feeling really exhausted now and my eyes are hurting from a whole day of staring at rows of tiny text.. we are doing a stock take for the store today and tomorrow ... going to find out what else has been pilfered from the store through the year (other than the laptop.. ) :O Shiplifiting really does hurt companies, especially little ones like ours that definitely cannot afford to lose these (sometimes) hundreds of dollars of goods a week.. i so wish these people who take on the whim of a moment could consider the feelings of those who own the store.. but did you know that not everyone thinks it is wrong (unless they actually get caught)? I have a friend who has shoplifted before and it was only because he thought $60 for a pair of pants was really too much to pay and so he decided to steal one and buy one.. durrhhh??? was just surfing the net for this topic and actually found this site teaching "The Art Of Shoplifting"!

e.g. 1. If possible, you should always have some money on you when intending to shoplift, because if you've got none, it's rather hard to argue that to steal the item was a spontaneous decision. As a result, if you've got no money and are caught shoplifting you are more than likely to be charged for burglary as well as theft.

aiyoh... but his article is also quite Robin-Hood/communist-sounding..

"the golden rule of theft should be enunciated: NEVER STEAL FROM SOMEBODY WHO COULD CONCEIVABLY BE A COMRADE. Hence kicking into a house on Bell Street with a beaten up old Mazda in the yard is irresponsible and counter-revolutionary!"

errr....

dinner at village wok restaurant (2 pairs chopstick) along lor 3 geylang followed by durians and mangosteens in the cool breeze of the night with close friends... ahh... life... :) beats sitting in a smoky bar and drinking beer (though that's nice sometimes too :))

spent large part of morning in Orchard Neighbourhood Police Centre making police report for stolen laptop and found a pace of life that has long disappeared from the face of Singapore... everything moves so slowly in the police station that i felt a calm serenity....like a kampung feel... hahaha... actually, i'm really not kidding.. time seems to stand still here and i chatted with the a few policemen on duty there, asking them what's the silliest complaints they receive on a a regular day. Turns out to be noise pollution.. sigh... but this one guy did give a couple of good advice on protecting your personal property like handphones, laptops and pdas.. according to him, they get at least 20 to 30 reports of lost mobile phones in a single day at each police station... and an increasing number of reports of lost palms... wow... and usually they can't do much except take down the statement and file it. however, he advised that we take down the serial numbers for these things as they do sometimes manage to recover some of them when they raid shops in sim lim and so on..

ya, guess that may be where our laptop will eventually end up.. poor thing... :(

and he says that some people really don't work at all and just go around looking for opportunities like that... makes sense i suppose.. if you could nick a handphone, even a silly (now antiquated) Nokia 3210, in something like 5 seconds and sell it for even $50 in rochor road, that's pretty good money huh? :(

they used 2,500 pieces of toast (in different degrees of "toasted-ness") to build a gigantic mosaic, which reproduce a photograph of a toaster!!

why???

and this Ass-o-tron thingy is quite addictive for some reason.. feed it a URL and it will load whatever page you selected with a picture of someone mooning superimposed on it.. i find it really funny when you do it on the webpage of someone or a company you don't really have great affection for.. :p .. or even on your own page..

somehow, this report that the Klez virus is now No. 1 has me feeling vindicated.. how come? umm... don't know..maybe it is because i now know i'm not the only one accused of being a Klez Monster :p

frankly speaking, am quite impressed with virus creators and their ingenuity.. but deleting emails (with sizes around 120k to 130k but no attachments) with random subject headings like "from your girlfriend", "to terminate", "klez virus removal tool", etc before even opening them has become almost a daily exercise for me.. sigh... wonder when it will finally die down...

btw, i'm really not a Klez Monster..

passed a car fully engulfed by flames on my way home just now! :O .. against the dark background of the night, it burned strong and bright as a funerary offering..very surreal... the incident must have just happened and the fire trucks were not there yet so there was only a small crowd in a distance .. however, my shock sooned turned to frustration as i realised i didn't have any film in my lomo camera and my digital camera was on my study table!! grr... it's really frustrating how things like that happen just when you are totally unprepared to record them down even though you are right at the scene! have promised myself never to be in a situation like that again and not have any one of my numerous cameras.. sigh.. :(

fretfully eventful day, though not altogether pleasant... found to our worst fears that the laptop that had gone missing from our shop had really been stolen. watched the cctv recording in the morning and watched (helplessly of course) this indian/malay guy in striped polo shirt (literary) walking into our office and walking out with it wrapped in a white plastic bag.. grr... that was friday night, and of the two staff who were on duty that night, one was at the cashier counter and the other on dinner break.. this guy was definitely opportunistic and we did capture lots of images of him in our video but not sure if the police will be able to do much.. they were not the last two times we reported thefts (of handphones) with video recordings of the culprits.. let's see how it goes..

had fun staying up with sis last night reading Kokology: The Game of Self-Discovery .. apparently, it is more fun to read the book with someone else.. anyway, the fun part of this Jap-translated book - comprising part psychological test and part game - is when you go through a series of seemingly random questions (mostly in story form) relating to some rather innocent and sometimes unusual situations, and your chosen response (MCQ-style) at the end reveals some rather "hidden" behavioural and personality traits and attitudes of yourself about sex, family, friends, love, work, and more!

try out some of the Kokology games here...

for those who know me, all my life i've found myself strangely drawn to weird and unusual stuff.. i found this guy Athanasius Kircher rather cool to be honest.. check out this Museum of Jurassic Technology, truely an amazing collection of esoteric craziness... :p

the Photoshop Contest shows how radically you can actually transform any image as long as you have the right skills and patience..

i think Liane's photos for the film exchange project are simply amazing.. i'm inspired :)

report for the detox weekend.. here it goes...

- Saturday: kept away (mostly) from red meats except for traces of pork rib in brunch meal at famous 48 Onan Rd Joo Chiat Prawn Mee (makansutra 2 1/2 pairs ). ate New York Cheesecake in afternoon at Onyx (Siglap) - could be toxic, if you consider sugar to be a toxin (which some detox books do). Dinner was delicious Fish Head Steamboat at Xin Heng Feng Guo Tia Tan (90 Whampoa Dr) rated 6/6 in yahoo food review site... verdict: diet was low in fats, high in cholesterol... hopefully, weak attempt to windsurf at windless east coast in afternoon helped to burn off some of that.. :p

- Sunday (i.e. today): breakfast of healthy soup noodle at home, lunch of Duck Rice at 40A Commonwealth Ave (Margaret Dr).. rated 1 pair of makansutra chopsticks - undeserving... duck is a red meat.. umm.. can i redefined red meats = ungulate?? :p and ... :"> ... oxtail stew dinner (2 1/2 pair chopstick) at Werner's Oven (German Bakery and Restaurant on Upp East Coast Rd) :O... sorry.. i couldn't resist.. discipline in detox takes time... now have even more reason to go running to burn off the extra fats and cholesterol accumulated over the gastronomic weekend.. :p

report for the introspective weekend... took time off by myself today, took a long walk from home to West Coast Park, sat with sea breeze blowing in my face, Josh Groban playing in my discman (found out my sis has the CD! :D), notebook and pen in hand, and time on my hands.. and thought about what all this restlessness meant and prayed a little.. a lot clearer now about what i really value in my life and roughly what sort of direction i should be heading... no answers yet of course but feeling a bit more peaceful now.. :)

something triggered off this restlessness in me recently... i don't know when and i don't know what, but i suddenly feel that the good life i'm having now just doesn't seem to be so fulfilling anymore.. maybe life is too good.. so good it almost feels unreal.. after a while, i start to wonder if i'm fulifilling myself or just fulfilling time in a great way (i'm really not grumbling about how things are now.. in fact, life has never been better.. just that.... :( ... )

i have this nagging feeling inside me that tells me that there is a greater purpose in this life of mine.. and clues about it are scattered about in what's happening to me and around me and my response to them... maybe i need to be more conscious of what motivates me, what attracts me, frustrates me, what i can do for hours at a stretch without feeling tired or bored, the special talents and gifts that God has placed in me, and opportunities that come in and out of my life... and maybe also what i find myself admiring in others....

maybe like what a good friend just told me... i need to give myself some time off, away from the noise and hustle and bustle, to reflect on all these things and not just brush them away....

btw, who's this Josh Groban guy everyone's talking about? He's actually put his whole album online for us to hear his wonderful voice!

just bought a dilbert google mug online! :O.... the net really makes for convenient but rash shopping... took me less than 10 minutes of frivolous typing... gulp... it's a terrible, terrible tool for depressed yuppies with credit cards... but i need a mug anyway, i think..



realised i've attained a never-before record of eating from makansutra-recommended eating spots for a consecutive 4 days! had the apparently "original" katong laksa at 49 East Coast Rd (off Ceylon Rd) for brunch (though there are also a whole bunch of other great katong laksas in the same so-called "katong laksa war" zone) and Yong He Tau Huay (Beancurd) for supper yesterday; and ate Fish Soup at Blk 155 Bukit Batok St 11 (2 1/2 pairs chopstick) for brunch and Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice along River Valley Rd for dinner tonight... (apparently, katong has a chicken rice war as well.. wow.. what a food paradise..)

this weekend is detox weekend, i promise...

alb discovered a case of blatant bandwidth theft two days ago when this portuguese guy stole this cool pic hosted on alb's server


and linked it directly on his own site.. as you know.. bandwidth stealing is bad.... :p

so we decided to cheekily change it to this pic to embarrass the guy and watch for his reaction..



this is what he wrote in his blog after that: que porra foi aquela de meninas super poderosas aqui no blog????
ja tirei.. mas que susto... putz...
o cara renomeou a foto do site dele... e eu nao tinha salvo.. vou ver se tem no cache da faculdade a foto antiga pra voltar "ao normal".....
nerds notdead // 14:05

which translates in English to: what porra was that one of powerful super girls in blog here?
ja I took off. but that scare... putz...
the face renomeou the photo of the site of it... and I nao had saved.I go to see if pra has in cache of the college the old photo to come back
"to the normal one".....
nerds notdead// 14:05

hahahahha :D anyway, he actually had the nerves to write immediately to alb and ask why he had his pic removed and replaced..and was told the proper netiquette... :p

dinner at Hing Wa Restaurant along Beach Rd (makansutra 2-chopstick) - a Heng Hwa (apparently a dialect group) restaurant, famous for its herbal chicken soup in claypot, crispy blachan chicken, stir fried kailan with beancurd skin and a couple of other dishes.. ..quite good food... but quite stuffed now and had a bit of stomachache just now (from overeating?? :">) so can't seem to remember how much i enjoyed it.. but we did finish every last morsel so i reckon it must have been quite good... :)

i suspect i'm becoming a glutton judging from the amount i blog about food... :O

i now think that some secondary school teachers, especially the ones who have spent their whole lives teaching, are absolutely poor examples for our kids (yes, including my unborn children in the future) on what the real world is like....

background to this: i got an incredibly annoying phonecall today from this young teacher demanding that i go down to her Jurong West school to collect cash payment for some goods that i delivered to some of her fellow teachers last week. they had each made individual orders after i went down to do a demonstration on a product and the consolidated amount was substantial enough (> $200) for us to provide free delivery of the goods to them. when i sent down the goods to them last week, i had the orders neatly and individually packed, with individual invoices requesting for payments to be made via cheque written to our Company's name. so it was pretty clear how they could pay.. i couldn't understand why they still needed me to go down just to pick up the payment...

her excuses? the teachers did not have postage stamps and envelops... or worse still, the teachers didn't know how to pay by cheque 'cos they were "not professionals like us"... or even worse.. this tops it all... she and "many of the teachers" wondered how i could "differentiate one cheque from another and who had paid and who had not"... durrrrhhh???? i told her that differentiating a cheque is like differentiating one ang pow from another in a wedding... write their name on the back of the envelop lor! but then she cooked up more and more exasperating excuses like (a) the teachers were worried the cheques would get lost in the mail and (b) the teachers were not willing to pay the 22 cents extra for the postage.. hello? did they think my petrol would cost less than 22 cents??? even when i told her the only solution is to come down to our shop to pay us directly, she sounded shocked and confused... durrhhh???

i worry for the future of our nation...

cze cha dinner at makansutra 2-chopstick (i.e. 2 pairs of chopsticks) Hillman Restaurant at Blk 1 , Cantonment Rd , #01-159 - surprisingly popular with Japs and Ang Mohs... famous for their paper-wrapped chicken (see pic above), claypot dishes and fried rice - which supposedly has amazing "wok hei" ('wok air' in cantonese, meaning fragrance) - good review at makansutra page here and it is indeed yummy.. very laid-back and near carpark... so you can safely watch your car from the restaurant just in case the parking coupon expires and our favourite summons auntie appears.. :p

i'm done with my london album!! who wants to see?? come see, come see!! :) err... sorry not online.... nothing to click on line before this... :p

btw, local lomo embassy ffurious is organising a lomo LCA event in Summer 2002 - LOMO WONDERLAND THE LOMOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE - sounds really exciting - they're putting up a 42m long Lomowall made up of 3R photos taken by this funky camera..dannybunny, going for it?? :)

and.. and... this is a pic of me at The Mirror Project!! so exciting!!! :)

went to new jap restaurant Mingeijaya Sento Japanese (at Starhub Centre) today and experienced some amazing customer service (which rivals that of what I experienced in tokyo when i was there last year).. well, it was so amazing I have to blog it so you can just imagine.. The moment we walked in, every staff in the restaurant (including even the cook in the kitchen, i'm sure :p) barked out a loud something - i figure it must be the irasshaimase mentioned in the website..).. we were then brought through the pleasantly-decorated restaurant to our comfortable seats. Around us were more serving staff than customers. From the moment we sat down to the time we were ready to leave, we were pampered from hand to toe with warm towels, warm smiles and incredibly polite service. The staff, many of whom were clearly Chinese, could speak Japanese fluently and were ever ready to attend to our every need and to answer all of our unusual queries about the interesting desserts and to make helpful recommendations. Even when this particular waitress accidentally dropped a bottle of chilli powder and some of it scattered onto the chair beside me, they rushed about quickly to make everything right, with looks and words of apology and more warm towels... very impressive. What was even more surprising was yet another loud greeting we received when we were leaving our seats to leave the restaurant. Every single staff, even the lady busy serving another customer at the cashier counter, turned their eyes to fix them on us with the biggest, broadest smiles (to the point of us feeling embarrassed and awkward) and greeted us continuously until we were finally out of the door...

phew... polite service to the point of being scary... still... i'll choose it any time over bad service.. :)

Sento has another branch at East Coast Tennis Centre- very popular with the local Japanese community.

this article on cancer-causing acrylamide in some of my favourite foods really caused me to freak out and drop my dinnerware.. apparently, a bunch of renowned scientists announced yesterday that many fried, baked and processed foods (including my favourite potato chips and fried chicken, as well as grilled, roasted and barbecued food) contain acrylamide, which is said to cause cancer, damage the nervous system and affect fertility!

Lynn! get those Walker's crisps from your cupboard and toss them out!! :O the ready-salted ones contained 1,270 ppb of acrylamide - 127 times higher than what is permitted!!

it really stresses me out not knowing what is safe out there to eat anymore... over dinner just now, my nurse sis (who knows all about organic foods, strange diseases and other such stuff) was feaking me out further by saying how i should peel my fruits and wash my vegetables thoroughly to get rid of pesticides and waxy shiney stuff on apples...

i think i really need to detox..

this is the second time in a month i have been accused of being a Klez Monster.... after an earlier virus-scare, my computer is really protected now and Norton Antivirus is constantly being updated so it really can't be me...

:( ... i'm not the Klez Monster....

a wise thought came into my head today as i was pounding the ground along East Coast, with the sticky sea breeze blowing in my sweaty oily face. In order to combat the problem that most of us are facing now, i.e. feeling ever so often that we have wasted some of our days with either laziness, inertia or activities that don't amount to much at the end of the day, or ended up not fulfilling promises that we make to ourselves; what we can do is to work out what I describe as an "Ideal Day".

basically, you work out the least of what you would really wish you could accomplish everyday, if only you were disciplined enough... for example, this could include getting up at 7am to run 3km. after that, you drink a glass of milk and a glass of Orange Juice to make sure you fulfill your daily dose of nutritional requirements. you could also be planning to spend maybe half an hour to an hour reading the Bible or meditating or whatever. and then maybe working out your workplan for the day before heading out of the front door for work.

what you are trying to achieve is basically to "automate" these essential activities into a routine so after a while, you would not think twice when you do them and they are not likely to be replaced by sudden bouts of ill-discipline or laziness or be waylaid by other non-essential activities. having gotten these important things done, your mind is less besieged by guilt or frustration through the day and you would naturally also become healthier in all ways, physically, mentally and spiritually...

isn't that great?! well, maybe some of you may already be doing something like that.. but this would surely help someone less-disciplined like me.. :)

Calorie Count for Today:

Minus (i.e. good :))
- ran for 30 mins at East Coast = - 280 (? just a rough guess.. could be less 'cos hot weather made me run more slowly than usual)
- swam two laps at snail's pace at Clementi Swimming Complex = - 10 (??) - aiyah, forgot to bring goggles so couldn't swim properly, that's why the meaningless distance covered... ended up chatting and tanning at side of pool, soaking in warm tropical chlorine water... nice relaxing activity anyway..

Plus (i.e. bad!!)
- dim sum lunch at Crystal Jade = + 460 to +550 (just a really, really rough estimate based on unverified data i found on the net.. too embarrassed to reveal the source.. :p)
- coffee bean's black forest ice blended regular (with whipped cream) = +150

Therefore, overall calorie count = + 320 .... :O horrors!!!

just been told by alb that Episode III hasn't been done yet.. the existing trilogy consists of IV, V and VI.... errr...:"> feeling embarrassed now... a Star Wars fan-wannabe exposed... : p

so when are they going to make Episode III???

i got my results for the exam!!! And I've got an A and 2 B+ !! hooray!! and...and... IT SEEMS LIKE I TOPPED THE CLASS!!! :O :D quite unbelieveable... :) feeling very high now..... and honestly... i was really studying just to make sure i don't have to go for resits... now can relax and go for swim and run tomorrow... time to keep fit and get back in shape.. :) motivated now..



my own verdict on Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones? Love it!! :) and Daniel, you're right.. I LOVE YODA!!! He is simply the most adorable guy you can find in the show.. couldn't stop laughing at everything he says and does... and he is much less puppet-like than before and every bit of his facial muscles move now... absolutely cool.... worst bit about the show.. err.... seriously.. the romance between Anakin and Padme...i squirmed in my seat... really.. i shant say more less i spoil the show for you... a really enjoyable show as a whole anyway... :) am looking forward to getting the vcds for Episode III to V.. ya... am slightly embarrassed as i say it now.. i think i am probably (and star wars fan alb agrees too) the only person on Planet Earth who is actually watching the full Star Wars Saga (for the very first time) in the right order... :p... i watched Episode I on Sunday, Episode II today and guess I should be getting III to V soon... :D ... i am actually watching it in the right order! :D hahaha...

it's been terribly warm these couple of days..check out the latest in the weather.. bet it is still something like

Fair and warm
Temperature 27 °C - 35 °C
Relative Humidity 55% - 85%

grrr... i reckon i could melt just staying in the sun.... anyone has any suggestions on how to cool down?? i recommend that you hide in the shade or aircon places whenever you can and drink more bubble tea.. :p

just had famous Rocher Beacurd (Short St branch) and Parklane Zha Wan Tan Mee (in Sunshine Plaza off Prinsep St)... yummy... Bea-curd.. umm... hahahha... :D check out the spelling!!!



we have a fishball noodle stall near our workplace which has a large handwritten sign "On Leave" stuck over their Ipoh Hor Fun... food on leave?? hahahhaha :D.. i thought only the cook goes on strike!! i will try to take a picture of it when i can.. :P but maybe by then it would have come back from leave?? wahahahahah....sorry....

alb just got tix for us to watch Star Wars Episode II on Friday!! Click on this to get into the mood!!

:D yay!!!

Now to build my own light sabre and buy the cloak and masks... hee hee.. or should i go as... Yoda?? umm... but that will need me to speak funny... Yodaspeak?

karen's lovely one-day old baby: worth all of my blogspace today... :)






and no, it doesn't make me want to have my own baby yet, just in case you were wondering...

ever experienced the kind of feeling that you are wasting time?... you know.. when you keep making the same excuse of "relaxing" or "chilling out" when asked what you have been up to, and when what you say echoes back into your ears, it sounds really lame.. the point is.. you know in your heart that you are just plain not doing anything constructive...just.. wasting time... :(.. and it's not like you are sick or studying for exams or whatever.. there are tons of stuff you know you will enjoy doing.... and which you have promised yourself you will definitely do when you find the time... like read that expensive travel book that I bought last year.. start working on that jigsaw puzzle... try out that recipe in that "spicy food" cookbook I borrowed.. make salt dough figures.. read the Bible... go for a run or go skating... start watercolour painting.. plan a trip.. anything.... as long as it is constructive...

but no... i end up staring at the walls.. twiddling my thumbs.. at times like this, it seems like i would rather sit in front of the computer and surf aimlessly for strangers' blogs.. or time-wasting games.. or just flipping through the same copy of newspapers or Her World repeatedly.. than stop to think what better things there are to do... and then for some reason i end up staying out or sleeping really late.. as if to make up for the wasted time by doing something constructive in the middle of the night..

and then time just flies by and it is mealtime.. or zz time.. or 3am..or. whatever... sigh.....

inertia-induced madness and lethargy...

t h e ... i n t e r n e t ... i s .... s o... s l o w ......t o n i g h t ....

i really should look into getting broadband... i have been staring at the screen for some 25 mins and i still do not have the bottom half of the screen... this is so absurd...

very looking forward to watching Star Wars Episode II after catching Episode I on tv yesterday, enduring impossibly ridiculous number of commercial breaks every 10 mins... but i think Queen Amidala's costume changes are amazing..

in london, there is a new (and truely bizarre) reality show where four people live in the window of a shop (Harrods, to be precise) for a week and have to complete certain tasks set by members of the public (by internet vote)...

watched No Man's Land just now... solid movie.. very realistic.. but came out feeling a little depressed... War is Bad... no matter which side started it..

not one to watch my calories nor my waistline, i did not realise the amount of unhealthy stuff i had been pumping into my body since i got caught up recently in a hundred and one things..exams, trip, work...the usual.. too much coffee, fatty red meats and McDonalds, Old Chang Kee curry puffs, starbuck mocha coffees, cholesterol-laden seafoods, chocolates, fried foods... the usual stuff that makes one grow fat and sluggish... the negative mood foods... at the same time, i stopped all forms of exercise, even simple crunches at night.....

the downside? i was highly irritable (from the weather, from long queues, from bad drivers, from silly pranks of others etc etc..), i found myself tired and breathless just from climbing bukit timah hill (yesterday), i slept more but less deeply (i used to sleep dead like a log), i found myself suffering from all sorts of strange physical ailments (like my stuck eardrum, headaches, stomachaches..), i couldn't focus on my work as well as i could, my short-term memory was weak... and i found it hard to keep to commitments i made...

which irritated me even more...

ironically, i use only Premium Petrol in my car and yet i feed myself trash... i am determined to start eating properly.. more water, more fruits and veges, and maybe get red meat out of my diet as much as i can.. "detox" in a sort of way...

a great site on the BodyWorlds exhibition i went to in London...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,8542,669680,00.html

wanted to watch academy award winner No Man's Land but it was sold out so we ended up watching hilarious comedy 40 Days And 40 Nights starring cute Josh Hartnett.. gosh! do guys really have such incredible sex drives?? :p have been told (obviously by a guy) that it is all exaggerated and should not be believed...umm....anyway movie was touted as first "no-sex comedy" but the references to it are so everywhere in the movie ... durrhh... and they still ended up doing it anyway at the end..sigh...

funny quote from the official website of the movie: Do You Know: Over 11,000 people are injured every year trying out new sexual positions.. :O there is even this website called the 4040 club for people who are trying to do that.. providing distractions like games and other interactive stuff... hahaha... i know one guy who's just trying to do that... let's all wish him all the best.. or shall we start taking bets?? :O

here's some birds on a wire...

i am such a disorganised and inefficient person... what an irritable day... sigh... too little gets done in a day and everything around me seems to be in a mess... :(

sorry.. just trying to vent...and my stomach is starting to hurt for no apparent reason... funny how we sometimes start to feel physically unwell once we feel mentally frustrated or unhappy... maybe toxic brain juices have seeped through to the various other body parts and destroyed them..? don't know.. am not bio student..

came up with a wise and mature thought while chatting with friend yesterday.. we were talking about parents and about the different styles in which children are brought up. We came upon the topic of over-protective parents, especially mums towards their daughters.. those who set curfews (even if their daughters are already "old enough" to think for themselves) and those who decide what their daughters can and cannot do, where they can and cannot go, etc etc.. i suddenly realised that parents should really be more concerned with the company their children are keeping rather than all these.. after all, if their kids are hanging out with bad company, they will be in danger even at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. if they are with safe company, they will be ok even if they are out till midnite.. isn't it? besides, the more they impose limits, the more their kids are likely to hide information or to lie... so maybe openness and trust (that their parents will not overreact) is really the only way to make sure parents know what their kids are up to..

oh well, scary thing is, parents do not have a manual on how to bring up their children and they only really have one chance at it and whatever they do will inevitably influence the lives of their children for a long time (if not permanently)... umm....

little wonder why some couples decide not to have kids... the whole idea of this great responsibility must surely overwhelm them...

today's front-page love story of pierre png sharing half his precious liver with gf andrea de cruz had all gfs in singapore nudging their bfs all day asking "Dearie, if this happens to me, will you do the same for me?" and bfs going," aiyoh! choy! touch wood! touch wood! don't say something like that leh!".... hence, gfs still do not have their answers.. still, it was a really touching story... :) glad things turned out ok in the end... as friend says.. God's miracle..

feeling a void now that i don't need to attend lessons till July.... haven't started running and blading yet and should start watercolour painting and clay modelling soon... trying to be a little creative and healthy before the lessons start again :p ..maybe will paint scenes from London.. slide pix turned out quite nice... meet up for coffee if you wanna see pix? call me.. :) trying to squeeze in a short weekend dive trip too, and maybe brush up on photography (take more lomo pix), learn Photoshop and Flash and revise my Bahasa Indonesia a little ..ya.. took a crash course in it about a couple years back.. now can't even remember basic stuff.. i really only know two languages.. so deficient....

i really sound like a student on vacation.. :p

I enjoyed reading this story by Catherine Lim.

And this is fun...find out "what your name would mean if you happened to be a shallow imitation of humanity with a dark purpose".. I am

just watched Spidey! Really cool movie.. at end of show, I really felt like I just experienced a comic-book character come to life! Actions are unbelieveably real and I sat at the edge of my seat as Spidey swung through downtown Manhatten.. wow.. the twin towers of WTC were visibly missing from the skyscape... otherwise bet he would have swung between them too! Way to go, Spiderman!! :D

have been suffering from a severe case of eardrum blockage in my left ear since mid-way through London trip.. started with water getting into my ear during a shower and for some unknown reason it didn't automatically drain out this time round and now my left ear is really hard-of-hearing.. never experienced this before. was upset with neighbourhood GP who couldn't do much about it except give me a useless looking eardrop.. sigh.. will have to find an ENT (Ear-Nose-Throat) specialist if it doesn't get better.. in the meantime, if i meet you or you catch me across the street, speak up or shout, ya? I really can't hear you that well anymore.. :(

ya, just in case you were wondering.. I watched Spiderman in mono sound.. :(

was flipping through a copy of AsianDiver Annual - Top Destinations of Asia (Collector's Edition) just now and realised how much I want to dive!! :O I can't be above ground that much of a year!! I'm 30% fish and I need to be in water!!

was in a bit of a daze today - partially due to jet-lag (an easy excuse :p) but mostly because i was up till 1am playing around with Photoshop 6.0.. so fun!! there are a million and one things you can do to a photograph.. but read that a real digital photographer must have a pretty good digital camera.. umm...so sad as i eye my antique 1.3 megapixel olympus.. must save up for sexy and featherlite (relatively) Nikon Coolpix 5000.. really cool with nice deep grip, "flip out and twist" LCD and (wow!) 5.0 megapix!.. sigh.. how to save when times are so bad...

btw, this is really funny...

what a great, inspiring and real-time story of God's leading in one's life..we're following closely Karen :) Inspired, i'm picking up my copy of The Road Best Traveled to read again :)

Back in blisteringly hot Singapore and now it’s thundering mammoths and t-rexs a mere 2 hours later! Most unpredictable and bewildering! The sudden contrast in climate (from 10°C to 33°C) plus the inevitable “jet-lag” and the heaviness of the downpour adds to my confusion… I am in a daze…



So I check my loot…a couple of things to give away and many other things for myself :p.. I’ve got photography books (Drive By Shootings and Tibor Kalman's Colors).. a Photoshop 6.0 for Photographers.. a Square swatch edition that apparently cannot be found in Singapore.. two rather antique Charles Darwin books (from a quaint Charing Cross bookstore), a Paper Palm (hahaha..), a furry bear hand puppet from Covent Garden, 2 limited edition Star Wars action figurines (alb says they are valuable cos they can’t be found in Singapore), an Amelie DVD-Soundtrack double set (uncensored unlike the one in HMV), the original magnetic Fridge poetry (watch out for some poetic inspirations on my blog :p), some tea from Whittards and a couple of other stuff I still have to sort out.. umm.. not bad huh? :)

A quick run-down on what we manage to accomplish in the one week...

-eating places – belgos (1kg of mussels in olive oil, cream and white wine sauce), wagamama (kare lomen), mandarin kitchen (for the yummy lobster noodles and scallops), royal china (very popular - very crowded dimsum place), some Italian, some Indian, and loads of my favourite full english breakfasts (sausage, bacon, egg, beans, mushroom and toast).. yum yum…

-museums – brit museum, v&a, tate modern, natural history, national gallery, national portrait gallery

-sights– st pancras, big ben & westminister abbey, houses of parliament, st james’s park, green park, leicester sq, trafalgar sq, st paul’s cathedral, tower bridge

-markets & shopping – camden, petticoat, regent st, harrods, tottenham court rd and oxford st with their wonderful lifestyle and paper and craft and electronic shops, charring cross for the wonderful bookstores

-exhibitions – koeperwelten (bodyworlds).. mindblowingly amazing.…

-nostalgic places – my hall of residence in London (where I stayed in my first and third year), the apartment I shared with a couple of great friends in my second year, the safeway supermarket I always shopped at, uol union (where I did all my dive training), lse, the giant corner bookstore off gower st, all souls church..

quite a bit for a week huh? :)

some of the most bizarre things happen in london... was joking with alb in the afternoon two days ago about getting a phone call from mrs tang of springfield sec school asking for canvas. i was imitating how she would usually go on and on telling me what she wants to order even if i tell her i am driving or off or whatever. i acted out the scene and made alb act as me and me as mrs tang. we laughed and laughed and alb thought i was kidding about her insisting on ordering even though i tell her i am in london. that night at 12.54am (london time) she really called and asked for canvas and was really embarrassed when i told her i was in london and quickly hung up. haha... so i was wrong but how bizarre the coincidence.. :p

anyway, more pix to entertain till i return...
glum londoners in tube

busking in the underground stations.. the harp player was really good.. think we should really allow people to busk in boring Singapore

found an art shop that reminds me of creative hands in london!! very surreal...:)

the german ww2 bombs left a couple of holes in the side of the v&a museum..

duckies in the trafalgar square fountain

we also visited the amazing Bodyworld exhibition in East London.... very out-of-the-world...

more updates... weather still as unpredictable but we're seeing days of great sunshine amidst the scary thunderstorms (yes, these are really heavy showers and strong freezing winds... brr... :> don't really remember ever having seen such storms when i was last here... umm...)

some pixs to give you a feel of what i've been seeing..see alb's site for more pix (especially of stunning st paul's cathedral and tower bridge)..

the brit museum with its egyptian mummies, stolen artifacts from greece, ivory chessmen, etc.. they have renovated the interiors.. its really stunning now..

.. gloomy big ben - bad weather day.. but this is really more like the london i remember.. :p

st pancras station - fantastic gothic (?) architecture.. one of many in architecturally-rich london... stunning...

the new tate modern gallery... so much fun seeing works of art that challenged our senses (and definitely tickle us silly)... see me admiring this grey canvas.. in another room was an entirely blue one and yet another had a canvas with slash across the surface and a perforated one... :D

alb enjoying an episode of teletubbies... the brits seem obsessed with reality tv... we enjoyed seeing episodes of edwardian country house..

where we're staying...a beautiful place in a peaceful crescent off russell square..