I am posting this song because...it is the song that my housemate's fiance had learnt how to sing and also becuase I like this song:
And here is my own personal favourite:
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sc-hairy experience
Just had my hair done today. Colour, that is.I could not take it anymore. The stray strands of white hair peeping out from no where and everywhere.
I so love to go to my hairdresser. He is a bit of a personal psychologist. Not that he advises a lot but he relieves tension by listening to my grouses. By now, we are like chummy old friends as I have been going to him for more than a year now.
This time, the complaint is again on the colourist/shampoo girl. She is a nice girl but somehow, I just cannot help but find her a wee bit on the irritating side. First of all, she does not have much strength when massaging my head. This I do not blame her for it is 4pm in the day and by then, she would have had washed many heads before.
However, she seems to have lots of strength when it comes to tugging and pulling. I do not know how many times I silently said "Ouch!" while my hair was merciless pulled. Sometimes, (I feel) almost from my scalp.
It was really ironical for while she was colouring my hair, she could not stop saying, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, ....aiyo....Soooooo many white hairs!"
This was repeated several times until I got a little fed up and said politely that if I did not have so much white hair, I would not come to colour it. She did not stop. She continued with her disbelief. Then I told her slightly more bluntly that if I did not come and colour my hair, then she would not have business already. It is for such precise reason that I am here at the hairdresser's letting a colourist do her job. That's when she stopped.
Then, she started 'selling' stuff:
Colourist: You don't use colour shampoo ah? (In a little bit of accusing and auntie tone)
Me: No, I have my own shampoo.
Colourist: You wash your hair everyday and you don't use colour shampoo ah? (in 'kap-poh'* manner).
Me: No I don't...
Colourist (in an even louder tone): You should use the colour shampoo after you use your normal shampoo mah!
Me: I already wash my hair everyday and you still want me to use colour shampoo after that? You want me to deplete all my natural oils from my scalp ah?
Colourist: No, no...I am saying you can actually use your normal shampoo one day and then the colour shampoo on another....
Me: I already have 2 bottles of different shampoo already...Desmond (my hairdresser) recommended me the last time...
Colourist: What type of shampoo?
Me: I don't know. I left it for him to decide which shampoos are the best for my hair. Don't think I need to buy anymore.
Colourist: Ooooh! No lah, as a colourist, it's my job to recommend things suitable for you mah!
She was talking real loud coz the big boss was just one chair away. I think she was letting him know that she was doing her job. Actually they are quite poor thing too coz I can feel the whole atmosphere change when their boss is around.
However, I really hate this kind of selling. The other colourist girl is much sweeter and less auntie (when she talks). She is not pushy either. I am sorry but I prefer that girl.
After that, Joan (not her real name) made 2 other boo-boos. She didn't know when to stop talking. It was time for her to highlight my hair and I had a copy of Elle magazine on hand and she started asking me if I was OK and that the worst thing to happen if we had nothing in common to talk about (???). She started going on and on about having just pulled out her wisdom teeth. Well thankfully my housemate just did hers and so we could talk about it. If not, I would have been dumbfounded for a large part of the conversation.
I would call her the complainer-nagger for, like my white hair, she could not stop harping about the fact that it was really expensive and really painful, etc, etc. Me, I just wanted to continue reading my article on going green by Nadia Hutagalung. I tried to hint that to her by looking back at my magazine several times, but obviously, she did not get it.
Then she was blow-drying my hair so that my hairdresser could trim my fringe later. She kept finger-combing my fringe down from the top and shaking it like some shaggy dog till it was poking my eyes and face. Not funny.
What was worse was that I was trying to read!!!! I don't know whether she did that on purpose or not, but I didn't like it. I quickly swept the fringe out of my face and rubbed it a few times to show my displeasure.
Really, I have not met someone as clueless as her. I must remind myself to visit my hairdresser's on a Thursday and not a Monday, so that I can avoid Joan. Oh, and my hairdresser is from Reds at Tampines Mall. Without using my hair as a gauge, he is really good. Me, I am just lazy to style and sometimes I feel I put his work to shame. Heehee... .
I so love to go to my hairdresser. He is a bit of a personal psychologist. Not that he advises a lot but he relieves tension by listening to my grouses. By now, we are like chummy old friends as I have been going to him for more than a year now.
This time, the complaint is again on the colourist/shampoo girl. She is a nice girl but somehow, I just cannot help but find her a wee bit on the irritating side. First of all, she does not have much strength when massaging my head. This I do not blame her for it is 4pm in the day and by then, she would have had washed many heads before.
However, she seems to have lots of strength when it comes to tugging and pulling. I do not know how many times I silently said "Ouch!" while my hair was merciless pulled. Sometimes, (I feel) almost from my scalp.
It was really ironical for while she was colouring my hair, she could not stop saying, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, ....aiyo....Soooooo many white hairs!"
This was repeated several times until I got a little fed up and said politely that if I did not have so much white hair, I would not come to colour it. She did not stop. She continued with her disbelief. Then I told her slightly more bluntly that if I did not come and colour my hair, then she would not have business already. It is for such precise reason that I am here at the hairdresser's letting a colourist do her job. That's when she stopped.
Then, she started 'selling' stuff:
Colourist: You don't use colour shampoo ah? (In a little bit of accusing and auntie tone)
Me: No, I have my own shampoo.
Colourist: You wash your hair everyday and you don't use colour shampoo ah? (in 'kap-poh'* manner).
Me: No I don't...
Colourist (in an even louder tone): You should use the colour shampoo after you use your normal shampoo mah!
Me: I already wash my hair everyday and you still want me to use colour shampoo after that? You want me to deplete all my natural oils from my scalp ah?
Colourist: No, no...I am saying you can actually use your normal shampoo one day and then the colour shampoo on another....
Me: I already have 2 bottles of different shampoo already...Desmond (my hairdresser) recommended me the last time...
Colourist: What type of shampoo?
Me: I don't know. I left it for him to decide which shampoos are the best for my hair. Don't think I need to buy anymore.
Colourist: Ooooh! No lah, as a colourist, it's my job to recommend things suitable for you mah!
She was talking real loud coz the big boss was just one chair away. I think she was letting him know that she was doing her job. Actually they are quite poor thing too coz I can feel the whole atmosphere change when their boss is around.
However, I really hate this kind of selling. The other colourist girl is much sweeter and less auntie (when she talks). She is not pushy either. I am sorry but I prefer that girl.
After that, Joan (not her real name) made 2 other boo-boos. She didn't know when to stop talking. It was time for her to highlight my hair and I had a copy of Elle magazine on hand and she started asking me if I was OK and that the worst thing to happen if we had nothing in common to talk about (???). She started going on and on about having just pulled out her wisdom teeth. Well thankfully my housemate just did hers and so we could talk about it. If not, I would have been dumbfounded for a large part of the conversation.
I would call her the complainer-nagger for, like my white hair, she could not stop harping about the fact that it was really expensive and really painful, etc, etc. Me, I just wanted to continue reading my article on going green by Nadia Hutagalung. I tried to hint that to her by looking back at my magazine several times, but obviously, she did not get it.
Then she was blow-drying my hair so that my hairdresser could trim my fringe later. She kept finger-combing my fringe down from the top and shaking it like some shaggy dog till it was poking my eyes and face. Not funny.
What was worse was that I was trying to read!!!! I don't know whether she did that on purpose or not, but I didn't like it. I quickly swept the fringe out of my face and rubbed it a few times to show my displeasure.
Really, I have not met someone as clueless as her. I must remind myself to visit my hairdresser's on a Thursday and not a Monday, so that I can avoid Joan. Oh, and my hairdresser is from Reds at Tampines Mall. Without using my hair as a gauge, he is really good. Me, I am just lazy to style and sometimes I feel I put his work to shame. Heehee... .
Afterthoughts to "Love, perhaps"
My post about Love, perhaps is not meant to scare you, my dear friends and readers, away from marriage or away from Catholicism for that matter. On the contrary I think that God has given me the task to share with people on how to try to work out a good relationship (at least I try lah).
I am no expert in love and in the department of relationship as my marriage was a short lived one and I do not have children of my own. What I can share is limited, but anyhow, I use my own experiences to try to apply to what my friends around me are experiencing so that hopefully, they may be able to work out whatever shortcomings that they may be experiencing.
I am also here, sharing experiences of the consequences of my decisions so as to show you how silly and rash I was and what I have to live with now.
I am no expert in love and in the department of relationship as my marriage was a short lived one and I do not have children of my own. What I can share is limited, but anyhow, I use my own experiences to try to apply to what my friends around me are experiencing so that hopefully, they may be able to work out whatever shortcomings that they may be experiencing.
I am also here, sharing experiences of the consequences of my decisions so as to show you how silly and rash I was and what I have to live with now.
Love, perhaps
Ironically, as I type that I am better, my heart began to sink, deeper and deeper into a pit, a bottomless one. I feel a little like a schizophrenic or someone with bipolar tendencies. Happy at one moment and totally depressed in another. Then again, I may be wrong about the bipolar bit coz apparently they move from high to low without going through the depressive stage.
This is upon the realisation that I may never get to marry another Catholic boy. After going one big round to make myself forget about love life (or lack thereof) and relationships, I am back to it again. After going one big round to make myself come to terms with my own religion, I am now sort of back to square one again.
As I have said time and again, there is no such thing as a divorce when one is a Roman Catholic. There is only annulment (to me, it is just a substitution of word. It means the same thing). I have heard so much about people trying to get annulment etc that I am so worried that I may never get mine. There was this guy in the States who applied to the Pope (or was it just through the Vatican) to get his marriage annulled twice and both times, it got rejected. The whole time too, it was not his fault. His wife was the one who walked out of their marriage.
It is at such times when I like to ask, "Why God? Why make it so difficult? How long are You going to punish me and people like me?"
When I have calmed down though, I know, in full consciousness, that I was the one who made the choice(I am speaking for myself of course. Everyone has their own unique situation), but not without reasons. Reasons that I do not want to reveal...yet and maybe never (to be fair to the other party). Will my reasons be accepted as grounds for annulment in the eyes of the Catholic Church?
No, it is not God's fault that I am in such a messy situation.
Sometimes I have these Ally McBeal moments whereby I am constantly using the spiked whip to whip myself and afterwards mentally ask myself, "What for?" Or that God was the one whipping me for disobeying Him and walking out of my marriage.
Then there are times when I tell myself that I can actually walk away from all this and believe in some other religion. The truth at the moment is that I DON'T want to. I am most comfortable with being a Catholic at the moment except for this little part. Ironical, I know, but I feel most connected with God like that. Maybe that is what they call blind faith and I am OK with it.
Even if I do become a Christian of some other denomination, I still cannot get married in a Catholic Church. Unless the Catholic boy is super open-minded about it, I don't think they will accept this fact of not being able to get married in church. Or at least I have not met any who is willing NOT to get married in church.
I am of course, way ahead of myself. I have not even found that someone special yet and even if I did that special someone is already in sight, it is way, way, too early to even think of starting a relationship, let alone marriage.
Anyway, not so long ago, I did tell most of my friends that, if given a choice, I will not get married again but I will find a partner to be there for me. So what made me change my mind and panic now? Love, perhaps.
p/s: The views about religion is entirely my own. Didn't mean to offend anyone. Therefore please just read without (much) prejudice :) Thanks!
This is upon the realisation that I may never get to marry another Catholic boy. After going one big round to make myself forget about love life (or lack thereof) and relationships, I am back to it again. After going one big round to make myself come to terms with my own religion, I am now sort of back to square one again.
As I have said time and again, there is no such thing as a divorce when one is a Roman Catholic. There is only annulment (to me, it is just a substitution of word. It means the same thing). I have heard so much about people trying to get annulment etc that I am so worried that I may never get mine. There was this guy in the States who applied to the Pope (or was it just through the Vatican) to get his marriage annulled twice and both times, it got rejected. The whole time too, it was not his fault. His wife was the one who walked out of their marriage.
It is at such times when I like to ask, "Why God? Why make it so difficult? How long are You going to punish me and people like me?"
When I have calmed down though, I know, in full consciousness, that I was the one who made the choice(I am speaking for myself of course. Everyone has their own unique situation), but not without reasons. Reasons that I do not want to reveal...yet and maybe never (to be fair to the other party). Will my reasons be accepted as grounds for annulment in the eyes of the Catholic Church?
No, it is not God's fault that I am in such a messy situation.
Sometimes I have these Ally McBeal moments whereby I am constantly using the spiked whip to whip myself and afterwards mentally ask myself, "What for?" Or that God was the one whipping me for disobeying Him and walking out of my marriage.
Then there are times when I tell myself that I can actually walk away from all this and believe in some other religion. The truth at the moment is that I DON'T want to. I am most comfortable with being a Catholic at the moment except for this little part. Ironical, I know, but I feel most connected with God like that. Maybe that is what they call blind faith and I am OK with it.
Even if I do become a Christian of some other denomination, I still cannot get married in a Catholic Church. Unless the Catholic boy is super open-minded about it, I don't think they will accept this fact of not being able to get married in church. Or at least I have not met any who is willing NOT to get married in church.
I am of course, way ahead of myself. I have not even found that someone special yet and even if I did that special someone is already in sight, it is way, way, too early to even think of starting a relationship, let alone marriage.
Anyway, not so long ago, I did tell most of my friends that, if given a choice, I will not get married again but I will find a partner to be there for me. So what made me change my mind and panic now? Love, perhaps.
p/s: The views about religion is entirely my own. Didn't mean to offend anyone. Therefore please just read without (much) prejudice :) Thanks!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
So much better
OK, one night out with friends and one day of mahjong later, I am feeling much better. Gosh! Why do I need to do such things to remind myself that I am OK? Sigh... anyway, went clubbing with a few friends at St James and felt immediately better. Nothing better than a night out with friends.
We first had dinner at Annatolia (Far East Plaza) so nice to eat there after such a long time. Went for some shopping and finally decided to head down to St James.
Mahjong was good too coz I managed to win some this time around. The big winner is still my Dad of course. Well, at least I made some improvement.
We first had dinner at Annatolia (Far East Plaza) so nice to eat there after such a long time. Went for some shopping and finally decided to head down to St James.
Mahjong was good too coz I managed to win some this time around. The big winner is still my Dad of course. Well, at least I made some improvement.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Depressing. Maybe, maybe not
I am in a real wreck at the moment. My housemate just sms-ed me to say that she's is not just going to Finland to visit her boyfriend but also to get married.
That would mean that I will be the only un-married one amongst my so-called close girl friends. Seriously, feel like shit. Although I should be and am happy for her and my Finnish friend. Although she had talked about marriage with him before. Although I know that she would eventually get married, but I think...I am still too shocked for words when the bomb was dropped.
Silly thoughts like how I was such a failure in my marriage and how I could not upkeep my marriage and how I am still single came to mind. Plain silly.
It has not been such a good day for me today. I finally received that sort of finalised letter from HR telling me very nicely that I had about 21 days of leave to clear, that I am not entitled to benefits etc, etc. It is funny coz I know that I will be coming back as a part-timer, but somehow, I know that it is going to be different. Then there is this nagging fear that I may not be able to come back. That is depressing feeling number 1.
Then I developed a migraine in the late afternoon and I could not get my stuff done properly. I think the air con was too cold, what with the heavy rain this morning. Froze half my head away. Depressing plus throbbing migraine problem number 2.
Then I received this letter from the Union that I am actually eligible for another type of membership. Duh! I wished that I had filled out that I am jobless instead. Then I could have gotten my union card immediately. Now I have to go and bloody explain to that AUSBE person about my very special situation. Then maybe I would not be eligible and then maybe NTUC Union can give me a card. Depressing feeling number 3.
Shocking news number 4 is of course, my housemate's wedding. Kelly (remember Kelly?), she was real nice and empathised with me. A little. Then, trying to be encouraging, she told me (via sms) that what's most important is not to feel sorry for ourselves.
Well, what can I say???? I am still in shock. Nothing to say.
Oh, forgot depressing news number 5. Was supposed to go trekking with my Hong Kong friend and his friend, he now says that he cannot make it. I have not trekked for two weeks. My own fault really. I was working one of the weekends and then the next, of course, I went for karaoke. I made the choice.
I refuse to stay home and mope. I managed to make plans for tomorrow night already. Saturday is mahjong day at my aunt's and cousin's place. Family day, sort of. I will think of something to do on Sunday. Even if tomorrow night is a no-go, I will go out and have fun myself. I will need to go out there make friends, clear my mind and think straight and be normal, because I choose to be so. I must also not forget my other friends who have been good friends through and through (I am not saying my housemate/ friend is not. Just that when one gets married, they would have other priorities and we as friends, should let them set their priorities straight. We need to be tactful too).
Anyway, I think I am wee bit better now that I have vented it out. Like Scarlet O'Hara said on the very last page (page 1010) of Gone with the wind, "Tomorrow will be another day".
That would mean that I will be the only un-married one amongst my so-called close girl friends. Seriously, feel like shit. Although I should be and am happy for her and my Finnish friend. Although she had talked about marriage with him before. Although I know that she would eventually get married, but I think...I am still too shocked for words when the bomb was dropped.
Silly thoughts like how I was such a failure in my marriage and how I could not upkeep my marriage and how I am still single came to mind. Plain silly.
It has not been such a good day for me today. I finally received that sort of finalised letter from HR telling me very nicely that I had about 21 days of leave to clear, that I am not entitled to benefits etc, etc. It is funny coz I know that I will be coming back as a part-timer, but somehow, I know that it is going to be different. Then there is this nagging fear that I may not be able to come back. That is depressing feeling number 1.
Then I developed a migraine in the late afternoon and I could not get my stuff done properly. I think the air con was too cold, what with the heavy rain this morning. Froze half my head away. Depressing plus throbbing migraine problem number 2.
Then I received this letter from the Union that I am actually eligible for another type of membership. Duh! I wished that I had filled out that I am jobless instead. Then I could have gotten my union card immediately. Now I have to go and bloody explain to that AUSBE person about my very special situation. Then maybe I would not be eligible and then maybe NTUC Union can give me a card. Depressing feeling number 3.
Shocking news number 4 is of course, my housemate's wedding. Kelly (remember Kelly?), she was real nice and empathised with me. A little. Then, trying to be encouraging, she told me (via sms) that what's most important is not to feel sorry for ourselves.
Well, what can I say???? I am still in shock. Nothing to say.
Oh, forgot depressing news number 5. Was supposed to go trekking with my Hong Kong friend and his friend, he now says that he cannot make it. I have not trekked for two weeks. My own fault really. I was working one of the weekends and then the next, of course, I went for karaoke. I made the choice.
I refuse to stay home and mope. I managed to make plans for tomorrow night already. Saturday is mahjong day at my aunt's and cousin's place. Family day, sort of. I will think of something to do on Sunday. Even if tomorrow night is a no-go, I will go out and have fun myself. I will need to go out there make friends, clear my mind and think straight and be normal, because I choose to be so. I must also not forget my other friends who have been good friends through and through (I am not saying my housemate/ friend is not. Just that when one gets married, they would have other priorities and we as friends, should let them set their priorities straight. We need to be tactful too).
Anyway, I think I am wee bit better now that I have vented it out. Like Scarlet O'Hara said on the very last page (page 1010) of Gone with the wind, "Tomorrow will be another day".
The most effective way to keep the cats quiet
I have let the cats out on my own once in a very few while when I am at my little rented place. I am not too fond of doing that though because I do not know when I am not able to handle them and I have this fear that I may not be able to get them back to their rooms.
If it were a dog, it would be easy peazy. Cats have claws. They have attitude too. Not that my housemate's cats are that fierce. They are mild in comparison to some others.
Anyhow, when they are cooped up, Mao Mao meows non-stop. The more I tell him to stop, the more he meows. He is quite the long-winded cat, you know and he answers back. In a way, quite gentlemanly, but quite irritating at times, after a long day's work. On some days, he would stop if I did not reply but lately, the poor thing is dying to be let out.
I have found the perfect way to stop him from creating all that ruckus: Bring out the vacuum cleaner. This was an idea that my housemate gave. Recently, she was not able to mop the floor and had asked her mum over for some help and when her mum took out the vacuum cleaner, the cats went all quiet. Both hate it. Whenever we clean the house on the weekends, Mao will hide behind the washing machine while Dou will hide in one corner and start purring himself for self-comfort.
I tried it out 2 nights ago, and it worked! I brought the vacuum cleaner out, made some noise with the suction tubes (or whatever you call it) just outside their door and their was peace and quiet until my housemate came home.
Of course, once my housemate came home, Mao started to complain. We wouldn't know what he is complaining about but from the tone, anyone can recognise that he was not happy that I pulled a vacuum cleaner on him. It was almost like he was saying that it was a low down dirty trick that I pulled on him.
Oh, but there are no grudges with this cat. Once he is let out, he will walk all over the house, rub against my feet like nobody's business (like he is claiming his property) and purr away while I stroke his chin. The cutest part is when he hides behind the organza curtains, sitting very still, thinking that nobody can see him. When in actual fact, the curtains are so sheer that both of us burst out laughing just looking at his actions.
If it were a dog, it would be easy peazy. Cats have claws. They have attitude too. Not that my housemate's cats are that fierce. They are mild in comparison to some others.
Anyhow, when they are cooped up, Mao Mao meows non-stop. The more I tell him to stop, the more he meows. He is quite the long-winded cat, you know and he answers back. In a way, quite gentlemanly, but quite irritating at times, after a long day's work. On some days, he would stop if I did not reply but lately, the poor thing is dying to be let out.
I have found the perfect way to stop him from creating all that ruckus: Bring out the vacuum cleaner. This was an idea that my housemate gave. Recently, she was not able to mop the floor and had asked her mum over for some help and when her mum took out the vacuum cleaner, the cats went all quiet. Both hate it. Whenever we clean the house on the weekends, Mao will hide behind the washing machine while Dou will hide in one corner and start purring himself for self-comfort.
I tried it out 2 nights ago, and it worked! I brought the vacuum cleaner out, made some noise with the suction tubes (or whatever you call it) just outside their door and their was peace and quiet until my housemate came home.
Of course, once my housemate came home, Mao started to complain. We wouldn't know what he is complaining about but from the tone, anyone can recognise that he was not happy that I pulled a vacuum cleaner on him. It was almost like he was saying that it was a low down dirty trick that I pulled on him.
Oh, but there are no grudges with this cat. Once he is let out, he will walk all over the house, rub against my feet like nobody's business (like he is claiming his property) and purr away while I stroke his chin. The cutest part is when he hides behind the organza curtains, sitting very still, thinking that nobody can see him. When in actual fact, the curtains are so sheer that both of us burst out laughing just looking at his actions.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Shakespeare in love
Two times today and one time yesterday. That was the number of times that I heard this song (Shakespeare in love)within 2 days, and all on different radio channels. First at 88.3FM and then at Yes 9.33 FM and then on Class 95.0 FM. The funny part is that the first two are Chinese radio stations (not really for 88.3 coz they now play a mixture of both English and Chinese songs).
Why the overkill? Because today marks the death of William Shakespeare and I think that is one of the few songs that has the actual word "Shakespeare" in it. It is actually quite a catchy tune except when you hear it almost consecutively in one morning.
It just made me realise (even more) that information and the acquiring of knowledge can be from anywhere, even on radio stations. It is just whether we want to learn or not. Listening to the DJs talk about Shakespeare also reminded me of my Secondary school days whereby we had to study Romeo and Juliet and later on, my Pre-university days, where I studied Hamlet.
Did not like Hamlet and found it painful for we had to do so much critical thinking and try to smoke our way through (at a higher level) as to what Shakespeare was thinking when he wrote that or what the characters were actually thinking. Found it so tough. Of course, I am sure, my Lit-loving friend and her bf would beg to defer (heehee!)
I think for now, I would leave all that Shakespearean reading aside and leave it for a time when I can actually sit down, relax and really read. Digest and understand.
Oh, but I do remember this: "...be but sworn my love and I will no longer be a Capulet"
This then leads me to another song that starts with the lyrics "Montague and Capulets / Whispered through the wall / words which they could not forget, after all."
It is the song by Wilson Phillips called "Next to you (someday I'll be)". Aah...the memories. I am going to play that album again tonight. Loved it so much that I bought the CD format (had the cassette tape first).
Why the overkill? Because today marks the death of William Shakespeare and I think that is one of the few songs that has the actual word "Shakespeare" in it. It is actually quite a catchy tune except when you hear it almost consecutively in one morning.
It just made me realise (even more) that information and the acquiring of knowledge can be from anywhere, even on radio stations. It is just whether we want to learn or not. Listening to the DJs talk about Shakespeare also reminded me of my Secondary school days whereby we had to study Romeo and Juliet and later on, my Pre-university days, where I studied Hamlet.
Did not like Hamlet and found it painful for we had to do so much critical thinking and try to smoke our way through (at a higher level) as to what Shakespeare was thinking when he wrote that or what the characters were actually thinking. Found it so tough. Of course, I am sure, my Lit-loving friend and her bf would beg to defer (heehee!)
I think for now, I would leave all that Shakespearean reading aside and leave it for a time when I can actually sit down, relax and really read. Digest and understand.
Oh, but I do remember this: "...be but sworn my love and I will no longer be a Capulet"
This then leads me to another song that starts with the lyrics "Montague and Capulets / Whispered through the wall / words which they could not forget, after all."
It is the song by Wilson Phillips called "Next to you (someday I'll be)". Aah...the memories. I am going to play that album again tonight. Loved it so much that I bought the CD format (had the cassette tape first).
Uses for my rainboots
I have been cracking my head as to what I can do with my rainboots once they arrive. Here are some of the options:
1. Wear them on a rainy day (duh!)
2. Wear them when I go for a stroll in the neighbourhood
3. Wear them when I go to the market for breakfast (then can fight who has got prettier boots: fishmongers or me? Muarhahaha!)
4. Wear it when I go for easy treks
Then, tonight, I thought of another occasion: wear them when I am washing the toilet! HaHahahahahahaha! Why? Because I was washing the toilet tonight and the bleach was sort of biting into my soles and the floor was real slippery while I tried to scrub out mould from the cracks and crevices. That's when I thought of my rainboots!
Erm...but when my housemate came back home, she exclaimed when I told her I got a US size 5 shoes. She said that is big. Erm...just have to keep my fingers crossed now coz if I remember correctly, my sports shoes are US size 5.
1. Wear them on a rainy day (duh!)
2. Wear them when I go for a stroll in the neighbourhood
3. Wear them when I go to the market for breakfast (then can fight who has got prettier boots: fishmongers or me? Muarhahaha!)
4. Wear it when I go for easy treks
Then, tonight, I thought of another occasion: wear them when I am washing the toilet! HaHahahahahahaha! Why? Because I was washing the toilet tonight and the bleach was sort of biting into my soles and the floor was real slippery while I tried to scrub out mould from the cracks and crevices. That's when I thought of my rainboots!
Erm...but when my housemate came back home, she exclaimed when I told her I got a US size 5 shoes. She said that is big. Erm...just have to keep my fingers crossed now coz if I remember correctly, my sports shoes are US size 5.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
To V or not to V, that is the question
The US exchange rate has gone down so much that I am itching to buy loads and loads of stuff online. Not without reason though. Remember my episode about buying Philosophy stuff? How it cost me SGD$80? If I ordered it online, I only need to pay SGD$40+.
Then there are other stuff that I am itching to buy. Stuff like Cd's and books from Amazon. I then thought about Vpost for my friend bought it via that. Went to their website and got so confused. It was, to me, a very complicated process.
I was still mulling over whether to sign up with them and weighing the pros and cons when one of my other colleagues told me that unless I were buying from a site that does not send outside of US or Japan, it is actually quite OK to just order direct.
Hehe...the un-IT-savvy me decided to take her advice, for after all, the Vpost really sounds too complicated for someone like me :P Will just KIV and save it for later.
Then there are other stuff that I am itching to buy. Stuff like Cd's and books from Amazon. I then thought about Vpost for my friend bought it via that. Went to their website and got so confused. It was, to me, a very complicated process.
I was still mulling over whether to sign up with them and weighing the pros and cons when one of my other colleagues told me that unless I were buying from a site that does not send outside of US or Japan, it is actually quite OK to just order direct.
Hehe...the un-IT-savvy me decided to take her advice, for after all, the Vpost really sounds too complicated for someone like me :P Will just KIV and save it for later.
Paul Van Dyk
Just realised that the music that I like sometimes have got a hint of Hindi music in it,like in this first clip.
Chose this second clip because the MV kinda reflects my life now: Doing things alone and looking in from the outside :)
Like a drug
Was back at my parents' last night and I suddenly wanted to listen to DJ Tiesto's latest album real bad (well not really. His latest is the live concert recorded in Copenhagen as heard at HMV the other day).
Anyway, here's my favourite from Tiesto:
It was real funny coz I was like a drug addict trying to sniff out the drug. Searched the whole of my CD collection and then went down to the car CD stacker to search only to come to the conclusion that it must be back at my little rented place :(
Had to settle for Paul Van Dyk instead. A little more commercial but still bearable. Blasted the mini hi-fi till about ten past. It has been a long time since I did something like that.
It's a sign! A sign that I need to boogy. Soon! This Friday. Housemate has ditto-ed this and so...(in whisper) I think we are going to paint the town red. Sort of anyway. We have all been so caught up with our own work that we need to let our hair down.
Anyway, here's my favourite from Tiesto:
It was real funny coz I was like a drug addict trying to sniff out the drug. Searched the whole of my CD collection and then went down to the car CD stacker to search only to come to the conclusion that it must be back at my little rented place :(
Had to settle for Paul Van Dyk instead. A little more commercial but still bearable. Blasted the mini hi-fi till about ten past. It has been a long time since I did something like that.
It's a sign! A sign that I need to boogy. Soon! This Friday. Housemate has ditto-ed this and so...(in whisper) I think we are going to paint the town red. Sort of anyway. We have all been so caught up with our own work that we need to let our hair down.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Karaoke very ok!
Sigh...weekends and Internet do not go hand in hand in my little rented place. Somehow, it always miraculously does not get any connection and I was handicapped for the past 2 days.
Just as well though coz I was out most of the day on Sunday. Went to karaoke with a bunch of colleagues and contrary to the popular feedback about KTVs being bad (read: Kbox and Party World), this one was really, really good! It is called Topone Karaoke and it is situated near Bugis area.
From 11am-6pm, we just pay the price of $16 and we get to sing to our hearts' content and the drinks are free flow. Dirt cheap by local standards. By the way, that is the weekend price. I think weekdays would be cheaper still. Only thing is, we will all be at work :P
They had the latest songs and artists and they even have original MVs (music videos) for English songs, but then again, we only sang one English song so cannot really say too much yet.
All I can say is that the ambience was good and the format is like the Party World in Taiwan (don't think it is related to the Party World in Singapore if not, their layout would not be so bad). They have a reception and they have many floors of KTV rooms (as opposed to one floor area with many rooms).
We are assigned to a certain room at a certain floor and each floor has an overall in-charge who is already there to welcome us and lead us to the room.
Once in the room, there is a whole computer screen for us to select songs etc. We can control the lighting and if we want, there is even the dried ice effect (Hahahaha!) Found it quite funny coz one my colleagues just pressed the button halfway through one of the songs that we were singing and we all gave her stunned looks and burst out laughing. Quite star treatment. Hehehe....
The commendable part is their sound system. Best! There's no two ways about it. I will go back there again.
Just as well though coz I was out most of the day on Sunday. Went to karaoke with a bunch of colleagues and contrary to the popular feedback about KTVs being bad (read: Kbox and Party World), this one was really, really good! It is called Topone Karaoke and it is situated near Bugis area.
From 11am-6pm, we just pay the price of $16 and we get to sing to our hearts' content and the drinks are free flow. Dirt cheap by local standards. By the way, that is the weekend price. I think weekdays would be cheaper still. Only thing is, we will all be at work :P
They had the latest songs and artists and they even have original MVs (music videos) for English songs, but then again, we only sang one English song so cannot really say too much yet.
All I can say is that the ambience was good and the format is like the Party World in Taiwan (don't think it is related to the Party World in Singapore if not, their layout would not be so bad). They have a reception and they have many floors of KTV rooms (as opposed to one floor area with many rooms).
We are assigned to a certain room at a certain floor and each floor has an overall in-charge who is already there to welcome us and lead us to the room.
Once in the room, there is a whole computer screen for us to select songs etc. We can control the lighting and if we want, there is even the dried ice effect (Hahahaha!) Found it quite funny coz one my colleagues just pressed the button halfway through one of the songs that we were singing and we all gave her stunned looks and burst out laughing. Quite star treatment. Hehehe....
The commendable part is their sound system. Best! There's no two ways about it. I will go back there again.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Rainboots
OK, I am bad with computer stuff so I wouldn't know how to cut and paste the pics onto my blog...not really anyway. But here's a link to show you what I have got. Was so gawking about it when I saw what my friend got and so decided there and then I an going to get it.
Enjoy! Only thing lacking is the umbrella. Anyhow, if the size is good, I will order some more. Muarhahahahaha!!
Enjoy! Only thing lacking is the umbrella. Anyhow, if the size is good, I will order some more. Muarhahahahaha!!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Unproductive...
It has been an unproductive day. Besides the fact that I bought a pair of rainboots online via my friend, I did little else. It is, like what Spacecake says, "waiting for ORD".
No, it is not that I want to rest on my laurels. It's just that it had been an eternity with all those children visiting me and me, telling them stories and bringing them on a tour. It is sheer physical and mental fatigue that some bosses failt to see. I have had bosses that felt that a storytelling is just a storytelling. That you can just plonk it wherever you like, pepper it even over the weeks and months of the year and...just do it.
They do not realise that a good storyteller uses every cell in the body to conjure a good story and that it is tiring to do so. Anyway, that is all in the past.
I decided to see what was going on int the world as I realised that the debate about Tibet and China is still going on strong. While I choose to go for (sort of middle ground) for this issue, my housemate was very clear on who's side she wants to stand on. The SgForum is full of arguments and everyone is taking sides.
The thing that I am interested in is who's truth they are looking at? Whether it be Western media or Eastern media, it is still more or less through the eyes of the reporters. Plus, no matter how well read we are, we can never know the truth unless we have been there.
For now, I just hope that the whole world will respect the Games and let the fire be passed on in the name of peace and not use it as a springboard for something else.
No, it is not that I want to rest on my laurels. It's just that it had been an eternity with all those children visiting me and me, telling them stories and bringing them on a tour. It is sheer physical and mental fatigue that some bosses failt to see. I have had bosses that felt that a storytelling is just a storytelling. That you can just plonk it wherever you like, pepper it even over the weeks and months of the year and...just do it.
They do not realise that a good storyteller uses every cell in the body to conjure a good story and that it is tiring to do so. Anyway, that is all in the past.
I decided to see what was going on int the world as I realised that the debate about Tibet and China is still going on strong. While I choose to go for (sort of middle ground) for this issue, my housemate was very clear on who's side she wants to stand on. The SgForum is full of arguments and everyone is taking sides.
The thing that I am interested in is who's truth they are looking at? Whether it be Western media or Eastern media, it is still more or less through the eyes of the reporters. Plus, no matter how well read we are, we can never know the truth unless we have been there.
For now, I just hope that the whole world will respect the Games and let the fire be passed on in the name of peace and not use it as a springboard for something else.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Dou Dou the very scaredy cat
Hehe...I am only uploading my pics now as I really am not very tech savvy and I only do this when I get the occasional inspiration. Here's a little glance into the life of my housemate's very beautiful cat:
Just realised that the pics are taken in very bad light. Well...I still want to put this up though coz, it's a little rare that he sits there for me to take. Usually by the time I raise my phone, he would be scurrying off somewhere to hide already.
Just realised that the pics are taken in very bad light. Well...I still want to put this up though coz, it's a little rare that he sits there for me to take. Usually by the time I raise my phone, he would be scurrying off somewhere to hide already.
Global village? Far from it.
Recently, a CNN analyst branded Chinese people as "goons and thugs".
I feel that there are two sides to the story. Of course, when I read about it, I was very angry. I cannot fathom how a member of a so-called highly globalised society can hurl such comments on other people. When Kramer from Seinfeld made racist remarks, he was immediately boo-ed at and it became the hottest topic on the Internet. Everyone was reprimanding his bad behaviour.
What about this then?? Is it then alright to be racist towards Chinese and to (like the Chinese saying) "use a wooden rod to capsize the whole boat"? Loosely translated, it means that we should not stereotype. It is a global city out there. There are Chinese who are not born in China and do not think or act the same way as the Chinese in China too. Are we then, going to condemn them too?
On the other hand too, we only have got our own selves to blame. As I mentioned in one of my previous posting, we represent a lot more things than ourselves when we walk out of the house. There is no denying that there is a high lead content in the paint used to make the toys and that there are lots of 'unqualified' or fake goods that are being manufactured in the country of China.
However, I am of the opinion that the Chinese are not to be totally blamed for this. After all, is not the parent company the one responsible for quality checking? Why are they shifting all the blame to the manufacturers. Oh, maybe IT IS during one of these QC sessions that these issues arose. I feel then, that the manufacturer is to blame as well, for they should not have even let those defected goods go out on the market in the first place.
There are also bigger issues of poverty and capitalism in such a vast country as China (or it could be any other country for that matter). The poor remain poor while some rich become richer and super-rich. It is then not so surprising that some would try to make a quick buck.
I am not condoning them to make low quality products or to produce things that are un-fit for usage or consumption. I just feel that there are many ways and angles to look at issues and I am surprised that a well-informed person like the CNN analyst could make such a sweeping statement as this.
I am disappointed. I feel that instead of moving towards a more globalised society, everyone is moving backwards. Say what you might and use as many guises as you want, globalisation and equality is probably only 'good-looking' on paper and concept. When practised, nobody can really reach that sort of ideal condition where the world can live as one global village etc, etc. It would take donkey years.
I feel that there are two sides to the story. Of course, when I read about it, I was very angry. I cannot fathom how a member of a so-called highly globalised society can hurl such comments on other people. When Kramer from Seinfeld made racist remarks, he was immediately boo-ed at and it became the hottest topic on the Internet. Everyone was reprimanding his bad behaviour.
What about this then?? Is it then alright to be racist towards Chinese and to (like the Chinese saying) "use a wooden rod to capsize the whole boat"? Loosely translated, it means that we should not stereotype. It is a global city out there. There are Chinese who are not born in China and do not think or act the same way as the Chinese in China too. Are we then, going to condemn them too?
On the other hand too, we only have got our own selves to blame. As I mentioned in one of my previous posting, we represent a lot more things than ourselves when we walk out of the house. There is no denying that there is a high lead content in the paint used to make the toys and that there are lots of 'unqualified' or fake goods that are being manufactured in the country of China.
However, I am of the opinion that the Chinese are not to be totally blamed for this. After all, is not the parent company the one responsible for quality checking? Why are they shifting all the blame to the manufacturers. Oh, maybe IT IS during one of these QC sessions that these issues arose. I feel then, that the manufacturer is to blame as well, for they should not have even let those defected goods go out on the market in the first place.
There are also bigger issues of poverty and capitalism in such a vast country as China (or it could be any other country for that matter). The poor remain poor while some rich become richer and super-rich. It is then not so surprising that some would try to make a quick buck.
I am not condoning them to make low quality products or to produce things that are un-fit for usage or consumption. I just feel that there are many ways and angles to look at issues and I am surprised that a well-informed person like the CNN analyst could make such a sweeping statement as this.
I am disappointed. I feel that instead of moving towards a more globalised society, everyone is moving backwards. Say what you might and use as many guises as you want, globalisation and equality is probably only 'good-looking' on paper and concept. When practised, nobody can really reach that sort of ideal condition where the world can live as one global village etc, etc. It would take donkey years.
Updates to the film, In the name of God
Did a search over the Net and found that there were lots of buzz about this film and how it almost did not come to be. Here are the links:
1. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1068956/
2. http://www.inthenameofgod.com/
3. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0731/p01s03-wosc.html
4. http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2007/07/rohail_hyatt.html
And here is the very beautiful piece of music/song sung by Shaan (character: Mansoor) when he was attending school in Chicago.
Here's another video of the actual scene where Mansoor was practising the song with Janie. The cinematography was wonderful:
1. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1068956/
2. http://www.inthenameofgod.com/
3. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0731/p01s03-wosc.html
4. http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2007/07/rohail_hyatt.html
And here is the very beautiful piece of music/song sung by Shaan (character: Mansoor) when he was attending school in Chicago.
Here's another video of the actual scene where Mansoor was practising the song with Janie. The cinematography was wonderful:
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
What happend to my windscreen?
Well...I am not sure. I think, it got vandalised. It started with a small crack on the driver's side and the crack became hairline crack and become a much longer crack across the screen. I drove in constant fear that it would fall on me.
It was not my fault. It cracked when Dad had the car.Phew! Why? If not, I will get more than an earful from him. We almost did not manage to fix it for insurance company only covers damages that are reported within two weeks (oops! Perhaps I should not say too much).
For weeks, anyone who sat in my car asked the same question and gave the same kind of exclamation. Well, I had to tell them that it will not fall on them and we are going to get it fixed.
Anyhow, we got the car manufacturer to fix the screen but they told us that we had to go look for our own tinting 'masters' and of course, we did (read my previous post)!
Somehow I get this feeling that we were a little 'cheated' though, even though we did not have to pay a cent. The sales person told us she would absorb the tinting cost of the whole car (but she was quite reluctant at that time for she felt it was eating into her commission). It came up to $750. Today, when we asked at the car workshop, it only cost about $300 odd to do up the whole car!!
No loss on our part but just felt that the girl was not honest enough?? Hmmm.... Anyway, my cousin drives a Mazda too. If I ever wanted to get a second Mazda, I might just look for his sales agent instead. His willingly threw in the sporty (shorter) radio antenna for free, while ours refused flat out. Maybe, in her eyes, we were asking for too much.
It was not my fault. It cracked when Dad had the car.Phew! Why? If not, I will get more than an earful from him. We almost did not manage to fix it for insurance company only covers damages that are reported within two weeks (oops! Perhaps I should not say too much).
For weeks, anyone who sat in my car asked the same question and gave the same kind of exclamation. Well, I had to tell them that it will not fall on them and we are going to get it fixed.
Anyhow, we got the car manufacturer to fix the screen but they told us that we had to go look for our own tinting 'masters' and of course, we did (read my previous post)!
Somehow I get this feeling that we were a little 'cheated' though, even though we did not have to pay a cent. The sales person told us she would absorb the tinting cost of the whole car (but she was quite reluctant at that time for she felt it was eating into her commission). It came up to $750. Today, when we asked at the car workshop, it only cost about $300 odd to do up the whole car!!
No loss on our part but just felt that the girl was not honest enough?? Hmmm.... Anyway, my cousin drives a Mazda too. If I ever wanted to get a second Mazda, I might just look for his sales agent instead. His willingly threw in the sporty (shorter) radio antenna for free, while ours refused flat out. Maybe, in her eyes, we were asking for too much.
How did I spend my off day?
I spent my off day visiting my different doctors. First, I went to my dentist who must have silently died when I opened my mouth. It has been eons since I last went for cleaning and polishing and there was so much tartar (or is it called plaque)on my teeth. Now I have to make much more effort to go more often. If not, it will burn a big whole in my pocket.
The cleaning itself was $120!!!! Then I thought strawberry flavoured fluoride was real good but that little bit cost me $25!!!!!! Woah! Like going to a hair salon. If you put the conditioner to retain your hair colour after dying it, that would cost you $25 too. Gosh!
After lunch, it was to my GP's. Got to show her my medical check-up results and to tell her that I have resigned (sort of). Good thing was that she was going to help me hook up with people from Pathlight so that I can start volunteering there. Her sis in-law is the vice principal there I think. I am hoping something will come out of this.
You see, my plan was to get the Early Childhood Education certification first, gain some experience in mainstream education, before moving on to Pathlight, but her idea is for me to work on it at the same time. She feels that I should get them to sponsor my education too! Hahaha! Not bad!
There was no shopping at all. The only form of shopping was to the car shop. Had to get the windscreen tinted (that's another story) and therefore went to ask about the price. Hmmmm....the mechanic there was quite neat and cool looking. I would even dare say that he is...cute.
Anyway, just eye candy. Dad took the car for tinting after I came back from doc's. No chance of seeing cute guy again...unless I find some other things to do with my car...hmm...Hahahaha!!!!
The cleaning itself was $120!!!! Then I thought strawberry flavoured fluoride was real good but that little bit cost me $25!!!!!! Woah! Like going to a hair salon. If you put the conditioner to retain your hair colour after dying it, that would cost you $25 too. Gosh!
After lunch, it was to my GP's. Got to show her my medical check-up results and to tell her that I have resigned (sort of). Good thing was that she was going to help me hook up with people from Pathlight so that I can start volunteering there. Her sis in-law is the vice principal there I think. I am hoping something will come out of this.
You see, my plan was to get the Early Childhood Education certification first, gain some experience in mainstream education, before moving on to Pathlight, but her idea is for me to work on it at the same time. She feels that I should get them to sponsor my education too! Hahaha! Not bad!
There was no shopping at all. The only form of shopping was to the car shop. Had to get the windscreen tinted (that's another story) and therefore went to ask about the price. Hmmmm....the mechanic there was quite neat and cool looking. I would even dare say that he is...cute.
Anyway, just eye candy. Dad took the car for tinting after I came back from doc's. No chance of seeing cute guy again...unless I find some other things to do with my car...hmm...Hahahaha!!!!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The good business before the wrap up
It strange how things that felt so dreadful to do somehow become things that you kinda enjoy doing. Strange too, how business comes knocking on your door when you are about to wrap up for good.
My last day will be officially the 15th of May, but recently, the phone has been ringing non-stop and the emails keep coming in as more and more schools would want to collaborate with us. I realised later, of course, that they had their own targets to meet this year.
It's strange because it does not seems so bad after all. The teachers are starting to be nice and my targets are being achieved.
Nevertheless, I do not have regrets about leaving this half a thing (as opposed to whole thing, because I will still be working part time) for awhile and go out there to explore new things.
Anyhow, teachers are hard to please though, for although they are much nicer towards us, they are still very picky and fussy. Just this morning, I got a call at 8.20am asking me where my staff was (they were supposed to be at the school setting up for 'business'already). I had to tell her I don't know for I was not at the office (yet), which was the truth.
Funny thing was that she insisted I give her some form of reason and perform some kind of magic so that my staff will appear before her. Had to tell her frankly that the road conditions might be bad as it is the peak hour and there may not be cabs etc, etc... teachers...sometimes.
My last day will be officially the 15th of May, but recently, the phone has been ringing non-stop and the emails keep coming in as more and more schools would want to collaborate with us. I realised later, of course, that they had their own targets to meet this year.
It's strange because it does not seems so bad after all. The teachers are starting to be nice and my targets are being achieved.
Nevertheless, I do not have regrets about leaving this half a thing (as opposed to whole thing, because I will still be working part time) for awhile and go out there to explore new things.
Anyhow, teachers are hard to please though, for although they are much nicer towards us, they are still very picky and fussy. Just this morning, I got a call at 8.20am asking me where my staff was (they were supposed to be at the school setting up for 'business'already). I had to tell her I don't know for I was not at the office (yet), which was the truth.
Funny thing was that she insisted I give her some form of reason and perform some kind of magic so that my staff will appear before her. Had to tell her frankly that the road conditions might be bad as it is the peak hour and there may not be cabs etc, etc... teachers...sometimes.
Monday, April 14, 2008
About the film, In the name of God
This film was so powerful, so powerful. I came out very shaken after the screening. There were lots of messages that the director was sending across: religion, racism, feminism (or the lack thereof), discrimination.
I will not really go into detail about the whole story as it will go on for 3 days and 3 nights. I would also not want to offend anyone by saying things that I am not sure of, especially in the area of religion.
Anyhow, I would wish to watch the film again if I ever had the chance and it was an eye opener for me.
I will not really go into detail about the whole story as it will go on for 3 days and 3 nights. I would also not want to offend anyone by saying things that I am not sure of, especially in the area of religion.
Anyhow, I would wish to watch the film again if I ever had the chance and it was an eye opener for me.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
About the film, Seventh Heaven
Went to watch the film "Seventh Heaven" tonight. It was an Egyptian production. Watched it because I have heard so much about Sufi dancers that I wanted to see it on screen. The last time I saw it was during WOMAD.
The dancer did not disappoint. What was disappointing (a little) was that there were no subtitles. At first, I thought that the director of the film had purposely done it that way. About 10, 15 minutes into the screening, people started to walk out and the screen suddenly went blank and the organiser came to tell us that it was not meant to be like that. That there WAS supposed to be subtitles. Obviously someone had gone to complain.
One of the options that the organiser gave was to move to the other theatre, where any show was being screened. The other option of course, was to get a refund.
Personally, I thought that it would be quite interesting to watch an entire film that was not spoken in your own native language and with no aid of subtitles whatsoever. Haha...I felt that it was artistic to do so. That's the vain me thinking again.
Even though some of the essence is lost, but I still got the gist of it. The funny part was that I started to add in my own dialogue, more American style. Like the part where the dancer's son found out that his girl was two-timing him and he was beaten up by the other guy. He was lying on the floor with blood on his mouth and nose and his girlfriend, who was standing so far away during the fight, came over to talk to him.
I was thinking that the girl must have said something like "I am so sorry...are you OK? Let me take a look..."
Although I did not understand their language, but it sounded part German, part French and part Russian. Everything all mixed together. When they said "thank you", I was very sure that they said "merci".
It also occurred that us people living on this small red dot, are so reliant on subtitles and so used to the norms that anything that is out of the ordinary is not acceptable.
p/s: The "tonight" that I was referring to was Friday. Me night bird lah, so blog at such a time that causes the computer to get 'confused'.
The dancer did not disappoint. What was disappointing (a little) was that there were no subtitles. At first, I thought that the director of the film had purposely done it that way. About 10, 15 minutes into the screening, people started to walk out and the screen suddenly went blank and the organiser came to tell us that it was not meant to be like that. That there WAS supposed to be subtitles. Obviously someone had gone to complain.
One of the options that the organiser gave was to move to the other theatre, where any show was being screened. The other option of course, was to get a refund.
Personally, I thought that it would be quite interesting to watch an entire film that was not spoken in your own native language and with no aid of subtitles whatsoever. Haha...I felt that it was artistic to do so. That's the vain me thinking again.
Even though some of the essence is lost, but I still got the gist of it. The funny part was that I started to add in my own dialogue, more American style. Like the part where the dancer's son found out that his girl was two-timing him and he was beaten up by the other guy. He was lying on the floor with blood on his mouth and nose and his girlfriend, who was standing so far away during the fight, came over to talk to him.
I was thinking that the girl must have said something like "I am so sorry...are you OK? Let me take a look..."
Although I did not understand their language, but it sounded part German, part French and part Russian. Everything all mixed together. When they said "thank you", I was very sure that they said "merci".
It also occurred that us people living on this small red dot, are so reliant on subtitles and so used to the norms that anything that is out of the ordinary is not acceptable.
p/s: The "tonight" that I was referring to was Friday. Me night bird lah, so blog at such a time that causes the computer to get 'confused'.
Friday, April 11, 2008
How has the computer and other products ruled our lives?
I could go on and on about how it is dominating our lives now, but I am just going to touch on one word that we use so much when we turn on our computers: filing.
It seems that no matter what it is now, everything is to be "filed". One patron actually walked up to me and asked me, "How do you actually file your books? Sometimes it is filed here, sometimes it is filed there, I am very confused."
Erm, for your information, books cannot be filed as they are too huge/thick to be put into a file and stored away in cabinets. They are hard copies and therefore not able to be stored in a computer system.
Anal me was mentally correcting the word and thinking that it should be "shelved" or "categorised" that should be used. I was a little unsure as to whether she said "found" or "filed" at first, but after repeating so many times, I was quite sure it was the latter.
This brings me back to another incident I had in another life when I was a wait staff at a particular country club which has since changed its name. One member wanted to order nuggets for his kids. He asked me, "Do you have McNuggets?"
To which I asked in return,"You mean chicken nuggets?"
"Ya lah! McNuggets! Do you have McNuggets?!"
"Yes we have chicken nuggets, sir. Would you like to order a serving of that?"
"Yes, one McNuggets and one hot dog..." the member rattles on.
I doubt that the poor fella realises his mistake, or how sold he is by the idea of MacDonald's nuggets. These are just terms coined by marketing teams and it just goes to show how successful they are in marketing the product when people use it in replacement of the actual names.
Which brings me to yet another incident whereby my American teacher did not know what tissue paper was when my classmate asked for one during an examination. After clarifying her question twice, the Accounting teacher actually exclaimed, "Oh! You mean Kleenex!"
The I.T people built computers as perhaps a part of their great inventions. I wonder if they ever did think that their product would one day be so massive that "google" can replace the word "search". Or maybe they did. Maybe they set out to conquer the world. Hahahaha... .
p/s: Don't think I am far wrong because the Internet (APA Net) was first set up by US Military people. Oh, and recently upon watching Terminator again, one of the episodes seems to draw parallelism to how the Internet started. Sky Net = APA Net?
It seems that no matter what it is now, everything is to be "filed". One patron actually walked up to me and asked me, "How do you actually file your books? Sometimes it is filed here, sometimes it is filed there, I am very confused."
Erm, for your information, books cannot be filed as they are too huge/thick to be put into a file and stored away in cabinets. They are hard copies and therefore not able to be stored in a computer system.
Anal me was mentally correcting the word and thinking that it should be "shelved" or "categorised" that should be used. I was a little unsure as to whether she said "found" or "filed" at first, but after repeating so many times, I was quite sure it was the latter.
This brings me back to another incident I had in another life when I was a wait staff at a particular country club which has since changed its name. One member wanted to order nuggets for his kids. He asked me, "Do you have McNuggets?"
To which I asked in return,"You mean chicken nuggets?"
"Ya lah! McNuggets! Do you have McNuggets?!"
"Yes we have chicken nuggets, sir. Would you like to order a serving of that?"
"Yes, one McNuggets and one hot dog..." the member rattles on.
I doubt that the poor fella realises his mistake, or how sold he is by the idea of MacDonald's nuggets. These are just terms coined by marketing teams and it just goes to show how successful they are in marketing the product when people use it in replacement of the actual names.
Which brings me to yet another incident whereby my American teacher did not know what tissue paper was when my classmate asked for one during an examination. After clarifying her question twice, the Accounting teacher actually exclaimed, "Oh! You mean Kleenex!"
The I.T people built computers as perhaps a part of their great inventions. I wonder if they ever did think that their product would one day be so massive that "google" can replace the word "search". Or maybe they did. Maybe they set out to conquer the world. Hahahaha... .
p/s: Don't think I am far wrong because the Internet (APA Net) was first set up by US Military people. Oh, and recently upon watching Terminator again, one of the episodes seems to draw parallelism to how the Internet started. Sky Net = APA Net?
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Who is blaming who? I don't know
You remember Kelly*? If you don't just click on the link.
Kelly is such an 'amazing' person that I feel that I have to blog it down in my own blogging history.
There is a reason why I ended up watching the films alone during Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF). Maybe I should put all the blame on Shitty bank (no prizes for guessing which bank that is). I was trying to coordinate for a bunch of us to go watch a few of the screenings.
However, only Chitty (pronounced Shitty) Bank had discount of $1 per ticket and therefore I asked my housemate to buy it since she had their credit card. You see, I refused to sign up for a Chitty Bank card and I believed in this 'pooling' of cards, so whoever has the right brand of card can foot the bill for whichever promotion.
My housemate was so busy because (OK this is housemate's side of the story. Have to play fair right?) Kelly had been giving her loads of artwork to do, so much so that she did not have the time to go get the tix.
She asked Kelly to go instead. Kelly, upon seeing the number of tix that needs to be bought decided not to get it. Money needs to be shown before a booking of the tix can be done. By the time I got to know this, many of the good screenings that I wanted to watch were sold out. There were also others that were first row from the screen, which would have been pure torture.
On top of that I still owed some money from the meal that we had together. It was something close to $30 not $300! My housemate was pestered everyday until the day that I returned the money.
It was not as if we were not going to meet up again for the longest time or that I was flying off to South Africa and never coming back again! It's just that I have never seen anyone so petty and calculative. I must say that until I met Kelly, thank goodness my friends were all cool with coming up with the money and then letting us pay for our own share later.
Besides, for the booking of these tickets, it is payment by credit card. To me, it is no problem.
I decided to just get my own tix and they can decide what they want to do on their own. When it comes to buying tickets, I have very little patience. Kelly probably thought that this was your normal show at GV or Cathay where one can get tix last minute. Sigh... .
Worse still, after I trashed it out with Kelly over msn (and I thought that all was well), one of the messages sent to my housemate was that I had said that she was calculative. I may have implied during our msn conversations but I don't think I ever did use those actual words. If she thinks so, then she most probably knows that she IS calculative.
What a two-faced monster.
In a way, I was in the wrong, I should have gotten those tix, discount or not, so that it would not have to affect so many people. Well, damage is done, but lesson is learnt.
*Kelly is not her real name and Kelly can be a guy's or girl's name so go figure :)
Kelly is such an 'amazing' person that I feel that I have to blog it down in my own blogging history.
There is a reason why I ended up watching the films alone during Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF). Maybe I should put all the blame on Shitty bank (no prizes for guessing which bank that is). I was trying to coordinate for a bunch of us to go watch a few of the screenings.
However, only Chitty (pronounced Shitty) Bank had discount of $1 per ticket and therefore I asked my housemate to buy it since she had their credit card. You see, I refused to sign up for a Chitty Bank card and I believed in this 'pooling' of cards, so whoever has the right brand of card can foot the bill for whichever promotion.
My housemate was so busy because (OK this is housemate's side of the story. Have to play fair right?) Kelly had been giving her loads of artwork to do, so much so that she did not have the time to go get the tix.
She asked Kelly to go instead. Kelly, upon seeing the number of tix that needs to be bought decided not to get it. Money needs to be shown before a booking of the tix can be done. By the time I got to know this, many of the good screenings that I wanted to watch were sold out. There were also others that were first row from the screen, which would have been pure torture.
On top of that I still owed some money from the meal that we had together. It was something close to $30 not $300! My housemate was pestered everyday until the day that I returned the money.
It was not as if we were not going to meet up again for the longest time or that I was flying off to South Africa and never coming back again! It's just that I have never seen anyone so petty and calculative. I must say that until I met Kelly, thank goodness my friends were all cool with coming up with the money and then letting us pay for our own share later.
Besides, for the booking of these tickets, it is payment by credit card. To me, it is no problem.
I decided to just get my own tix and they can decide what they want to do on their own. When it comes to buying tickets, I have very little patience. Kelly probably thought that this was your normal show at GV or Cathay where one can get tix last minute. Sigh... .
Worse still, after I trashed it out with Kelly over msn (and I thought that all was well), one of the messages sent to my housemate was that I had said that she was calculative. I may have implied during our msn conversations but I don't think I ever did use those actual words. If she thinks so, then she most probably knows that she IS calculative.
What a two-faced monster.
In a way, I was in the wrong, I should have gotten those tix, discount or not, so that it would not have to affect so many people. Well, damage is done, but lesson is learnt.
*Kelly is not her real name and Kelly can be a guy's or girl's name so go figure :)
Chicken and egg theory
There is always that argument about chicken and egg. Was there egg first or chicken first. If there was egg first then how did it come about without the chicken?
Well, take this theory and apply it to an ailing building. For example, the developer does not want to upgrade a certain shopping centre / commercial building. Reason? There is not enough human traffic or tenants to justify any sort of upgrade.
Excuse me Mr Developer,the main reason why there isn't enough human traffic is because there is that the variety of shops is not great and the shops and/or offices are so old. Other shopping places are already building annexes and extensions to boost shopping space and experience for its clients. How do you think you are going to attract new shoppers / tenants with the same number of shops from ten years before and with the building looking like it is going to crumble?
Go figure.
The developer either wants to send the building to its doom or it does not have any business sense at all.
Well, take this theory and apply it to an ailing building. For example, the developer does not want to upgrade a certain shopping centre / commercial building. Reason? There is not enough human traffic or tenants to justify any sort of upgrade.
Excuse me Mr Developer,the main reason why there isn't enough human traffic is because there is that the variety of shops is not great and the shops and/or offices are so old. Other shopping places are already building annexes and extensions to boost shopping space and experience for its clients. How do you think you are going to attract new shoppers / tenants with the same number of shops from ten years before and with the building looking like it is going to crumble?
Go figure.
The developer either wants to send the building to its doom or it does not have any business sense at all.
Migrate NOW!
Dad is asking me to apply for Australian PR again. He knows that I want to go over quite badly. Actually, I did. Now, I am not too sure, but I could also plan in such a way that I go over to study speech therapy or something. That would do too.
I still think that Oz is a beautiful place even though I did experience discrimination during my studies there, some yonks back. Tell me, who doesn't discriminate? To say that one does not discriminate at all is bull crap.
Anyhow, I am going to try. I am going to see if I can get it and even though I may be leaving a bunch of people that I love behind, I will still go for it. Who knows? I may find the man of my life there? Hahaha! No, that is the least on my mind now. Yesterday, while driving in the car, it really dawned on me that I should love myself first. For once, I should be selfish and think ME first.
All this time I have been telling myself that but I have never really done it consciously. I have not really gone out there and done things and told myself, "Yeah! That is done for me! Because I liked it and enjoyed it!"
Therefore now, I am going to make a bigger effort to do so. I will not do the things that I do not want to do. At least I will try.
I still think that Oz is a beautiful place even though I did experience discrimination during my studies there, some yonks back. Tell me, who doesn't discriminate? To say that one does not discriminate at all is bull crap.
Anyhow, I am going to try. I am going to see if I can get it and even though I may be leaving a bunch of people that I love behind, I will still go for it. Who knows? I may find the man of my life there? Hahaha! No, that is the least on my mind now. Yesterday, while driving in the car, it really dawned on me that I should love myself first. For once, I should be selfish and think ME first.
All this time I have been telling myself that but I have never really done it consciously. I have not really gone out there and done things and told myself, "Yeah! That is done for me! Because I liked it and enjoyed it!"
Therefore now, I am going to make a bigger effort to do so. I will not do the things that I do not want to do. At least I will try.
About the film, Swift
It is a film from Kazakhstan, about this coming of age story of a girl called Ainur.
I was half expecting that the whole cast to have golden blond hair but I had to remind myself this place had some Asian-looking people too. To me, they looked like Chinese and Russian mix, but I may be wrong. There were this mother and daughter actresses who, to me, looked Korean. I thought Korean because they had pretty close ties with Russia.
However, when the show ended and when everyone was leaving, I heard this girl say Japanese and Chinese something or other. Eh... I know I am not supposed to eavesdrop, and I am not sure if she was referring to the cast, but I do not think that the mother and daughter were of Japanese decent.
Anyhow, it showed the very poor side of Kazakhstan alongside the very rich. One boy in Ainur's school was fetched by the Dad in a Lexus. Very stack difference and a great juxtaposition.
Anyway, am looking forward to watching another two more films during the festival. All that was planned before, watching in a group and what not, came to naught and I think for the first time, in a very long time, I enjoyed my own company. It was refreshing.
I was half expecting that the whole cast to have golden blond hair but I had to remind myself this place had some Asian-looking people too. To me, they looked like Chinese and Russian mix, but I may be wrong. There were this mother and daughter actresses who, to me, looked Korean. I thought Korean because they had pretty close ties with Russia.
However, when the show ended and when everyone was leaving, I heard this girl say Japanese and Chinese something or other. Eh... I know I am not supposed to eavesdrop, and I am not sure if she was referring to the cast, but I do not think that the mother and daughter were of Japanese decent.
Anyhow, it showed the very poor side of Kazakhstan alongside the very rich. One boy in Ainur's school was fetched by the Dad in a Lexus. Very stack difference and a great juxtaposition.
Anyway, am looking forward to watching another two more films during the festival. All that was planned before, watching in a group and what not, came to naught and I think for the first time, in a very long time, I enjoyed my own company. It was refreshing.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Beautiful mistake
I must have been drunk last night. I could have simply crossed the road from Plaza Singapura to the National Museum. No! I had to walk past the Istana (the local equivalent of the White House) and walk towards Winsland House to realise that I was actually walking in the opposite direction to where I was going.
No harm done, I thought, I just have to walk backwards on the side of the road that the museum was located. Alas! This route was separated by a tunnel and I ended climbing up flights of stairs towards Fort Canning Park. It was a little scary as there was no one around and I had to walk through an underpass of sorts.
Thank goodness I saw Wesley Church and knew my way from there. It took me a good half an hour to get to my destination but I must say, it was a good workout and I got to see many new buildings and shops, that I never knew existed before.
Why was I going to the National Museum? I was there to watch a film called Switch. It's part of the Singapore International Film Festival.
No harm done, I thought, I just have to walk backwards on the side of the road that the museum was located. Alas! This route was separated by a tunnel and I ended climbing up flights of stairs towards Fort Canning Park. It was a little scary as there was no one around and I had to walk through an underpass of sorts.
Thank goodness I saw Wesley Church and knew my way from there. It took me a good half an hour to get to my destination but I must say, it was a good workout and I got to see many new buildings and shops, that I never knew existed before.
Why was I going to the National Museum? I was there to watch a film called Switch. It's part of the Singapore International Film Festival.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Eh! Apologise properly, Jerk!
Sometimes it's tough. If we are too fierce in telling patrons not to use the phone, we get complaint 'love' letters. When we tell them nicely, they give you half-f*@cked apologies and glare at you a little. The look that says "you are not worth my time and stop wasting my time by talking to me".
Might as well don't apologise. Such insincerity! If you do not know manners and behave as deemed proper in a certain environment, then perhaps, you might want to re-thinking about stepping in. You don't see anyone using the hand phone while watching a play or ballet performance nowadays. Or has Esplanade theatre been smart enough to block any form of signal? Felt like slapping him across the face, but of course we can't and so I did an Ally McBeal again: virtual slap.
Might as well don't apologise. Such insincerity! If you do not know manners and behave as deemed proper in a certain environment, then perhaps, you might want to re-thinking about stepping in. You don't see anyone using the hand phone while watching a play or ballet performance nowadays. Or has Esplanade theatre been smart enough to block any form of signal? Felt like slapping him across the face, but of course we can't and so I did an Ally McBeal again: virtual slap.
Who are we representing?
I have been wondering for the longest time as to how 'burdened' can one person get. By 'burdened' I mean the responsibility that we carry for ourselves, our family, our school and our country.
You see, when we step out of the house and walk on the streets, we are probably not, and cannot be, ourselves.
We (at least I) must remind ourselves that we represent our family, our dialect, our race, our school and even our country. How this thought arose was when we were talking about how we judge which school certain people come from. I know this is very stereotypical and rather mean but I would say, there is 70% truth in this, but not always accurate.
I usually guess where a person went to school by the way s/he talks. If he has a very flat intonation or puts "s" where there is no "s" in the word, I would immediately say that they were from a neighbourhood school. Those who articulate well, I usually guess that they are from mission schools (schools run by Catholic nuns and brothers). They are the ones who have a more (what I call) British accent.
My friend's boyfriend goes one step further as to be able to tell from which mission school the kids are from (that is assuming when they are not in their uniforms). I must hand it to him for I have not reached that level yet.
This is not to say that students from neighbourhood schools do not speak well. Most of my friends/ colleagues from neighbourhood schools do speak very well and I feel that is partly due to their parents' influence.
When I chat with friends, we often talk about which dialect group talks the loudest, which has the prettiest ladies (Teochews) and which makes the best husbands (Hainanese). We also compare Shanghainese and Beijing-ers (that's what I like to call them) and there is always a consensus as to who we prefer to be our friends.
When I see people jaywalking, throwing rubbish on the ground or spitting, I start to wonder whether they are Singaporeans or not. For we were taught from a very young age not to do so. A large part of these not-so-good habits start from young and at home though, and sometimes even if you are a Singaporean, you may still do it because you have seen your parents and your parent's parents do it. You may feel that it is nothing wrong.
I have also heard many stories about travel and how the Americans and Europeans think that everyone who have slit eyes are all from China. There are also stories from our parents' generation where the 'ang mo' think that Singapore is somewhere in China.
My own little personal experience is the surprised look on this Taiwanese auntie's face when she realised that I am a Singaporean. She expressed that she did not know that Singaporeans could speak Mandarin so well.
Therefore, with this knowledge that we are representing something as large as our own country, the onus then falls upon ourselves to be good representatives and not let people think otherwise.
There is then, two sides to the story: either you feel 'burdened' or you take pride when you step out of your house. Choose one.
You see, when we step out of the house and walk on the streets, we are probably not, and cannot be, ourselves.
We (at least I) must remind ourselves that we represent our family, our dialect, our race, our school and even our country. How this thought arose was when we were talking about how we judge which school certain people come from. I know this is very stereotypical and rather mean but I would say, there is 70% truth in this, but not always accurate.
I usually guess where a person went to school by the way s/he talks. If he has a very flat intonation or puts "s" where there is no "s" in the word, I would immediately say that they were from a neighbourhood school. Those who articulate well, I usually guess that they are from mission schools (schools run by Catholic nuns and brothers). They are the ones who have a more (what I call) British accent.
My friend's boyfriend goes one step further as to be able to tell from which mission school the kids are from (that is assuming when they are not in their uniforms). I must hand it to him for I have not reached that level yet.
This is not to say that students from neighbourhood schools do not speak well. Most of my friends/ colleagues from neighbourhood schools do speak very well and I feel that is partly due to their parents' influence.
When I chat with friends, we often talk about which dialect group talks the loudest, which has the prettiest ladies (Teochews) and which makes the best husbands (Hainanese). We also compare Shanghainese and Beijing-ers (that's what I like to call them) and there is always a consensus as to who we prefer to be our friends.
When I see people jaywalking, throwing rubbish on the ground or spitting, I start to wonder whether they are Singaporeans or not. For we were taught from a very young age not to do so. A large part of these not-so-good habits start from young and at home though, and sometimes even if you are a Singaporean, you may still do it because you have seen your parents and your parent's parents do it. You may feel that it is nothing wrong.
I have also heard many stories about travel and how the Americans and Europeans think that everyone who have slit eyes are all from China. There are also stories from our parents' generation where the 'ang mo' think that Singapore is somewhere in China.
My own little personal experience is the surprised look on this Taiwanese auntie's face when she realised that I am a Singaporean. She expressed that she did not know that Singaporeans could speak Mandarin so well.
Therefore, with this knowledge that we are representing something as large as our own country, the onus then falls upon ourselves to be good representatives and not let people think otherwise.
There is then, two sides to the story: either you feel 'burdened' or you take pride when you step out of your house. Choose one.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Throbbing headache
My head is throbbing. Like there is a hammer constantly banging on it. Does not help that one of my colleagues is speaking at the top of his voice now. Makes my head throb even more.
Not feeling too good. Had anti-histermine last night to stop that runny nose and puffy eyes. Didn't work and made me feel even worse. Sleepy and drowsy now. The pain of having sensitive nose, that leads to many other ailments.
Somebody, pick me up by the feet and wack me left and right like in one of those sadistic cartooons, please. I feel terrible.
I suspect I am running a fever too. What a terrible Sunday.
Not feeling too good. Had anti-histermine last night to stop that runny nose and puffy eyes. Didn't work and made me feel even worse. Sleepy and drowsy now. The pain of having sensitive nose, that leads to many other ailments.
Somebody, pick me up by the feet and wack me left and right like in one of those sadistic cartooons, please. I feel terrible.
I suspect I am running a fever too. What a terrible Sunday.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Ring, ring, ring, ring...
Did I tell you that I hate the sound of the phone ringing? Well, I am telling you again. I. HATE. IT.
Everytime it goes off, I want to shrink to one corner, wrap myself up in foetal position and rock away for comfort. I also get a splitting headache and it feels like something in my head explodes everytime it rings. Almost mental, I know.
I cannot help it. I have phonophobia.
Everytime it goes off, I want to shrink to one corner, wrap myself up in foetal position and rock away for comfort. I also get a splitting headache and it feels like something in my head explodes everytime it rings. Almost mental, I know.
I cannot help it. I have phonophobia.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Food for thought
Duck Salad
Cuban and pulled pork sandwich
Had my off day yesterday and decided to go to this place called Food for Thought with another colleague of mine. They are touted to serve pretty good, gourmet style kind of sandwiches.
This has been a long awaited visit to the restaurant for the thought of sandwiches for dinner never did come across as that filling for us and we always scraped the idea. Finally! I was going to try their pulled pork sandwich and all that raving over the Net just made me hungrier by the minute.
I had the Cuban and pulled pork sandwich with carrot soup while my colleague had the Mama Heng's spicy pork sandwich, which was the 'ang mo' equivalent of 'kong bak bao'. Tres deliceux! We also shared a duck sandwich which was altogether heavenly.
I would have ordered dessert except that I was so full I could hardly stand up properly. I contemplated going back in the late after for desserts but then again, it was already late afternoon when we finished our meal as we wanted to avoid the formidable lunch crowd.
Definitely worth going back for!
My Philosophy
Hehe...well, this is nothing serious except that my brand of shower gel/shampoo/condictioner was running low and I decided I could not wait to buy online or to wait for my housemate's sis to get it for me from the States and so decided to buy at the only place that "Philosophy" was available: True Colours at Takashimaya.
Boy! Was I in for a rude shock! That bottle of thing cost me SGD$87!!!!! I paid even less for it when I went to Hong Kong and if I bought it online, it would have been fifty odd, sixty odd dollars only!!! One pair of Dorothy Perkins pants would only cost about $69 before 10% discount!!
I almost had a heart attack when I paid up. I was so zombie-fied that I went home immediately after that. No more shopping. Need to start learning ho to curb my spending.
Boy! Was I in for a rude shock! That bottle of thing cost me SGD$87!!!!! I paid even less for it when I went to Hong Kong and if I bought it online, it would have been fifty odd, sixty odd dollars only!!! One pair of Dorothy Perkins pants would only cost about $69 before 10% discount!!
I almost had a heart attack when I paid up. I was so zombie-fied that I went home immediately after that. No more shopping. Need to start learning ho to curb my spending.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
SMRT amusement park
This park will not have any other rides, other than the SMRT trains that we are so used to by now. It will twine and intertwine and the trains will have no seats.
How to play the game? Pack as many people into the train as possible at any one point of time. Prams are accepted on board the train ride while bicycles are not. Not even foldable ones. Nobody is to hold on to anything, even those standing next to the walls of the train. The train will go round and round and jerk and jerk until someone bumps into another person or falls down from all that jerking. The train will then stop and the person who fell or touched someone would have to leave the train.
Fun? Wonder when this will become a reality. Oh wait a minute, It is already a reality. It is happening day in day out when one takes the MRT, now, even on weekends. Well, this is one ride that I know I do not particularly enjoy.
How to play the game? Pack as many people into the train as possible at any one point of time. Prams are accepted on board the train ride while bicycles are not. Not even foldable ones. Nobody is to hold on to anything, even those standing next to the walls of the train. The train will go round and round and jerk and jerk until someone bumps into another person or falls down from all that jerking. The train will then stop and the person who fell or touched someone would have to leave the train.
Fun? Wonder when this will become a reality. Oh wait a minute, It is already a reality. It is happening day in day out when one takes the MRT, now, even on weekends. Well, this is one ride that I know I do not particularly enjoy.
SO HOT!!!!
I am going crazy. It was fine during the cooler months of December and January, Feb was still bearable. These few days though. I am swimming in my own perspiration.
My neat little rented place does not come with aircon and I can feel myself melting like butter in the middle of the night. Yes, I am spoilt and I cannot really live without aircon completely. At least I managed to 'tahan' (endure in Malay) for these few months without one and that is quite a lot of energy saved.
Even my moving out to sleep in the living room did not help. The funny thing was that it got cooler this morning after I got up!! So I decided to go back to sleep...for awhile. So shiok!
Hmmm.....I NEED TO BUY A FAN! I am going to buy one, so that even if I move back home, I will still be able to use it. Saves energy and saves the earth.
Right now, I am just contemplating whether to go back to my parents' tonight or to go home and rough it out, with new fan in tow of course. For tonight, on the Discovery & Travel channel, there is the programme "Tatoo Wars", which I would like to watch and which, my parents did not subscribe to, that channel, that is.
My neat little rented place does not come with aircon and I can feel myself melting like butter in the middle of the night. Yes, I am spoilt and I cannot really live without aircon completely. At least I managed to 'tahan' (endure in Malay) for these few months without one and that is quite a lot of energy saved.
Even my moving out to sleep in the living room did not help. The funny thing was that it got cooler this morning after I got up!! So I decided to go back to sleep...for awhile. So shiok!
Hmmm.....I NEED TO BUY A FAN! I am going to buy one, so that even if I move back home, I will still be able to use it. Saves energy and saves the earth.
Right now, I am just contemplating whether to go back to my parents' tonight or to go home and rough it out, with new fan in tow of course. For tonight, on the Discovery & Travel channel, there is the programme "Tatoo Wars", which I would like to watch and which, my parents did not subscribe to, that channel, that is.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Verbal Indigestion of sorts
Ok, I am so completely cheesed off by this colleague of mine that I feel I have to bitch about her a little.
She has this habit of forcing ideas down people's throats and you could really literally feel that you are being force-fed. NO KIDDING!
I really hate people forcing me to do anything and this type of 'force feeding', I really DO NOT LIKE.
Today, we were both doing night shift and decided to have dinner together. Our job is a little complicated as we reported to different supervisors: one direct supe and the other is the manager of that particular branch. She asked if I had told our branch manager and I told her no, that I had not.
She told me with a serious, earnest straight face that she should have been the first one I told and that I should go tell her. In fact the look on her face made me felt like I had to take some form of transport back to branch and tell her immediately, now (by the way, we do not work night shifts at our own branch. This is a little complicated).
I told her I am going to tell her but maybe I will email me. Only reason is that I am very, and I stress VERY, bad with situations like that. To have to sit face to face with someone and tell them things...Work review times are not one of the times that I enjoy. I get gastric pains one day before that. So go figure.
She then gave me that earnest and serious look and to the brink of reprimanding, " This sort of thing, you should tell her face to face. Livvie (of course she does not address me in such close terms. Yuck! Yuck!) you MUST tell her face to face. This sort of thing is better to tell her personally. Email is too...cold.
I could feel her forcing the idea down my throat, coercing me to do it. I almost felt that it was Stalin or Hitler. No wait a minute, Chairman Mao talking to me! All this while I was trying to enjoy my fish and chips.
Me, being the stubborn me, told her "No, I will send her an email".
Deep down inside though, I know that telling her face to face was the only right thing to do. It's just the thought of the process of having to walk into her office and tell her is killing me. Let's just say that I am bad at handling situations like that. Eventually I am going to have to do it. Eventually.
Meanwhile, I was being stubborn to the core and did not admit that I will do it. Simply because the method she chose to give me advice was really not up my alley. Mentally choking, and this was not the first time. The last time this happened was when she was trying to convince me to take the Masters in Library Science programme locally with her a few years back. "Livvie (again, that is not the way she addresses me in real life), that is the only way for us to go already. There is no other way."
Of course there are other ways!! I still have my dreams of going back to Oz to further my studies. I could choose to study something else other than Library Science. There ARE many other ways.
Anyway, after my indignant protestation and defiance against her, we slipped into a very un-natural period of silence. I was chewing my food too hard and swallowing my food too fast. I was starring into nothingness. That is what I do if I cannot fathom something or I want to avoid further confrontation.
This colleague of mine is so set in her views that she can be quite unbearable sometimes. I do not know how I stayed friends with her for so long. Plus she is also quite the nosy sort who tries not to act nosy (if you know what I mean) and that makes her more irritating...at times.
Well, she will be moving on to another department soon and I will be well on my way to other things. Don't think I will see much of her from now, though I must say, at times, she had been quite a good listener.
She has this habit of forcing ideas down people's throats and you could really literally feel that you are being force-fed. NO KIDDING!
I really hate people forcing me to do anything and this type of 'force feeding', I really DO NOT LIKE.
Today, we were both doing night shift and decided to have dinner together. Our job is a little complicated as we reported to different supervisors: one direct supe and the other is the manager of that particular branch. She asked if I had told our branch manager and I told her no, that I had not.
She told me with a serious, earnest straight face that she should have been the first one I told and that I should go tell her. In fact the look on her face made me felt like I had to take some form of transport back to branch and tell her immediately, now (by the way, we do not work night shifts at our own branch. This is a little complicated).
I told her I am going to tell her but maybe I will email me. Only reason is that I am very, and I stress VERY, bad with situations like that. To have to sit face to face with someone and tell them things...Work review times are not one of the times that I enjoy. I get gastric pains one day before that. So go figure.
She then gave me that earnest and serious look and to the brink of reprimanding, " This sort of thing, you should tell her face to face. Livvie (of course she does not address me in such close terms. Yuck! Yuck!) you MUST tell her face to face. This sort of thing is better to tell her personally. Email is too...cold.
I could feel her forcing the idea down my throat, coercing me to do it. I almost felt that it was Stalin or Hitler. No wait a minute, Chairman Mao talking to me! All this while I was trying to enjoy my fish and chips.
Me, being the stubborn me, told her "No, I will send her an email".
Deep down inside though, I know that telling her face to face was the only right thing to do. It's just the thought of the process of having to walk into her office and tell her is killing me. Let's just say that I am bad at handling situations like that. Eventually I am going to have to do it. Eventually.
Meanwhile, I was being stubborn to the core and did not admit that I will do it. Simply because the method she chose to give me advice was really not up my alley. Mentally choking, and this was not the first time. The last time this happened was when she was trying to convince me to take the Masters in Library Science programme locally with her a few years back. "Livvie (again, that is not the way she addresses me in real life), that is the only way for us to go already. There is no other way."
Of course there are other ways!! I still have my dreams of going back to Oz to further my studies. I could choose to study something else other than Library Science. There ARE many other ways.
Anyway, after my indignant protestation and defiance against her, we slipped into a very un-natural period of silence. I was chewing my food too hard and swallowing my food too fast. I was starring into nothingness. That is what I do if I cannot fathom something or I want to avoid further confrontation.
This colleague of mine is so set in her views that she can be quite unbearable sometimes. I do not know how I stayed friends with her for so long. Plus she is also quite the nosy sort who tries not to act nosy (if you know what I mean) and that makes her more irritating...at times.
Well, she will be moving on to another department soon and I will be well on my way to other things. Don't think I will see much of her from now, though I must say, at times, she had been quite a good listener.
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