Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Goodbye and I Love You

Just a short post.

My grandmother has passed away peacefully on 24th October 2006, 1400hr.

For those of you who have received my sms, you're probably close friends or people whom i've been in contact with for the past 3 months or so. In any case that i've forgotten to text you, here is the announcement.

There will be no wake nor funeral in Singapore. We're grateful to those who have shown their concern and pardon me if i can't reply your calls or texts.

I'm back in Singapore to pack some clothings and i'll be off this afternoon hence, i'll be uncontactable for this entire week.

For most of my close friends, they probably have seen my grandma and know that she's a fabbo old lady. "Blood Red" calls her my chilli grandma cuz she makes mean mean chilli paste and i've never got a chance to taste it but i do miss her silhouette grinding the chilli padi. I miss everything about her.

She's the love of my life. She's the only person who genuinely loves me with her everything in this world. Now everything just seem dark and empty.

Ah ma, i miss you. I love you. I'm glad you're no longer suffering but i want you back. Seeing you sleeping peacefully in your beautiful coffin, I wanted you so much to wake you and make you chase me with the cane, scold me, comb my hair, feed me, sayang me... I want to hold you tight. Everyone who have seen us will know how much i resemble my grandma and maybe she'll continue to live in me, through me. I love you.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Teething Problems

Please bear with the weird problems that you've encounter ont his website. Many may know that i'm quite a html idiot and i really do not have the time to fix the problems. I will try to edit my new skin asap so as to make your stay more pleasant. The tagboard is currently right at the bottom of the page which i have no idea why, i've moved NOTHING in my template. If anyone is kind enough to offer me help in creating my new skin, please let me know. I'll appreciate any help. As you may know, my Nanna is not the best of health and everyone at home has to run around and to go to Malaysia whenever we have a couple of hours to spare. Hence, i'm not procrastinating the reconstruction of SnugLoft, just unable to do so due to circumstances. Tag me whenever you guys can!

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Salsafied

The Singapore International Salsa Festival has finally ended and i must admit, i had an hell of a great time.

Due to the never-clearing haze, i was coughing and sneezing for the entire weekend and in case you didn't know, yes i'm allergic to dust! But the haze and its effects did not deter the salsa fanatics from strutting their moves over the weekend at the SISF. There were workshops after workshops with top names like Edie, the Salsa Freak and Susana Montero gracing the festival. Basically, i was dancing from dawn till dusk from Friday evening to Sunday night. I surrendered to my bed on Sunday night early and missed the party. I was just too sick and my body was feeling the wear and tear. I must say, there were so much to learn and i'm glad i did picked up some new booty shakes.

The highlight was on Sunday when we attempted to break the Guinness Book of Records and we did in fact broke it. Here's a news report on the record breaking Biggest Salsa Rueda Circle In the World!

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/235646/1/.html

Haven't got any pictures taken except for this one. Felt like some National Day event, we were all robed in red and white for the record breaking event.



Au-Naturel - Without a trace of make-up

As for my flu which was an expected consequence of the allergy reaction isn't getting much better. My throat is all sore and i have a runny nose. Thankfully, the swelling around my eyes has gone down or i'll be looking like a frog.

Now comes the bad news, my Hong Kong trip may not happen afterall. We're just waiting for the decision to come from the top. Oh well, if it is meant to happen, it will.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Finally...

The details for my Hong Kong trip is finalised. I'll be there from 30th Nov to 4th Dec and will be working for the first two days and the last two day, i'll be there alone. Ernest! Jodie! Will you guys be around? I don't want to walk down the cold winter street MYSELF?

The best part of the trip? My boss has given the nod to Marriott, how cool that is. But i'll be downgraded to some 3 star for my last night but heck it, i'd rather be having some good food and fun shopping with the extra cash, er credit. Why am i feeling poor? Maybe because i am? Haha!

Chatted with "Bowlie Marcy" online and we're planning to go on a long drive trip to Melbourne in Feb. Well that is if i forgo my March London trip which i probably will. It's way too costly for me at this point in time.

Having said that, i might have good news coming my way. Keeping my fingers crossed, i might have my first placement soon. Very soon. Should know by Monday. Issue now is, how much will i get? I can't wait. I need to pay off some of my credit card bills. Then again, i don't have very high hopes on that. Being in this job for a few months, i know better than to feel happy about it. There're more fall offs than suiciders. Fingers crossed.

Bunny, we're going diving in March aren't we?

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Not Denying She's Way Cuter


Vote for my colleague's kiddo to keep his wife smiling so we can go drinking. Ha! She's a beauty!

http://www.mumcentre.com/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&catid=142&page=vote&picid=865

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Been in Singapore for Too Long?

Very funny and so odd, the entire office went nodding and laughing when we were reading it.
I've put the interesting ones in bold so busy people who can't be bothered to read this could just skim through. This article is taken off www.talkingcock.com so don't come suing me for not acknowledging you. *My 2cents worth highlighted in BLUE!

60 signs you've been in Singapore too long, especially if you come from a Western country :
1. You know that "cum" means something completely different from what you originally thought.
2. You've lost your sense of irony, sarcasm, and cynicism.
3. You don't know what's lame and what isn't anymore.
4. You think there's nothing wrong with putting chili sauce on everything you eat.
5. You wait for instructions from people in authority before doing anything.
Always. *Yes i'm talking about you - top govt scholar/high flyer - They simply have NO common sense!
6. You join queues without knowing or caring what the queue is for.
7. You know what "queue" means!!
8. You can type an SMS on your phone as quickly as you would if you had a regular keyboard.
9. Your idea of a good night out consists of having dinner at a hawker centre, drinking beer, and then going to another hawker centre and eating again.
10. You've lost your ability to criticize people in higher positions than you, even if they're wrong. *Same ol' scholar shit
11. You would buy a $20 product you don't need if it's on sale for $10 just to save the money.
*Mom, stop buying!
12. You forget to say the last consonant in words like "faCT", "aTE",etc.
13. You think it's okay to have only one meaningful choice on a ballot.
14. Every task you take on and every group you form is incomplete without a mission statement and a cheesy slogan. *Aim & Achieve... Duh...
15. You think that in a country where young people have little privacy, pornography is completely banned, music and movies are censored, students of the opposite sex in a dorm can't stay in the same room without open doors, and everyone works so much, that people should still want to get laid.
16. "Crossing the country" means taking the MRT to the end of the line.
17. You don't just know what "kiasu" means, you have become it!
18. You think that corn and beans are dessert foods.
19. You would cross the entire country all day to find the places that make the perfect fried noodles, or roti prata, or ice kacang, or chili crab. And none of these places would be close to each other.
20. You have a high tolerance for nagging.
21. Most or all of these acronyms make sense to you: NUS; NTU; ERP; SDU; PAP; MRT; LKY; GCT; PRC; TIBS; SBS; SMS; JB; JBJ; AMK; AYE; PIE; ECP; ISD; ISA; 5 C's; CPF; CHIJMES; SPG; CWO.
22. You use too many acronyms when you talk, or you create new ones. *My colleague just gave me a job to create new new acronyms: B&F - Banking & Finance, IBS - nope not irritable bowel syndrome, it's a terrifying stalker.
23. You think that nothing makes a girl or guy more attractive than to dress exactly like hundreds of thousands of other girls and guys who all dress exactly like girls and guys in malls. 24. You think that $100,000 is a reasonable price for a Toyota Corolla and $1,000,000 is a reasonable price for a bungalow, but $5 for a plate of fried noodles is a barbarous outrage.
25. You believe that not being able to get decent roti prata outside Singapore is enough to keep the best and the brightest people from leaving. *I know i'm not staying for long - Just a matter of where.
26. You see nothing wrong with forming committees of select elite people to deliberate and study ways to stimulate creativity and spontaneity.
27. You justify every argument with the phrase "in order for us to be competitive in the 21st century".
28. You think everything should be "topped up".
29. You have a naive belief that the war against ants will somehow be won.
30. You don't think any dish of Western food is complete without baked beans.
31. You see nothing unusual about an organization of trade unions spending more time owning and operating supermarkets, drugstores, amusement parks, nightclubs, and financial services outlets than planning the next strike.
32. You believe that a lack of land is enough justification for the goverment to do what it wants.
33. You wear winter clothes indoors and summer clothes outdoors. *I love this one - So so so true
34. Durian and belachan no longer stink to you.
35. You like to have fun, but not too much fun, since you need to correctly gauge the amount of fun necessary to achieve the optimal result. Any more fun that that would bring shame to your family and your country.
36. Seven french fries with lunch are more than enough for you. *What is the problem with these anorexic Asian babes? I eat like a freaking dinosaur. "Dirty Belly" once said that i could wipe out the shrimp/prawn population but i was nice enough to peel them for everyone so don't complain.
37. You forgot what a city organized around a grid looks like.
38. In a country where people use smart cards for public transit, you have no problem with construction workers riding in the open backs of pickup trucks.
39. You think paying $50 for a bottle of booze that costs $15 at home is a bargain.
40. You're not confused by a street naming system that locates streets like Clementi Road, Clementi Street, Clementi Crescent, Clementi Lane, Clementi Drive, Clementi Way, and Clementi Avenues 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 all within walking distance of each other. *I'm sorry but i can never understand the naming systems and i still get lost. I'm better orientated in Shanghai than in Singapore all because of the roads named by some smart alec high flyer.
41. You think that skinny girls and guys are the most attractive of all. (How did they get so skinny in the first place?? Do you know how much oil is in nasi lemak, char kuay teow, duck rice, and your average curry??--ed.) *I like my man just nice, not too buffed, not too skinny. I so do not fancy bony hugs. Hugs are hugs because of the warmth of our BODY FAT! Hugging a skinny bird is like kissing a toothless beggar.
42. You get irritated if you don't see a sign telling you how long your wait's going to be for a bus, a train, or the expressway to take you where you want to go.
43. You're certain that Holland Village is for hippie bohemian artist types and not overpaid yuppies.
44. When you cross the border into Malaysia, you automatically and deeply fear for your life and your wallet. Especially your wallet!!
45. You think that no vegetable should ever be eaten raw for any reason. Except for cucumbers. *I love my bunny food and salads even though i'm a carnivore. In fact, i don't like cooked ones. But i'm Chinese, what is wrong with me.
46. No matter what you're doing at the moment, you'd rather be shopping. *Yeah baby, bring on the credit cards and extended credit lines. Gosh i need to go shopping!
47. No matter how miserable you may be here, you thank God you're not in Indonesia.
48. You're impressed by high-rise apartment buildings with actual lobbies instead of bare exposed pillars on the ground floor.
49. You don't have a problem with four different direct payment systems spread out over seven different cards in your wallet.
50. You forgot what chewing gum tastes like. *No idea. I've never fancied chewing gums.
51. You say "handphone", not "cellphone" And you think there's no such thing as a handphone that's too thin. *Mobile phone!!! Cellphone ain't right either, it's AMERICAN hence, it's WRONG.
52. You're not bothered by the fact that government cares whether you know how to use a toilet or urinal correctly. (People squatting on toilet bowls? What the...???--ed.)
53. You're sure that the best way to change social behaviour is through consistent and comprehensive government-sponsored campaigns that permeate as many aspects of daily life as possible. And when they don't work, you never speak of them again.
54. You think chicken floss, corn, mayonnaise, and tandoori spices are proper pizza toppings.
55. You agree that what the government thinks of your personal habits and lifestyle should determine whether you get a condo and how much you pay for it. *Did i tell you why i'll leave this shithole someday?
56. You've become a fan of either Arsenal, Man. U., or Liverpool when you barely knew what soccer was before you came to Singapore. And you don't care that none of these teams are Singaporean! *Er no, i'd rather be on BBC Prime anytime of the day.
57. You think a bus is incomplete without a TV.
58. You accept that expressways here are cleaner than toilets rather than the other way around.
59. You know why this list needs the following disclaimer: "This list is intended only as an amusing, light-hearted, and exaggerated look at life in Singapore and is not meant to be taken seriously. There is no intention on the part of the author of this list to make any untrue, misleading, or defamatory statements concerning any person in particular, nor to make any statement intended to cause offense. If any such offense has been caused, the author apologizes and retracts the offending statement. In any event, the author's NOT WORTH SUING, so don't trouble yourself."
60. You understand everything on this list!!

Friday, October 06, 2006

Trip Postponed.

My Hong Kong trip's been postponed to the 1st week of December. I guess it's good in a way cuz i probably have a fresh credit line by then but the bad thing is it'll probably fall during the peak period and everything else would be really expensive. Not especially delighted because my boss try to coincide this with a retreat so everyone from the Singapore office will be going. Not that i'm unhappy that the office is going, in fact quite glad because there'll be people to share some costs and such but the irritating thing is the way my boss try to put everything together just to save money??? We should have like a retreat in Karma Resort and if my boss is reading this, yes i need a holiday, in that resort that we're giving out as a reward from referrals. Oh by the way, as much as i'm unhappy now(all because i've overspent and currently very very very poor), my company's been cool and even if i bitch about my boss, he's not that bad - quite cute as well. So if you have got any friends doing in-house or private practice, you would want to refer to us, do it via our website and you might stand a chance to win a treat to Karma Resorts.

Little Red Flowers

I love movies, not the Singaporean ones though. The real artistic ones are fine but the money stripping Jack Neo ego trip movies just ain't my cuppa. Ok that's not my point. I'm just not the super arty film person.

Last night when i was browsing channels, i saw this trailer. It looks really good.
Here's an extract from http://www.thepicturehouse.com.sg/coming.htm


Little Red Flowers 看上去很美
SYNOPSIS
A young boy starting school for the first time struggles to fit in to a strictly regimented society in in post-revolutionary China.Qiang is a four-year-old little rebel, possessed of a pair of luminous eyes and a precociously indomitable will. His father deposits him at a well-appointed residential kindergarten in post-1949 Beijing, since his parents are often away. Life at the kindergarten appears rich and colourful, made up of a variety of cheerfully sunny rituals and games meant to train these children to be good members of society. But it's not so easy for Qiang to adapt to this kind of carefully organized, minutely scrutinized collective life. A fierce individualist in miniature, he tries but fails to conform to the model his teachers enforce. Yet he still craves the reward that the other students win: the little red flowers awarded each day as tokens for good behaviour.Based on a semi-autobiography novel ‘Could Be Beautiful’ by Wang Shuo, the best-selling ‘bad-boy’ of contemporary Chinese literature.

I would love to catch the film but i reckon there won't be any company for me. It is one of those Chinese film that are dark, filled with tears, lots of kids... Oh they do have English subtitles. Does anyone wanna watch this with me? Please...

Thursday, October 05, 2006

UnDIVEable

It's been forever!

Few years back, when i make my quarterly trip to Phuket, everyone told me to take up diving and i've always wanted to. So i signed up with PADI during one of the trips. Then came the impossible storm. Got my refund but that's not what i wanted.

When i took up Salsa, i met some diving fanatics and i've always wanted to join them. Unfortunately, there's always some reason i can't seem to be able to make just ONE trip with them.

Recently, "XiaoBai2" gave me the push to pick it up and i did check out some stuffs and all ready to go. "Arty Beng" said he'll be my buddy. Exhilarated? Now "Arty Beng" is ignoring me and i don't know what i did and i miss talking to him. The bomb dropped when "XiaoBai2"told me i'll have to wait till March for the season to open again. When can i ever learn how to dive?

I feel like this little girl who is unable to go out to play with her little friends. I'm terribly upset! God has forsaken me!

I must go diving in March. Willing buddies please sign up NOW!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Hong Kong!

Have you ever seen the ad that goes, (in Mandarin - very unfortunate for people who aren't as talented as myself to be effectively bilingual moving onto a trilinguist - well, it's meant to be a joke, don't take it too hard, i'm not that musta thick skinner as it may seem), "SHOP and EAT and SHOP and EAT, to rest is inevitable"

It's been say more than 6 months, which is really long for me, since i last went Hong Kong. I will only do my shopping in Hong Kong considering that i go there on a regular basis. They have better quality stuffs than Bangkok and it's slightly more down to earth than Taipei's cranky fashion. I love love love Hong Kong and even more so when my boss is paying for my air ticket. I better save up, let the credit card roll and yoohooo... Then only thing now is to try to strangle my boss so he puts us up in the better hotels before i go cheap on my own extended nights. I'll be all alone so friends who are in Hong Kong then, please do contact me before i leave to arrange some fun before i fly off the last weekend of November. It'll be very sad for me to walk down buzzing LKF or TST or CWB alone in the cold November rain. Silly gag but hey i'm happy! Join me!!! The only downside, i have to go work and it's not easy cuz i've got to be trained to take over some cutie's job there.

Snuggles...

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

New Premises

Welcome. I apologize for the constant move but bear with me, i hope this will be the last. Will furnish this one asap. Stay tuned.