oops.... Shark "Photo of the Year" Is E-Mail Hoax :p

i think i get amused at the littlest things.. for example.. this fishcake at Ah Meng Cafe (wow! they have a website??) that was shaped like a fish... i stopped in the middle of my meal after scooping it out of the "Salted Veg Seafood Soup" and starting laughing at it...



hahaha.... wonder if anyone else ever noticed.... was it to amuse me or to amuse the cook??

glad someone at the kitchen enjoyed his work anyway... :p

Bad Day At Work

received via email..."Although this looks like a picture taken from a Hollywood movie, it is in fact a real photo, taken near the South African coast during a military exercise by the British Navy.

It has been nominated by National Geographic as "THE photo of the year"... umm...

this page has amazing pictures of the Mola Mola (aka "Sunfish") by Mike Johnson.. the dream of every serious diver.... :)

car died again this morning..barely two weeks after i serviced it and barely a week since i mentioned knowing nothing about maintaining a car... barely a whimper as i cranked up the ignition...

AA guy came just now to tell me battery is "gone" (but not before a "knight in shiny armour" came by helpfully at the carpark and asked if he could (a) help to drive me to a car workshop "at balestier that is still open at this time", or (b) try to help jumpstart the car, or (c) help me to jumpstart car the next morning or (d) find out what's wrong for me.... anyhow, i declined gently with "err.. no need lah.. l call AA already..." which of course he said "Actually, you don't need to call AA".. err... so he could help me??? durrhh... oh well, anyway, "AA uncle" was less sleazy and sold me a new car battery (but not before "Helpful Guy" exclaimed loudly "wah, so expensive. i can get you a cheaper one"), helped me fix it up and went through a quick Car Maintenance 101 with me on what to look out for and how to take care of the car..



it struck me how much owning a car has cost me so far.... and how much more it will cost me over my lifetime.. is it really worth it? i know that many people who drive (or should i say everyone??) says it is impossible to live without a car once you have owned one..... i'm sure i'll get used to it.. once i see the benefits of having more money in my bank .... to travel or something...... hee hee.... :)

Art For The Misfit

a really bad bus ride on the way to lessons this evening.. that's all i remember... a 15 min bus ride that took more than a full hour, stuck in a freezing cold bus in a horrid jam along bukit timah rd, even though there was no sign of any road works or malfunctioning traffic lights or the like.. very odd...... decided not to go for lessons in the end.. the first lesson i am missing for my course since i started attending lessons in January... took a long 45min walk home from Ngee Ann Poly (I changed my mind about taking the lesson right outside SIM) and enjoyed the nice breeze, mixed with this particular "forest fragrance" wifting from the huge and spooky jungle opposite SIM.. randomly recalling a chatty taxi uncle telling me how he would park his taxi somewhere nearby and go and hunt for durians in the forest..alone.. and how he has all the tools for cleaning, opening and enjoying durians all packed in his trunk and how he once lost everything 'cos a hotel porter took everything out from the trunk..... it's funny how long, relaxed walks, alone, bring up all sorts of random memories...

stopped to shop for breakfast options in cold storage and ended up buying a loaf of bread and a packet of cheese... strangely, establishing a routine of eating breakfast in the morning has been a struggle for me since some 5 years back when i started working (gosh, has it been that long??).. it just seems so hard to buy something that is worth getting up in the morning for; and actually getting up in time to eat it.. besides, i hate cornflakes... and the nearest hawker place is quite far away... let's see if bread and cheese will do the trick...

or maybe i should just sleep early... oh well, good nite then...

ah pek pushing shopping trolley (filled with cardboard boxes & stuff)

today.. the saga of the defiant computer continued... i managed to fix the hard drive back (knocking myself once on the head, once on my elbow and scratched myself on my hand), reinstall Windows 2000, reinstate a new log in name and administrator function... but found myself still not able to link up with the computer in the front of the store via cable... this meant that some of the functions could not be done, including closing of yesterday's transactions and so on... i decided to give up and started customising the new and clean Windows set-up, installing Office 2000, creating accounts in Outlook Express, new desktop icons, new favourites, internet dial-up functions and the like... all was well and fine - and life began to take on a semblance of normality ..... when suddenly.....

** p o o f ** i found myself locked out of the system again!!! even though i was clever enough this time to create an additional adminstrator log-in name so i could still modify the adminstrative functions of the computer using another userid, i was nonetheless not able to log in under the name i created earlier, under which all the fancy customisation had been done.. :( i sat totally dazed in front of the computer, the feeling of deja vu washing over me... i helplessly fiddled with the icons and buttons i knew and yet.. nothing... nothing worked.....

anyway, to cut things short, i was rescued in the end by my favourite IT help.. and it seems that finally, all things have been fixed once and for all.. (i hope..)... still, i realised much of the day was gone trying to get the silly system up.. . talk about productivity loss.. sigh...

the Singapore Art Museum's Rodin - A Magnificent Obsession - exhibition, is quite frankly.. magnificent! Auguste Rodin's lifelong study of the human form and expression, coupled with his imagination and extraordinary style, had me totally mersmerized by the bronzen statues and masks yesterday morning, as i managed to catch a glimpse of the truely world-class exhibtion before rushing into work... some of the sculptured works exuded so much expression and intensity (of sorrow and despair mainly) that one can barely tear one's eyes away from just staring at them in wonderment....

wow, imagine having one of Rodin's sculptures at home!! if i'm really a collector, i'll probably get one of the really expressive masks or a replica of the Thinker... so i can look at it every now and then and just.. ponder... as Rodin says.."What makes my Thinker think is that he thinks not only with his brain, with his knitted brow, his distended nostrils and compressed lips, but with every muscle of his arms, back and legs, with his clenched fist and gripping toes."... wow.. pretty intense, huh? :p

for those who missed the exhibition (which is free, btw) which ended yesterday, here's Rodin's Thinker In Lego....

every mishap has a silver lining... so i figured out how to muck around with the inside of the work computer, remove the hard drive, bring it home, fix it up with the computer @ home, get all the stuff in the hard drive out and now i have the data all backed up both in the home computer AND on CD-ROM - very kiasu :p..... quite an achievement for me.. really... opening the metal casing outside the CPU and looking into it is like peering into the frightful unknown for me....the never-before-treaded dimension.... so now at least i learnt what the data cable is and why there is so much wiring in the computer.. they are actually power supply plugs supplying power to all the different drives and there is actually a spare "socket" to stick in another hard drive if i want too... ummm..... cool..... i think it wouldn't be too long before i can actually figure out how to set up my own home computer! :) *pat pat* to myself....

what it looks like now..

i'm blogging now cos i want to capture this moment... this moment of great suffering and distress.. it's Sunday, 8.45pm, the end of a really mad and busy workday.. have been on my feet since 11 - with streams and streams of people coming in, answering lots of questions, doing a million and one things, and spending a lot of time helping out at the cashier 'cos the new salesperson we have is so incredibly blur.....and now, when i should be heading home to rice, dishes and hot soup, i find myself still in the office.... it's freezing cold, very quiet, very dark.. i'm feeling really hungry, really tired and close to tears... and why?? cos the stupid office computer has just suddenly logged me out and all my files are stuck in the hard drive!!!

i'm kicking myself for not backing up my files in another computer even though i half contemplated on doing it today but procrastinated... i so hate Windows 2000... i can't log back in now using my usual user name and password (i'm using another username now and it doesn't have access rights to the files!! grr.... :( ) ... and i can't understand why...

it's moments like this that you wonder why we didn't stick to using pen, paper and the abacus...

bad nightmares seem all the rage nowadays (see karen's - with zombie cats and zombie horses - and evon's - hearing voices ).... had a really long nightmare last night, so long it almost seemed like reality.. in the dream, a close friend of mine died (i still shudder thinking about it) - i'm not sure how it happened but i know i was there and i remember being really upset and wailing out loud (very dramatic..) - for some reason, i remember the face was quite white.. eeks... spooks... nevermind.. shan't talk about it anymore.... and no need to try guessing who it is...

just watched xXx (aka TripleX) - supposedly the "macho" answer to sissy James Bond 007 - watch it if you like extreme sports of any sort.. but if you are looking for good acting and plot.. forget it... seriously, i think the plot was probably conceived while the scriptwriter was nursing a bad hangover over his potty, and then the actors had to figure out how to act the whole damn thing out..... grrr... really quite bad.... and fancy calling it TripleX - aren't there any other names to pick from??

witnessed the aftermath of a really nasty accident just now... the headlights of one car was thrown a good 100 metres away!



how could it have ended up looking this bad?? sigh..... hey drivers, be careful on the road, ya?

have been very confused and dazed over the last couple of days.. think i haven't recovered fully from dive trip.. zzz... couple that with not having a moment of rest while working (since one staff is on one weeks' leave), the pile of things that need to be done once i get into office, a string of late nights, working on course projects etc etc.. can hardly keep my eyes open on the bus to work... glad i can sleep in later tomorrow morning cos am on afternoon shift.. phew...

watched spooky movie < t h r e e > last night... a trilogy of movies (one korean, one thai and one hk) all different but connected in one way or other.. very worth the money and the scare... highly recommended.... but have to admit was rather spooked ... haha... :p



on a totally unrelated note: was astounded today at how little i know about car maintenance.... was speaking to my coursemates during the break and was surprised to learn that we can actually check the engine oil ourselves (there is apparently this transparent container thingy there with markings), that old cars should use "mineral" rather than "synthetic" engine oil, that radiator water should be checked and refilled often etc etc..... i think i am too reliant on AA to save me every time.. .. either that or the "knight in shiny armour"... hahaha.... except that we figured that if we try that late at night or in an isolated place (like - gulp! - Lim Chu Kang), we will probably not get a "knight in shiny armour" but a "woman in white dress" instead...

HAHAHAHA.... ok ok.. lame... :p

long weekend dive trip to pulau perhentian (malaysia)

the beautiful beach
soft & white sand
sipping milkshakes beneath netting canopy
very ang "ang mohs"

back from pulau perhentian, still my favourite dive spot in malaysia, so far north it is one hour away from the Thai border - as close as you can get to the perfect beach holiday albeit the inevitable tropical flies and vicious nightime mosquitoes. fantastic diving - everything we wanted to see - turtles, sharks, stingrays, beautiful hard & soft corals and for some unpredictability and excitement, a rare and terrifying attack by a triggerfish pair (think we came too close to their nesting ground) on one dive and diving to freezing zero visibility on another. pictures of the beach do not do this place justice - the soft, white sandy beach stretches far beyond the water's edge - creating a wide beauiful playground - and yet stretches the other way as well, far into the calm, balmy and clear blue sea, allowing one to walk hundreds of metres into the sea without once stubbing one's foot into rocks and corals.

incredible place - all in, including diving, accoms, food & transport for only S$300!! highly recommended!

kai is one of my most animated friends.... allowing me to try out creating animated gifs...

went for a short run today, after a hiatus of two weeks... when i started, my legs were feeling like steel and my breath were tired and uneven.. but i persisted... soon, the exhilarating feeling was back again.. the feeling of pounding solid concrete under my feet, my muscles and lungs screaming for air and my hands swinging carefree by my side.. just the simple feeling of being really connected with my body and knowing what it can do..... of being able to keep running and seeing the trees and street signs breezing past me... :)

check out some pseudo panoramic shots i took today.. hahaha......

i am stuck with 3/4s of a box of "crunchy blueberry and almond-filled" Blueberry Morning® cereals from Post® Cereals. i thought, with the nice packaging and all, that they would be at least as edible as the Oreo O's, if not better, but they are not. they are full of hard and tasteless slabs of corn flakes and dried pieces of raisins with the highly elusive and highly chopped-up slices of dehydrated almonds. they don't inspire me to get up in the morning. and so i am stuck with more than half a box... wish the people researching for better tasting cereals in the Post® Cereals lab can come up with yummy cereals for cereal-haters like me soon...

all these flavours and i can't find anything i like... sigh...

anyway, here's some slightly-related stupidity: zthing's Failed Breakfast Cereals

is it really just me? i'm not sounding too heartless and uncaring i hope, but i really don't think the news about the grisly discovery of the dead body of the woman who works in the betting outlet (in this morning's Straits Times) really makes for excellent front page news, especially if one has the habit of reading the papers first thing in the morning, either before breakfast or during it... i can't seem to get the news out of my head now, especially the bit where it is written:

".... her son, a police national serviceman, became distraught and shouted at scores of passers-by who had gathered to watch the commotion.

'Who killed my mother?' he cried repeatedly.

He later hugged his father, who sobbed loudly: 'Daddy's a failure. I couldn't protect your mother.'

it was almost a scene from a movie... this sort of thing just sticks in your head, like one of those melodramatic scenes from a local drama series, and you wonder if the journalist could have written it in another manner instead... ever since Straits Times supposedly made some changes to the way they reported news (so as to reach out to more Singaporeans), they have become a lot more sensationalistic (à la tabloids), which in my humble opinion really doesn't make for great journalism (albeit making for pulse-racing news)... they should just keep that for the New Paper, at the very most...

anyway, i think i should go for a run to get it out of my head... sigh...

after yesterday's eye-opening, "acupuncture-point-manipulating"Tieh Ta session where i emerged "cured" of my back pain, i now feel funny all over the rest of my body (ok, i exaggerate a little), shortness of breath and am suffering from strange aches and pains... umm... is this normal?? hope this is not a case of what the Chinese term as "walk-fire-enter-demon" i.e. so-called "ultra deviation" (Zhou Huo Ru Mo) in Qigong practice...

:O ....... ahhhhhhhh.....!!!!!!!!!!!!

watched S I G N S and decided that i really really dislike shows that hint about the possibility of alien invasions ....



maybe we all really dislike aliens because we watched movies that depict them as evil and ugly.. just like how many people hate sharks after Jaws.. umm...

O+ (D = o ( -- o ok ok... that's my lousy attempt at ASCII-art.. those are my Corn Circles... :p

had a dose of painful "chinese acu-pressure massage" today from (apparently-renowned) Dr Li (see namecard below) to get my back injury fixed "once-and-for-all" so i can go with peace of mind for my dive trip (to Pulau Perhentian) next weekend.



traditional chinese massages can be so incredibly effective (i.e. very speedy - probably because it concentrates on the relevant "acu-points") but very very painful when it is being done (once again for the same reason). the amazing and very credible doctor squished my toes and took my pulse and figured out straight away that the root of the problem really wasn't in my back but in my neck and shoulder instead! :O from his diagnosis, i am actually really really "unhealthy", full of clotted blood all over my neck, shoulder, shin, back and even face - which he proved by letting me run my own finger over certain areas of my skin which really did feel strangely "lumpy" (like the steps of a ladder, so he said.. umm.). this unhealthiness was due to many factors, including my previous falls (from way back many years - which is probably right since i have been blading for a while), my poor stretching after my exercises, my poor posture (once again asking correctly if i used the computer a lot) etc etc... the poor blood circulation was the main reason why i always feel a little giddy when i get up suddenly.... how interesting...

he also gave me a prescription (see below) which i am supposed to bring to a chinese medical hall to collect the relevant herbs to boil with slices of ginger... wahh... very traditional indeed, can almost imagine my mother bent double over a crockpot placed over charcoal fire, fanning it with one of those traditional chinese fans and then pouring the super bitter and blackish liquid into a chinese bowl (with dragon motifs) and bringing it to a very ailing me lying in bed... hahaha... :D



oh well....

a happy belated birthday to Singapore!!

a day to truly feel blessed and proud
to be born
in a country of many opportunities
corruption-free
safety in the streets

few go hungry
few go uneducated
we all have
the chance
to experience many things
to explore many places
to contribute
to share
to use whatever talents we have

to know that (almost) every dream is possible
no matter who we are...

it's a day to feel proud to be Singaporean...

I love this quote by Lindsay:

"Before Blogger made it's internet debut, the Internet started losing personality and interaction. Journals, poetry, and writing were getting too boring. Blogger has brought back the fun and excitement!"

it's so true! i mean.. before i was blogging (and before anyone i knew was blogging), i used to turn on my computer once every couple of days only to see if i have new emails or when i need to check up on a particular topic.. i stopped random surfing a long time ago, giving up seeing the annoying "404 Not Found error" pages of outdated websites and webcontent... the internet junk.. bleah!!!

i scored a 16/20 for the "How Singaporean are you?" National Day 2002 Quiz which shows that i am a ....

16-20:True-blue Singaporean ... cool... :)

btw, i've finally received the email from Dr Maryam Abacha - the fake wife of the late Nigerian head of State General Sani Abacha.. have you?? hahaha...

gathered with a bunch of globetrotting-loving friends today (i think we have covered some 50 to 60 countries at least between all 7 of us) and felt all that wander-lust feeling again... over an enjoyable dinner of black pepper crab, chilli crab, sweet baby squid, fried kailan and steamed drunkened prawns (jumbo seafood @ east coast seafood centre) followed by gourmet coffee (@ siglap....

isn't it wonderful that we live in a world with so much diversity and variety and culture... and just so many possibilities??

i really wish that every single soul in the world can learn to appreciate the wonderfully exciting world we live in as much as my friends and I do..... then maybe we would have much less of all the unnecessary violence we have today... fighting, wars, discrimination....

isn't it funny how sometimes something you learnt (which you thought was purely academic) in an earlier setting suddenly just "pops" into your head out of the blue, and stays around and you just keep thinking about it, as if it is trying to tell you something about your life now or when it actually does answer a ponderous question you have in your head??



Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs was the "thing" i kept thinking about on my way home today, while driving and in the shower just now....

thank you everyone! my back feels a lot better now! :)

i think there are two possibilities to my quick "semi-recovery":

1. the back pain was probably not due to a slipped disc but was instead a serious muscle injury (as many of you have been trying to tell me, but to no avail... ya, i know, i wouldn't be walking around if it really was a slipped disc.. :p)

2. i have been really careful with my back since then, avoiding sudden movements (which is not easy for an "animated person" like me) and (i think) practicing the "Alexander Technique" as prescribed by my dear nurse sister - a method that advocates good posture and achieving "new balance in the body by releasing unnecessary tension while sitting, lying down, standing, walking, lifting, and other daily activities..."

caught classic german movie Bremen Freedom (Bremer Freiheit) just now at the Goethe-Institut... a bleak & grainy 1972 adaptation of the real-life story of Geesche Gottfried - a determined (but somewhat short-fused woman) who systematically poisons all (mostly men) who stand in her way of asserting her right to think for herself (as a woman), to find happiness (despite questionable morality) and self-determination (to run her "harness-making" business without the help (or perhaps hindrance) of men).... she serves them cups of coffee laced with "rat butter".... Hey guys, beware of women who serve you coffee after you offend them!!! hahaha...

all i can do now is eat, sleep and watch vcds.... i want to go running!!! :( don't know if i will get well soon enough to at least run in the fun 10 km race in the Sheares Bridge Run in Sept... :(

went for a leisurely walk today at a very tranquil Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery just off Lornie Rd - sprawling compound of century-old raintrees, beautiful weather-beaten pre-war time chinese tombstones, long snaking paths that break at forks, rare sweetly singing birds, no buildings as far as the eye can see - another wonderful off-the-beaten track hideaway spot in Singapore... i think the govt does already have plans to develop this place too (just like they did for amazing Bidadari Cemetery), so go see it soon.. it's a great place for a run as well but girls, do bring a guy with you.. it's quite quiet.. and do wear long pants... long grass and mosquito-infested the place is..

had a taste of roibo mango shiok at Quickly Bubble Tea Shop - quite a weird and thick gooey drink but this roibo honey thingey (from some prehistoric forest in west malaysia) apparently has some great anti-oxidant properties, cures all sorts of ailments, fights fatigue, insomnia and ezcema and is anti-ageing... umm.. sounds like a miracle drink.. haha... wonder if it helps to cure backaches as well... : |

sudden wanderlust thot of the day:
take a short break to see the Proboscis monkey at Bako National Park (Sabah)

other than professing to be one of the hot-blooded youths chipping away at the berlin wall in the huge party of 1989, having an amazing knowledge of interesting languages (other than German and English, she also knows Romanian and some local Saxon-German dialect and is now learning French), and having a head for silly jingles (e.g. like the Müller one i mentioned yesterday - this is how it goes:

Mueller Milch, Mueller Milch, Mueller Milch die schmeckt.
Mueller Milch, Mueller Milch, die weckt, was in Dir steckt! - this is courtesy of her last email to me.. :)

my amazing ex-roommate has kept in touch with almost everyone we both know way back in London and has now brought us all (from as far flung as Cyprus, Germany, London, Paris, Singapore, Spain, United States and Belgium ) together in a common mailing list!! this is so exciting... shows how much technology and the internet can really bridge the distance between people... i reckon we should all get together for a mini UN conference kind of thing soon?? :p

on another more unfortunate note: it seems like i have really been put out of action for a while... my over-strained back felt worst than ever today and the very kind ah pek chinese physician diagnosed it as a minor slipped disc (something which - for some reason - i used to think only other people will get..). i have been advised to "not strain it further until it heals" ... what does that mean?... that maybe i should take up... gurp!... knitting???

oh dear.. what am i going to do... physical activities are just about the only things i really enjoy doing... :( ... oh well, i guess i can still read and paint and do clay modelling, i suppose... (trying not to be too bratty here, you see.....)

all thanks to my dear friend lynn, i have gotten in touch again with my long-lost German room-mate from London!! just got a long and cheerful email from this spunky and fascinating girl who spent the last couple of years working and travelling all over Europe, including even short stints in Kosovo, Serbia, Ukraine.... wow... :) this is so exciting!! we used to sit and talk (and sometimes even drink :p) late into the night, play table tennis (she was one of the very few people i know who actually play the game), and i learnt heaps from her.... we even greeted each other Good Nite in the other's native language.. *Guten *Morg en* i remember myself saying.. and even singing the tv commercial jingle for Müller (which is in German) cos we both love to eat Müller rice pudding so much...

this is my wonderful room-mate:



it's really nice when people in your life whom you thought belonged to the past and whom you will probably never meet again suddenly reappear.... :D would be wonderful if we actually get to meet up at some point..

today was a day of annoying mishaps...

1. the holga camera i ordered online eons ago finally arrived... but they delivered two instead of one (and charged me accordingly) so now i have to decide whether to keep the extra one, sell it away, or to send it back.

2. i passed under the erp gantry while getting into work and it didn't register the cash card in my in-vehicle unit. checked with LTA and they confirmed that i will be sent a summons letter (penalty: $11) and will need to write an appeal letter to get it waived. very mah fan..

3. i bent to pick up a stack of canvases while rushing out to do some deliveries and overstrained my back (which has already been acting up randomly since i fell rollerblading a couple of weeks back) and i had to go down to NUH to get it checked (but only after i did the deliveries - which took me a good 4 hours as the teachers in both schools were very annoyingly and unnecessarily bureaucratic... sigh...)

but watching Asoka on vcd just now (ya, super long and very drama bollywood movie - with lots and lots of dancing) made things a lot better.. :) though having popular Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor falling in love in the movie was quite bizarre as i remember they were in-laws in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (another Bollywood flick).. oh well.. never mind.. i'm blabbering..

PROJECT AWARE - DAYANG 2002 - "REMOVAL OF THE CROWN-OF-THORNS STARFISH"



Method of Removal:

Step 1: Find these creatures
Step 2: Turn them over carefully
Step 3: Stab their soft underbellies repeatedly with your knife, dagger, sabre, kris.. whatever... (stop to watch them struggle.. occasionally.. but do not be distracted by their pleas - do not forget they are pests!)
Step 4: Once they are sufficiently perforated, fishes will attack them and reduce them to hapless shells...
Step 5: Go back to Step 1

oops.... that sounds really cruel...

at 8 o'clock this evening, i panicked.

i realised that i haven't had a "new thought" for the whole of today... in large part due to the hectic and yet monotonous nature of the tasks i had to do today.

you see, i have this little personal goal (which probably sounds somewhat silly to some people) to have at least one "new thought" every day - an aim that grew out of a personal mission to exercise my brain a little at a time so whenever i need to really brainstorm or work out something creative, i will find it less hard (the analogy of using your muscles constantly so they don't atrophy.. :p)...

fortunately, at 9 o'clock, I was suddenly struck by the realisation of how the art shop can actually be successful, and the actual strategy that kai and i must work out.... i also realised that i should skip some of my lectures on Saturdays so i can take up the laser sailing course that i have been thinking about..... these definitely qualify as "new thoughts".... ya.. hee hee...

hence the day is saved...and life is exciting again... :)

non sequitur: so you don't like the powerpuff girls.... decide "Who Would You Kill On Powerpuff Girls?" (please try not to kill Buttercup because she is my favourite... :) )