an incredulous look)
Them: selling for $49.99! Today here, just for today, we are having a special promotion. Instead of $49.99, we are selling you for only $9.99!! I am not joking! You can check with Metro and Robinsons! And if you buy today, we also give you this extra thing free!
Me: Thank you. But I am not interested.
Them: Take a look at it lah. You dowan to miss out on this...
Me: I AM NOT INTERESTED IN IT!!
Them: err... ok hor (slightly shocked).. thank you.. (colgate smile instantly vanishes and walks out robotically)..

I sometimes even imagine they are actually mechanical people, run on batteries...

Wednesday, 30 January 2002

OH NO!! We are going to be hit by a 3.5ton Satellite falling from space soon!!! :O >> Read article from CNN

Monday, 28 January 2002

just upgraded from my faithful Nokia 3310 to a Nokia 8250 yesterday! Now I'm Walking On The Blue Side...hahaha...

M1 has this amazing new promotion until month-end and I managed to get the phone for only $0 as long as I sign another 2 year contract for their Ultimate plan!! wow wow wow!! :) well, its not entirely free (as some friends like to keep reminding me).. but don't matter, I am already on the Ultimate plan now and i'm not likely to change my telco provider anytime soon anyway (since my existing number is the only way some of my overseas friends can contact me now..)... hooray!! what a nice treat for myself :)
watched Black Hawk Down last night and couldn't help thinking about the movie again and again today. Gore and drama aside, I think the movie really hit home with a couple of thought provoking scenes, among them being the numerous scenes where the Somalis were shot down like flies by the Americans (and yet they kept coming and coming - a faceless mob of angry people gone mad) and also the scenes where the US soldiers had quiet contemplative moments and being humans had struggled with why they were engaged in "someone else's war".

while taking care not to come across as an extreme pro-US person, I have to admit that the more I ponder on it, the more I am moved by what I realised was undoubtedly the driving force behind what eventually brings US to involve itself in all these wars around the world (surfed the net for "US Involvement In War" and came up with an amazing amount of information about US militia in World War I, II, Vietnam, Panama, Afghanistan (during the time of Russian invasion), Colombia, Nicaragua,Greece, Somalia, Kuwait, the Balkans, Philippines etc etc..). While it is easy to dismiss the US involvement as largely due to self-interest (e.g. for oil during the Gulf War - as your taxi driver uncle will tell you), this cause seems miserably inadequate to explain why the individual soldier on the ground will be willing to risk his life for a cause like this, especially in wars like the one in Somalia and in Vietnam - where the economic benefit to US is even more unclear. That's when I thought there must be a higher cause - something that they believe in so much that they are willing to give up their comfort and prove it with their lives - and it seems like these were (from watching the movie and also from reading some online stuff) the ideals of human rights, democracy, anti-terrorism etc.. some strong beliefs that these people seemed to have learnt from young... Frankly speaking, I think all this is so amazing for a country that is so rich and powerful and comfortable and could choose not to get involved nor to assume such a difficult international role....

This sort of thing must be foreign to so many of us in Singapore.....

Thursday, 24 January 2002

have just been passed this small black book TAXI DRIVER WISDOM - a collection of apparent quotes by New York cab drivers together with some really nice b&w lomo-style photos - really funny and amazingly philosophical what these guys come up with.. haha... :p

On the human condition: "You say you are happy, you are lying." On chemistry: "Love is 90% responsibility. Whatever that other 10 percent is, it must be quite something." On cat fighting: "This jealousy I have seen in my sisters, but not in my brothers."

No regrets: "Each day is like another bud on a tree: impossible, without the tree beneath it." At peace: "I like driving. Otherwise I take another job. Each thing can be everything for you. You make driving everything." On understanding: "If there is understanding, there is love. If there is no understanding, there is only an endless stream of questions." Reading signs: "If a man keeps telling you he loves you, over and over, then something is wrong."

On motive: "We do everything for ourselves." On women who claim to love boring men: "What everyone likes the best is money, but they don't say it." On better halves: "People look so much better alone." On the rhythm of life: "The traffic - it slows, it speeds up again for no reason sometimes." On finding a mother: "Women choose who they love the most. Men choose who loves them the most." On identity crises: "Whatever you become, someone will long for what you were." Ashes to ashes: "We are all born poor."
I've never had two consecutive nights where I can remember my dreams so vividly! :O Must be that my body is still trying to digest all the food and late dinners that I've been stuffing my face with...umm... Last night, I had this really long dream where I was in India, having just gotten off a train. Later on, when I had left the place for quite a distance and time, I suddenly realised I had left all my luggage behind in the station (ya, quiet unbelieveable :p).. anyway, I started making my way back to the station and got lost along the way, all the time thinking (ya, still in my dream) that the luggage would probably already have been stolen.. Actually woke up really glad it was only a dream.. gosh, i would really hate to lose my luggage on a trip...

Was curious to know what this can reveal about my psychological state and found this:

Luggage stands for your personal effects or what you carry with you on a journey. What happens to the luggage? Lost luggage might be a concern about your identity or about being prepared for the journey. Stolen luggage might suggest that you feel someone is interfering with your attempt to reach a goal

oh dear... can I possibly have so much going around in my subconscious that I don't know about??

Wednesday, 23 January 2002

had this recurring dream last night about my car. What happens is that every time I get to my car - no matter where I park it - I will find the bonnet up, the car windows down and this huge stuffed polar bear (it was really really big!) sitting in the driver's seat - :O I remember that in the dream, I was convinced that someone had obviously stolen or made a duplicate of my car keys, so I made an effort to park my car at different places. Yet, it kept happening. Very bizarre. But got woken up by phone ring so didn't manage to figure out how to solve the problem.. :P

Went to Google and searched for "polar bear dreams" just now and found two interpretations of this dream -

1. Your dream is very telling of your emotional state. The snowy environment that you are in suggests that you may be emotionally cold or indifferent. The polar bear symbolizes some deep and negative emotions that is yearning to be expressed. Bears hibernate. This may be analogous to repressed feelings which have remained quietly in your subconscious. At some point, these feelings are going to awake and need to be expressed and confronted... (huh??? what deep and negative emotion??)

2. Due to its color, a polar bear in a dream is a good omen signifying an improvement in your circumstances. (hahahaha :D... duh?? how different the two interpretations can be!!)
Met up with some Sec 4 classmates (haven't seen them for the last 10 years!!) last night for a yummy home-made pasta dinner and decided enthusiastically we are going to try to get the whole Sec 4 class together for a reunion of some sort. Once again, it was interesting to find out where everyone is now and how they have changed in their looks and aspirations and to find out who is still in touch with whom. :) Its really nice to still be able to talk to each other comfortably. Found out most of the girls are either getting married or are already blissfully married. :)

Tuesday, 22 January 2002

just got this really fun game from alb - let the cats bounce on the trampoline and then rescue them by vacuuming them up - definitely another fantastic time-waster... :p remember to turn on the hypnotic background music..

funny... had a really fun HR mgmt lecture just now and discussed loads about managing and leveraging on culture diversity within an organisation. Had a lot of thoughts on the topic - especially on this article by Singapore writer Catherine Lim about cultural antagonism - and wanted to come back and blog them down but now my brain has turn to mush... think i am just too tired..

got to hit the sack now... zzzz....

Monday, 21 January 2002

watched critically-acclaimed French movie Amélié from Montmartre just now and think it is one of the best movie I've ever ever seen!! With the original quirky irrelevance and discordance of parts of the movie alongside the actual/main story line, the way the characters are introduced and developed, and the feel-good factor in the movie, I really can't imagine how the movie could end up not being a hit! :D Those are probably why the movie really struck a powerful chord in me... Simple storyline of pretty Amelie (played by amazingly adorable Audrey Tautou) who meddles in the lives of fellow Parisians and makes some serendipitious positive changes in their lives. Maybe it was also this thing they call "The Amélié Effect": an accumulation of good deeds and charitable acts the film inspires - really really cool! As one online movie reviewer says "The flick may not be deep but it is entertaining for both the eye and the intellect." Can't agree more.. I say this movie is a must-see. Please, please don't miss it.

Met up with some of my Primary 6 classmates for dinner gathering at Marche Restaurant just now. Wow! Haven't seen some of them for almost 15 years since we all left HPPS to our respective Secondary schools! Interesting to find out about the different paths we have all taken since then (we have a couple of lawyers, teachers, a researcher and others among them) and the varying perspectives and ideas we all have now. More intriguing was this game Miak made us play where we went round the table and everyone had to name someone else in the class who was not at the gathering... it was amazing how many of the names no longer sound familiar (let alone the faces!).. nonetheless we did manage to come up with all 43 names in the end. Wonder when we will finally have a gathering where everyone turns up. Not altogether impossible since we already have almost 26 people on our email list! Not bad, huh? :)

Fun. :)

Sunday, 20 January 2002



i'm now an unofficial spokesperson for the new Shell V-Power fuel! Think they've really got the coolest and most delightful product I've ever been convinced to try out! Went to a Shell petrol station today to pump up with Super 98 as usual and was convinced by two bubbly kiosk attendants to try out "The New V-Power". According to them, although the fuel was $0.12 a litre more expensive, it cleans up the engine over the longer run and eventually will help start saving money..umm.. the colourful brochure also struck a chord with me:

- Does your car crawl up a hill at a snail's pace - even when you press fully on the accelerator? (err... yes...)
- Are you always slow to overtake another car on the road? (ok.. ya also..)
- Do you have trouble picking up speed when you car is loaded with passengers? (ya ya ya!!)
- Are you always the last to accelerate when the lights turn green? (gasp! It's so true!!)

If you answer "yes" to all the above questions, you'll need the power of Shell V-Power... blah blah blah....

According to the brochure, the fuel was developed through collaborative research by Ferrari and Shell. Hence, the fuel is able to simulate performance car behaviour (wow, can imagine being a Formula One driver.. :p) The new fuel "comes with a potent blend of high-energy components that vaporises and burns a lot more effiiciently, leading to more increased energy production." With the fuel, the car will also become more responsive, allowing you to experience an extra surge of power when needed to overtake and pull away from road hoggers such as "pick-ups with no pick-ups, lorries spilling mud from its side etc". Lastly, the fuel also cleans up (instead of the usual build-up of carbon on) the engine as it burns.. wow.. quite amazing..

I've always been suspicious and sceptical of this sort of "too-good-to-be-true" product. However, I decided to just try it and the difference was amazing! I don't think I've enjoyed driving as much until now! My old Mazda 323 suddenly became really smooth and I found overtaking a piece of cake.. in fact, while going up a somewhat long and steep stretch of PIE, I actually suddenly felt a burst of power in the engine (rather out of the blue!) and started overtaking even Mercedes Benzs!! wow wow wow!! It was definitely a product that feels diiferent! I have to admit I'm overwhelmed!

Met up in evening for dinner with friends from University and Meili's friend from Mongolia and realised that she (the friend), like many other tourists, find Singapore really fascinating and beautiful. Decided to take a couple of pics around the Singapore River and they actually came out quite nice.. think as Singaporeans, we sometimes fail to see the beauty that is right in front of us and keep repeating how boring the country is to the point that ironically, we need a tourist to tell us how beautiful our country is before we can see that again.....

Saturday, 19 January 2002

hahaha... talk about someone who really wants to sell his hard drive!! It's HAUNTED!!! :P
This visualization thing I’m doing is getting more intriguing! It surprises me how much more consistent work and effort will need to be put into what I am doing now if I really want to be where I would ideally like to be in 5 to 10 years’ time. Realised that to be good at something, everything needs to be paced along and built up over time and will not happen overnight.. Think of this analogy my Finance lecturer likes to use.. ”You can’t eat 5 meals all at one go”.. so true..

This is how I do my Visualization Exercise:

1. I think of all the things I am interested in or have always intended myself to learn and be good at. E.g. oil painting, photography, a particular language (e.g. Bahasa Indonesia), blading, etc…

2. Next, I decide the level of competence/standard I really want to be at to consider myself “good enough”. This will differ from person to person, of course. For Bahasa, for example, it will be good enough for me to be conversationally comfortable. I really don’t need to know how to write an essay in the language! : p For photography, on the other hand, I would want to know also how to handle black & white film expertly..

3. I will then rank myself from 1 to 10 on the level of competence I am at now (relative to where I want to be). For Bahasa, I am probably now only at 1/10 (i.e. know really really basic stuff and cannot really sustain a conversation for more than.. err.. 2 mins?? :p).

4. From this exercise, I will then know

a. The areas of interest I am actually interested in,
b. What else I need to learn and know,
c. How much further I need to go, and
d. Best of all, what I would have accomplished 10 years later if all things really go the way I plan (the hope is quite sustaining..)

I will then realize there is still so much work to be done! Try it!

Thursday, 17 January 2002

I've been told that the "mock lomo pics" i took are actually just distorted pics, not lomo at all.. its like saying the mock meat i cooked is actually just "modified gluten" i suppose... :p oh well... i'll try harder..

Been thinking quite a lot about where I want to be and what i want to be doing 5 to 10 years from now... Think it was triggered by my reading of this book "Success is A Journey" about this guy who woke up one day and decided to travel 17,000 miles from the west coast of America to Cape Town, South Africa...it's a book about "fulfilling your dreams" and the "importance of courage, persistence, and the acceptance of total responsibility for one's very survival".

Incidentally, over the last weekend, I also chanced upon this "Life In Hell" comic strip in IS magazine by Matt Groening (of The Simpsons fame). This funny rabbit-eared buck-toothed character was told that he had within himself all that he needed to create the life that he wants for himself. All he had to do was to "choose and focus on a life that embodies his highest aspirations and wildest fantasies, a life full of love and laughs and adventure." He had to visualize what the life would be like ("feel it in your bones, let your imagination soar"). Then, imagining that ten long years have passed and everything in life has happened in the "best possible way" - "What will you be doing? What will you have accomplished? Where will you be living? Who will you be kissing?"…

Quite inspiring… seriously…where would I really want to see myself? How do I want to be feeling at that time?

Wednesday, 16 January 2002

Watched highly-rated Jap animation “Spirited Away” just now and was totally blown away by wonderful storyline, amazingly well-drawn graphics and cute characters. It's such a wonderful, wonderful show!! Heard there were long lines outside cinemas in Japan and even US when it first opened! Brings back the child in all of us - a story with seeming good and evil but at the end of it a thread of humanity stringing everything together... even though all the characters are spirts.. umm.. :p Anyway, go and see it - if not you will regret it when I meet you and rave about it in your face!! :D

"For the people who used to be 10 years old,
and the people who are going to be 10 years old."
-- Hayao Miyazaki


just found out how to take lomo-type pictures with my digital cam by adjusting the white-balance when taking under tungsten lighting!! Check out these pics I took randomly yesterday!
Received an inspiring letter from an overseas friend today and feeling on top of the world now. :)

Wonderful line he wrote inside should speak a lot to all of us:

I know life is beautiful.


A simple sentence… yet, how many of us just cannot seem to be able to feel and see that anymore. Life has become “boring, stressful, tiring…” and people have become “cynical, artificial, and judgmental..”…. you name it, we’ve all heard it.. one form or other… why can’t we just see that life, no matter what happens, is still beautiful and wonderful…. when will we be able to speak this simple sentence with the same amount of confidence and faith...

Even the darkest of moments, for how much it sounds like a cliché, is an opportunity to “learn something and to do something positive for yourself – to become stronger inside, independent, and to want more out of life than before” To quote best-selling author Richard Paul Evans,

“It is in the darkest skies that the stars are best seen.”


Wow.. :)

Tuesday, 15 January 2002

just saw a link to this on dannybunny's website.... hahahhaha... reminds me of the Mahir craze some two years back.. tried to find the original site again but couldn't.. seems like they have taken it out.. :( What a pity.. :p Read that the hits to this guy's hoax homepage (saboed by friends) went into the millions and spun off a bunch of spoof sites and even a webring!

And this is truely amazing.... The Condiment Packet Museum... truely bo-liao... :p

Monday, 14 January 2002

Spent the day today interviewing people who responded to our ad for a “Sales & Marketing Exec”.. we decided to state upfront what we deal in – art supplies and stationery; our target market – schools, clubs and offices; our requirement for the person to have sales experience and a car; for the candidate to have “excellent communication skills” and to be “a self-starter, energetic and resourceful”. Got quite a bunch of great candidates.. some more interviews tomorrow.. phew! :)

Had a really fun HR management class just now. We went through the different personality types defined by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator – which states that everyone can basically be made up of a combination of 4 dimensions:

Extroversion (E) or Interversion (I) – how you relate to people
Sensing (S) or Intuition (N) – how you look at data and analyse things
Thinking (T) or Feeling (F) – how you make decisions
Judging (J) or Perceiving (P) – how you live your life
I have done this test twice before (at 16 and 23) and have always come out as an “INTP” type – which basically summarises myself as being someone “focusing more on his/her inner world, prefers change rather than continuation, preferring to take in info through “sixth sense” and doing things with an innovative bent, making decisions on the basis of cause and effect by analyzing and weighing the consequences (though I don’t really score high in this area – I may be mildly “F” – which means I sometimes make decision based on values) and like to live life in a flexible, spontaneous way, preferring to stay open to experience, enjoying and trusting my ability to adapt to the moment”. According to the lecturer, S type logical people take in info using their 5 senses, noticing what is actual rather than the abstract notions behind things. They can thus be quite unromantic and tend to express their affection in practical ways, e.g. buying you a vacuum cleaner for Valentines Day so you don’t have to strain while cleaning the floor.. hahaha. :p. umm…. Also, P type people, by their nature of being disorganized and spontaneous, may frustrate J type people, who tend to live their lives in planned, orderly ways, wanting to regulate and control life. J-type people are seldom late, preferring to arrive 5-mins early, compared to P types who are perpetually rushing.. Oh! :O

Sunday, 13 January 2002

Read something good:

The Dawn Of Reality
Many great success in life comes just one step beyond where you are ready to quit. There is a time in your life when you feel yourself suddenly beyond caring, completely willing to accept the outcome, whatever it is. And at that moment, fate intervenes. Destiny acts. Something happens.

Every test that you take and pass on your journey merely prepares you for more difficult tests and challenges. They never end. They only change and become tougher as you grow and mature.

Never wish for things to be easier. Instead, wish that you are stronger and better. Never seek the easy way out. Instead look for the hard way through.

Nature is kind. She never sends you a problem that is too big for you to handle. She is clever as well. She prepares you step by step, raising the bar, the requirements, gradually, until you are ready for the big tests when they come.

As long as you have a clear goal and a plan, and you are willing to be flexible in the face of changing circumstances, you will continue to move onward and upward.

You will eventually look back and be amazed at how far you have come. But it is nothing in comparison to how far you have yet to go.
This is so funny!!! hahahaha.... It's one of those animated gifs that tell a story..
I have nothing new to write about today.

It’s one of those days.

And I remember that I used to think that this sort of days were the most wasted days. Every day had to be packed. Meeting people. Doing things. Trying out new stuff. Planning for more adventures… For some reason, I had to see myself (more than to be seen by other people) doing new and exciting things every single day. This was how I interpreted “Living Each Day To The Fullest”.

How wrong I was.

I like days like this now. I really do. Days of stillness and non-excitement somehow give that balance – the essential balance – to the other exciting & busy days. It’s only when my mind is really still and peaceful that I find myself stopping and looking within. I look at how things are going. I think about how I have been over the past few days. I think about how I have related to other people – the words of encouragement and inspiration, but also the words carelessly and hurtfully spoken. I contemplate silently and when I pray, I find myself hearing what God has to say more clearly, uncluttered by the noises of the day. I sleep more soundly at night and I feel more prepared for the day ahead. And I enjoy every experience that comes along after that more consciously and more deeply.

That I feel is living life to the fullest.
Had a really nourishing body-and-mind day yesterday. Woke up early-early for breakfast and then went blading at East Coast, managing to cover the Fort Rd to (not really but almost) Bedok Jetty stretch twice (to and fro). But I think I still prefer running… somehow, it’s feels more like a real cardio workout to me compared to blading. It’s like drinking beer and whisky, as Alb puts it.. Had yummy lunchie of Hill Street Char Kway Teow (I’ve finally found them!! They are here!! At Bedok South Rd Blk 16 Unit 187!! They are the best!! Yum…:) before going “geocaching” (treasure hunting using a GPS device). I’ve found my 2nd cache so far! :D – basically, the idea is to hunt for a “cache” (which is usually a Tupperware container containing a log book, some trinkets and a pen) given just a bunch of coordinates you can key into your handheld GPS device. You will then use these coordinates to find your way to the “treasure”. It’s quite fun and allows you to discover Singapore in a new way.

Met up with close bunch of Sec School friends in evening for dinner at Kopitiam and then drinks at Public House. We had one of the best and most fulfilling gatherings last night sharing stuff that some of us didn’t know about each other… as we shared, we felt our bonds strengthened and really glad about the friendship, the bonding, the certainty that these people will be here for you no matter what happens in the future. As friends who have known each other for between 14 to 18 years, we knew we would still be sitting around together 20, 30… 50 years from now, having a good time together. Of course by then, we may be drinking stuff that is a lot milder.. or worse still, as Kai puts it, we will be wiping spittle from the corners of each others mouths.. hahaha…

I love this bunch of friends.. :)

Saturday, 12 January 2002

So I'm back home now checking out online car maintenance sites and wondering when the next AA "Car Maintenance Workshop" will be held. This site is not bad.. got a lot of pictures.. :)

WHAT AN APPALLING GAP IN MY KNOWLEDGE OTHERWISE!! :O

Friday, 11 January 2002

Thought today was going to be a relatively uneventful day until harrowing (ok, I exaggerate) experience just now. Left FM ($$ mgmt) lecture wk 2 promptly at 10pm and went back to car only to find that the battery has gone completely flat!! :O Turned out that I had forgotten to turn off the car headlights!!! Thought these sort of careless things only happen to other people, especially since I had a lot of sleep last night! :(

Anyhow, had to wait for AA guy to come and fix it – Poor guy came after 30mins and was quite appalled by what he saw. The battery had almost no water in it!! Huh? What’s battery water?, I asked innocently (for once sounding like a bimbo.. sheesh… :p also feeling a little sorry for not paying attention to what my dear friend Lynn used to tell me about car maintenance - I think she did mention once something on battery water..) anyhow, nice guy jumpstarted my car and told me to drive to nearest petrol kiosk to buy battery water to top it up. I drove carefully, making sure I didn't stall my car along the way (quite stressful) and went to my favourite Shell station along Upper Bukit Timah Rd. Genial Mr Ramli there was equally appalled at what he saw :p Only 3 bottles (no less) of battery water was sufficient to top up the parched battery (Mr Ramli said he had personally never experienced a situation as bad.. ever.. :p).. on top of that, the radiator water was also almost empty, the water for the windshield wiper was running low, and I could not seem to answer some questions he had, such as if the engine oil is enough etc.. :( Oh dear.. what an embarrassment for a car owner and someone who has been driving for more than 8 years!! Still have to wait till tomorrow to find out if my battery needs to be changed… if not will have to get AA to come again tomorrow.. according to Mr Ramli, I shouldn’t try jumpstarting it myself ‘cos if I get the polarity of the wires wrong, the car may EXPLODE!! :O
I always knew I would be famous some day... (see magazine cover)

In the mood of scanning... check out lovely wrapping paper for one of my presents...

Thursday, 10 January 2002

Did I ever tell you how special January 8 is? :) It is the..

Birthday of
- German composer Robert Schumann (1810)
- Elvis Presley (1935)
- Shirley Bassey (1937)
- Stephen W. Hawking (1942) - A Brief History of Time
- David Bowie (1947)

& Death Anniversary of
- Marco Polo, Explorer (1324)
- Galileo Galilei, Astronomer (1642)
- Lord Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement (1941)
- Zhou Enlai, the most popular leader of China in the 20th century (1976)
- François Mitterrand, President of France (1981-95) (1996)

Wow! I could be famous one day!! :O Check out who's born on your birthday at Genealogy Today
Check out this site that shows a way of folding maps to make them small enough to be carried easily and still be available for use without having to unfold them entirely. It works! Try it out on paper first! It requires you to cut a slit in the map though. Cool.. :)
My Cologenics Personality Test says that I am a "manipulator", lazy, tired, stressed out, uncertain, suspicious but.. of "true managerial material"!! hahahaha... :p

You are striving to make favourable impressions all of the time. and you are going out of your way to make the impression that you are something special... You are constantly on the watch to see how your friends and neighbours are reacting to your various ploys . But this is so unnecessary.. because most of the time you are in control of the situation - and you are, in the nicest sense of the word, a "manipulator" because you use various strategies very cleverly in order to influence and obtain the necessary recognition.

You are lazy ... You dream of a peaceful, calm, uncluttered and uncomplicated life. Your ideal would be to share a permanent base with some person or persons who would be able to demonstrate on-goinglove, peace and security.

You feel tired...worn out and listless. The last thing that you want to do is to be in an open conflict with those around you that are forever tormenting you... What to do? -That's the rub..you are feeling that you are being choked...unable to breathe..

Setback after setback has resulted in considerable stress and now you have got to the stage that you are continuously on your guard, not only to protect yourself from others but to protect yourself from yourself. It would seem that many of your unfulfilled hopes and dreams have led to uncertainty and suspicion. You no longer wish to answer to others and you are insisting on freedom of thought. You feel that you are fully self-sufficient and can control your own destiny. You are seeking ways to protect yourself from further loss of prestige and against further setbacks. You have become very dependent and you doubt that matters could possibly get any better in the immediate future and this negative attitude is leading you to exaggerate your claims and to refuse reasonable compromise.

You are trying to build up your own position and you resist all external influences. You insist that you are your own person and you will not tolerate any outside interference. Decisive and proud, you are true managerial material...

Wednesday, 9 January 2002

Just back from yet another stimulating Marketing Management Class - today's topic was Marketing Research :p (which we are very much lacking of but desperately needing for our shop). According to youthful-looking lecturer (who amazingly has a 17-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter!), important decisions should be preceded by proper research - which he then systematically proved by using the example of his choice of marriage partner - which he emphasized was done only after rigorous "research" of the many choices out there. hahahah :p he says he didn't just go out and marry the first girl he saw... durrhh???

went for an expat tai-tai lunchtime houseparty today halfway through the day at one of our teacher's house. Malay lady married this Englishman and spends her day painting silk and folk art, playing tennis and golf, volunteering, and doing "aqua aerobics" with other such ladies. They are all part of this so called "Singapore Flower Club" (getting together to discuss and arrange flowers) and another "International Ladies Group" that get together to do arts and crafts.. umm.... remember how many of us in school (not me lah!) used to dream of such a life.. hahaha... anyway, all the home-made food were really yummy.. we had moussaka, some popiah thingey, chicken with apricot sauce, thai vermicelli salad, thai sticky rice dessert (which is really yummy!!), spring rolls and lots of exotic fruits (strawberries and grapes).. yum.. yum.. I'm growing fat I tell you...

Look at the new iMac!! It looks like a table lamp! I want!! :P
Birthday celebrations yesterday ended with a bang! Had the best dinner of my life (so far) at The Tavern – this Swiss/Mediterranean restaurant along River Valley Rd – trying out all these gourmet stuff I’ve only (until now) read about. Starters were Foie Gras (pan-fried Goose Liver) and Oysters (both cholesterol-laden delicacies but equally worth dying for!! ok.. I exaggerate..). We then had the US Niman Rib-Eye steak (supposedly the highest “melt-in-the-mouth” quality -sold by every 10g) and Fried Cod – also really yummy!! – downed with this Italian red wine the excitable waiter recommended. Ended dinner with this Swiss desert Coupe Neselrode that came looking like fried spaghetti (chestnut puree) with meringue, whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. Yum Yum!!! :) :) :) :) Yum Yum…

Birthday loot for this year: An Eagle Creek Matrix Neon (Ne) bag (perfect for carrying notes to my lectures! Thanks alb! I love it!), a Basic Techniques for Painting Texture In Watercolour book & a Polymer Clay – The Weekend Crafter book (from my dearest pals from RGS :) thanks gals!), a funky Pop Quartz watch with a really cool but “impossible-to-wear-by-yourself” strap (thanks HM! :)), a “Huiling Poem” (: p thanks Mich!), an ORDNING&REDA glossy notebook with an innocent-looking cat on the cover (great for me to “pen my thoughts, sketch, let my creative juices flow..” thanks SA! :)), “Jelly T-Lights” (from Sarah) and a stream of sms & phone birthday greeting throughout my (otherwise really stressful ‘cos office computer hard drive crashed) day. Thanks Everyone!! Love You All!!

Btw, it has finally happened… an album dedicated to my Buttercup paraphernalia!! Wahahahah….!!! :O

Tuesday, 8 January 2002

thanks Karen and Matthew for wonderful birthday greetings!! :)

I'm glad to have met wonderful people like you too!!


watched psychological thriller Vanilla Sky on Sunday night and for some reason was really spooked by the show. Started shivering and goose-bumping and felt really spooked out.... inexplicable...but the show is not bad, quite like the original plot and the fact that both Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz are both good-looking helps..

Ask yourself honestly: WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?

oops.. just found out that plot isn't original after all! .. >>
Sheer exhaustion from too many late nights and brain and body exerting activities (I mean running, just in case your imagination runs wild.. :p). But I have to blog.. I HAVE TO BLOG!!! :O …. Hahaha… talk about a sudden moment of insanity..hahaha… Am I going.. senile… ??? gulp!

H A P P Y - B I R T H D A Y - T O - M E ! ! ! :) LALALALA…. I AM GETTING OLDER!!! WAHAHAHA…. Today 27 years ago is the very significant day God decided to put me into this world to make the world a better place for you…. Wow! What a great thought! :) I think this is probably one of the nicest birthdays I’ve experienced for a long long while… its nice to realize that a lot of the friends I have around me are people I have known either for a long time or people whom I’ve only gotten to know recently but intensely… that’s probably what being human is really about.. it’s about people and our primal need to feel connected with them..

House birthday party on Saturday went well! Mum made yummy fried bee-hoon (saturated with juicily-fried assorted ingredients), curry chicken (my favourite), steamed prawns (very juicy and very fresh), spicy pig’s stomach soup (phew! Shiok!), ngoh hiang (Mum's specialty), bouncy Jap jellies (as Kai likes to call them Konnyaku), kueh kosui and agar agar, and bought loads of exotic fruits (Sarawak pineapples, seedless grapes etc); we concocted a murky (but still drinkable) version of Sangria (OJ, 7-Up and Red Wine) and Kenneth brought longevity buns (pink, peach-like NTUC ones). Mostly good friends from school plus a rojak mix of others and we all had a good time! Even tried showing my VCD – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off but no one was paying any attention to it, preferring to talk and mingle and stuff face... nice :)

Saturday, 5 January 2002

Wah.. so exhausted from working and studying part-time (the 3 times a week 3 hours every time schedule) that I think I am going to start slacking off in my blogging.. must persist must persist... :p Yesterday we learnt (at Financial Management Wk 1) from the "Absolutely Professional" lecturer that accountants are the best off whatever the economic situation. According to him, when the economy is doing well, accountants are definitely employed (cos you need them for mergers, acquisitions whatever). When the economy is doing really badly and the company closes down, accountants are the last ones to go cos you need them to close up the final accounts of the company. In a situation when the company is starting to do badly, accountants will be the first to know (cos they are the ones who manage the company's accounts) and hence be able to quit before things get worse. hahaha... quite true.

Waiting now for guests to arrive for birthday house party!! mum has prepared a lot of food.. yum.. yum..

Friday, 4 January 2002

Finally bought a copy of JB Jeyaretnam’s “Make It Right For Singapore” yesterday from him selling it outside Centrepoint. Decided to buy it cos have been really curious about it since the first time I saw it being sold a long time ago and also because he and his assistant were shouting “Last Copy! Last Copy!” and being Singaporean I just couldn’t walk away like that… our conversation went:

Me: Is this really the last copy? (one must be sure, you see..)
Mr Jeyaretnam: Yes, it is (showing me his empty bag. his assistant did the same)
Me: I see… I’ll have it then… will you sign it for me please?
Mr J: Of course.. all my copies are signed (he takes out his pen and starts writing in it)
Me: How do I contact you if I want to ask some questions? Do you have an email address inside?
Mr J: umm…. No.. but you can contact me using this number (he proceeds to write his number in the book.. gulp!! :P)
Me: Is this book biased? (lowering my voice and saying in a mock-innocent way)
Mr J: (Raising his voice a few notches) Of course it is biased! It is VERY biased!! Hahaha…it is biased, and if you want the Truth, the truth can be found with the PAP
Me: hahaha… thank you then.. (taking the book from him) guess you all can go home now...
Mr J: You can read about how the PAP….. (his voice trailed off as he started to mumble to himself and I continued to walk towards Breadtalk to get my favourite Flossies…)
Me: Thank You.. thank you…
Mr J: ….. (mumble mumble… what a strange man..)
2nd day of work and 3rd day of New Year and am already playing too hard! :P



Stayed up late last night with fun-loving and relaxed bunch of 4 friends having dinner at Rice Table Restaurant (at Cuppage Terrace) having Rijstaffel set (an Indonesian buffet-style meal where they serve you up to 20 dishes (tahu telor, rendang, otak otak, sambal prawns, sotong, sate ayam – yum..yum…:), fruit salad, kangkong belachan, etc etc) and you sample the lot and then you can order extra of whatever you like.. very social-style dinner and much of the dinner-time is spent on discussing which dish you think is nice and passing around those you want your dinner companions to try out. Quite cool. The only other place that I know serves this sort of thing is Alkaff Mansion (which is quite beyond the reach of most of us anyway..) Hung around at quiet Doug’s Bar (still along Cuppage Terrace) after that drinking Tiger Beer (What Time Is It? What Time Is It? :p) and discussing random topics from famous murder cases in the past (Adrian Lim – the medium guy, remember??, Mimi-something – who killed her husband’s mistress, the Curry murder case, etc etc), new PDA models coming up in the year (we all want the Sony Clie!!), and even other topics too risqué to be published :p… very fun…

Wednesday, 2 January 2002

First day back at work.. Overwhelmed by realization of all the work that still has to be done!! :O Spent morning training new staff and afternoon trying to plan for the whole year ahead plus calculating all the estimated profits of the shop's different operations.. don't know what the economic climate will be like this year.. guess no one really knows.. but since it's still the start of the year, everyone is still in quite a high and positive mood so seems ok so far.. hope it maintains this way..

attended the first day of lessons at SIM today - on Marketing Management - and we already have our assigned group for projects as well as our topics!! quite scary to be back in class.. thankfully nothing was really hard to understand..

Lesson for today: Marketing (in the new economy) is really less about "Selling A Product's Features" but more of "Helping Someone To Enhance Their Lifestyle".. umm... true... should try it out in our new marketing strategy planning for this year.. "Paint and Enhance your Life?".. "Paint and Look More Attractive?"... "Craft Your Life???" umm... think I need to "be in a contemplative mood and let my mind wander freely" to generate new ideas (as guru Dr Yoshiro NakaMats - brilliant guy who has more than 3,000 patented inventions (including 16 to IBM) compared to Thomas Edison's mere :p 1,093 - says)

url: Soda Constructor

Tuesday, 1 January 2002

H A P P Y - N E W - Y E A R ! ! ! ! H A P P Y - N E W - 2 0 0 2 ! ! ! :-O

Wishing All A Tremendously Rewarding 2002!! And May All Your Grand Plans (i.e. Resolutions) Bear Fruit, May You Achieve Great Happiness & Wisdom In "All Things That Matter To You" - Faith, Family, Friends, Love, Career (or work), Finances, Creativity & Fun! :) - and May You Finally Discover A Path That Is True & Satisfying To Yourself In The Year Ahead!

Counted down to the all important New Year's Day with a bunch of fun-loving people last night at very atmospheric Cosy Bay at Tanjong Rhu Road. Some enterprising chap converted this old lighthouse overseeing the Indoor Stadium into a (somewhat cheesy) mult-storey pub-cum-restaurant - very cooling, very relaxed setting but quite cheena cos they kept switching between Cantopop, Chinese songs, Eurotrance and some random pop music and we stuffed our faces with deep-fried chicken wings and french fries downed with jugs of Tiger Beer (What Time Is It? What Time Is It? :p) as we counted down repeatedly (a-la Teletubbies) and sang Auld Lang Syne. The mood was not quite as exuberant as we had hoped it to be, though we had a bit of excitement as the new year arrived when someone from one of the higher levels of the lighthouse threw a lit sparkler onto the canvas canopy (and immediately fled) and it set off a little fire (which got worst when someone else in a moment of maniacal panic threw a full mug of Tiger beer onto the flames! :p).. anyway, fire got extinguished eventually by quite on-the-ball pub staff and eveyone once again resumed their chatter.. quite anticlimactic...

Started the year well today waking up early at 7.30am (cos went to send friend off at airport) and then blading at East Coast in the afternoon before stuffing face with yummy chilli crab at Long Beach for dinner. Yet I'm home early and blogging before 11pm!! :) Think I'll actually get to bed by 12 and get up on time tomorrow!! Yay! East Coast Park was really crowded (the swell partly attributtable - i'm sure- to the people jumpstarting their New Year Resolutions :p) and people just crashed into each other or into lamp-posts and dustbins.. even this friend of ours (who is a fairly competent skater) fell and got a serious cut on his chin (which needed four stitches!!) and alb dislocated his thumb (ouch!) and almost fell into a manmade pond in the park.. quite bizarre...