Changed my profile...

It once read "working as a no-lifer". I've changed that because I realise I do have a life, in fact, and even though I work 12hr weekdays - 60hrs a week, I have 2 full days off.

And compared to a housemate of mine, who works like 15-18 hours a day - and sometimes on weekends, I am very lucky indeed.

And I'm liking my job more and more...

And my gf's coming over.. what "no-lifer"... so loser... :D

Christmas Eve's Eve

I'm getting the festival mood.. the office was so lively and happy (even though its half empty) and everyone was having fun chit-chatting. By 12 noon, only a quarter of the office were left. I left early too!

Quickly did some grocery shopping because all shops and restaurants will be closed on the 25th and 26th. I don't want to starve, and seriously, when I mean all shops/restaurants are closed, its really a total shutdown.

And then my girlfriend is coming over!! HOORAY! thats possibly the happiest thing happening in my life right now. another day and a half.. comeon comeon comeon.. *wait eagerly in chair for time to pass faster*

i'm a happy man today :D

What did I do during the weekend?

1. Eat
2. Sleep
3. Watch serials
4. Play computer games
5. Stay indoors

Its just too cold to go out. And I'm too lazy.

Will update again. take care.

Speaking Mandarin part 2

I take back my words. I can't speak Mandarin.

Simple colloquial Mandarin is ok. not a problem. but when it comes to words like er.. risk management, capital protection, quantitative analysis, leverage, derivatives, securities, trading platform etc... WAH.

I take back my words... I should really brush up on my Mandarin...

Speaking Mandarin

I'm so glad I can speak a little Mandarin, no mattter how half-past-six (meaning sub-standard).

Thats because, in a week, a couple of senior executives from China are going to come down to visit our capabilities - and I've been invited to join some others in bringing them to dinner - just on the basis of being able to speak Mandarin. MUAHAHA.. I'm expecting very expensive Chinese food. MUAHAHHAAHAHA

I'm glad Lee Kwan Yew made us learn Chinese.

How was your weekend?

I usually get this question on Mondays. *bleah*.. monday is the most hated day of my week.

And I also don't know how to answer. I hate open ended questions. I've been cultivated, from young, when my parents ask me "How are you?" I'll always answer "I'm fine". I don't know how else to answer.

So when people ask me "How was your weekend?" I usually say "oh, its fine". haha. stupid hor?

Sometimes I try to add a bit of stuff in like "oh, it was great! I slept a lot!". and the other person would laugh. Very funny meh?

I also dunno how else I spend my weekend... mostly sleeping, lazing around, watching DVDs/CDs, eating, surfing internet etc...

And that brings me back to the "How're you?" greeting that pple (usually Americans, or so I found) like to use. Its not really a question like "How are you?" you know, its used more like "Good morning/afternoon" (depending on time of day) or like "Hey ya". I always found it weird when I hear people go like this:

"Hey how're you?"

"How're you? I'd like a soda with fries please."

Ah DUH? If I was greeted it'll probably be:

"Hey how're you?"

"I'm fine, thank you. I'd like a soda with fries please."

Ok, now, that might be viewed as being not very nice, because I didn't ask the other person "how're you". But at least I'm not ignoring the question right?? Right??

Sigh, pple, next time please use good morning/afternoon or something like that instead of asking "how're you" when you have no intention whatsoever about learning how's the person doing 'kay?

Bitch update

The bitch came to look for me today.

She came to me asking "Why is it the fees are charged this way, off the index value rather than the certificate value ...." and continued for another 30 seconds.

All the while she was speaking, I was nodding my head.

I attempted to explain to her...

But then she went on again.

And then I said, "You know, the way the fees were charged was not my decision, it was XX and XX" (the names of a few higher ups).

And guess what?



She said "Okie" and left! Just like that! Wow! Don't even need any explanations already!! My goodness. I know exactly how to handle that bitch already. :D

The only way to go is up...

I think I'm pretty optimistic.

After that severe screw-up, I tell myself that it can only get better from here. And its true, its getting better.

For one, the bitch doesn't bother me anymore. I guess thats cause the product has been launched and she (and I) don't give a damn about it anymore.

And then just last night my manager brought our team out for dinner. The food wasn't fantastic, but it was still an enjoyable evening. We took a cab from the office to the restaurant, and then we took cabs separately back home. I was considering taking the tube, actually, before he announced to us "go take a cab home. you can claim for it tomorrow". OK boss, whatever you say boss. =)

And then today one of the higher-ups called me into his office to talk to me. I was wondering if it was going to be a proper lecturing session, since he opened with the sentence "About the incident about a week ago, I hadn't really had a chance to talk to you about it..." Well, I was quite prepared for the worst actually, so it kinda surprised me that he actually told me that it is a misunderstanding and that I shouldn't take it personally. yeah whatever dude.. i've gotten over it.

yup, and so today the sky began to clear and the sun is shining through the dark clouds. I don't mean it literally, because as you know its winter and its actually getting darker, colder, and gloomier. I mean I feel lighter, like a load has been lifted off my chest (wah damn cliche la.. anybody can express the same thing just as well?)

i'm fine folks. don't worry about me.

Bitch

There's this bitch at work. No I don't mean the female dog if you're thinking that I'm trying to be funny.

She bloody picks on me all the time! ALL THE TIME!

Give me a break man! bloody bitch.

Screwed up big time

I screwed up at work, a couple of days ago.

Well, it wasn't entirely my fault - it was language and interpretation. When someone says "Three days after Monday". What do you think? Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday! How about "Three business days after Saturday". ok, thats Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday! Simple as ABC right?

WRONG.

I was told "Three business days after the start of the month". Right.. so starting on the 2nd, I counted three business days. so if the first was a Monday, it would be Thursday, and if the first was a Saturday, it would be Wednesday. Right?

What they actually wanted was "First THREE business days of the month". NABEH. If you dont see the different go and write out the days on a piece of paper. I think I explained it to a thousand people a thousand times.

And there's more. I was told "Invest two business days before Friday". wah this wan damn subtle man. Sounds easy right? Invest on wednesday lor! So I used the closing price on wednesday.

KNN...

They meant to "Invest for TWO whole business days before Friday". So that means I should have used the closing price on Tuesday.



This whole screw-up blew way out of proportion because a lot of higher-ups were involved. Even the external press was involved. Of course the higher-ups will lose face if suddenly there was a gaping hole because of one lowly underpaid worker.

There was a flurry of activity on that day. All but one of the higher-ups involved were not in the office, but everyone communicated by phone and the conclusion was that I screwed up.

I was really thinking.. what would it be like if I was fired not even 3 months into the job?

Luckily my boss was very supportive and understood exactly where the mistake was coming from and how anybody could have made it. But my direct supervisor, really a collegue, bloody turned his back on me! KNN... CCB... (pardon my language - its a code word so people who don't know me won't understand me).

Next time I must learn to cover my ass a little better. DAMN.

My new computer...

I haven't showed you guys my new computer yet right? Well, thats because I took many pictures of the assembly process - and because there were so many pictures, everytime I wanted to post it up, I got put off.

But finally, I've gathered enough energy and determination to post (most of) the pictures.


My new computer case. Chio?


Side view showing the window + fan.


This is my motherboard - DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra. I know it probably won't make sense to the bulk of my blog readers, but i'm pretty proud of this board, as you might have guessed. The yellow and orange parts supposedly glow in UV light, but I didn't install any UV lights in my case.


This is the CPU, the component that costs the most. Its an AMD 64 X2 (dual core) 3800+. can't remember the exact specs but its FAST. "hayai" - in japanese..


So then, after placing the CPU onto the motherboard, spread a little thermal paste on it. Kinda fun spreading the stuff.. like making crepes..


After installation of the heatsink + fan. The whole heatsink is copper - which supposedly conducts heat much better.


My memory cards - Corsair XMS2. It is pretty decent, cause I can overclock it to 2.3.3.6 timings at 230 Mhz FSB (i.e, 460 MHz), 15% faster than what it was intended for (400Mhz).


The motherboard inside the case with my graphics card installed. The graphics card is a Powercolor ATI 700 board, with dual DVI out. Not spectacular, I like it cus it doesn't have fans.

So, I'm quite happy with my computer because I managed to overclock the CPU by another 15% (2Mhz to 2.3Mhz), without upping the voltage. So its a cool running dude - at peak processing the temperature only runs up to about 45 degrees... and otherwise its at 36 degrees. So damn amazing.

On the other hand, I spent almost 900 quid on it.. so it better be good. =)

The bestest free dinner in my life...

A couple of days ago, this company that my company is working with, or more like we were hiring their services... a small group of representatives came down to London. Of course they didn't just come down to London just to see us la, they had other business to do. But they invited us for dinner.

Wow. They brought us to this posh restaurant, those kind that I've only ever seen on TV and never ever stepped inside before. The place was quite big, the ceiling very high, the chairs heavy and comfy.

To start off, the waitress recommended a "white truffle martini". Ooh man, its not Martini at all, it tastes like pure vodka (what brand I cannot tell la) serverd in a Martini glass. With an empty stomach, I was starting to feel tipsy just after finishing like a third of the glass. But I had to finish it soon because everybody else finished their starting drink already - beer, what do you think?

After that they served a complimentary "broth". or soup. whatever, it was this pinkish creamy liquid served in a huge plate with a tiny depression in the middle about the diameter of a tennis ball. I managed to get three spoonfuls of that stuff. haha, tastes like prawn/lobster soup. no idea what it is.

After that the wine came. It was a light white wine, I think chardonnay. Oh, I wasn't drunk yet at that time. So still could manage some conversation with the hosts.

And then my starter came, hot foie gras. Eh, I never ever had foie gras before ok, I wasn't even sure how to pronounce it. luckily the guy next to me ordered it too, and quite loudly, so I just copied the way he said it. "foe-gra". i think thats how its pronounced. It was sooooooo sinful. It tastes much like duck fat, very soft, very tasty, and also with that oily, fatty texture of duck fat. and also with the sweetish roasted flavour of duck fat. Except of course its not duck fat. It was served together with a side salad. which was nice because otherwise the oil dripping from the sides would just overpower me...

While I was enjoying my duck fat taste-alike, the waiter asked if I'd like to switch wine from white to red after the starter. sure, I said. And after I had finished with the dish, I downed the glass of white wine.

That was a mistake.

Soon after, my main course arrived. I had ordered loin of venison (with a lot of other trailing words at the end I don't remember). The waiter said "Just to let you know, the venison is served medium rare." Cool, I had never had medium rare before, and if a posh restaurant only serves the venison medium rare, it had to be pretty confident that medium rare is very good. So I said "yup, sounds great!".

When my dish arrived, I wasn't disappointed. Though the loin seems pretty small, it was nice and thick and juicy and yummy. Marvelous. Totally awesome. Ahh, I'm getting hungry just thinking of it.

While I was having it, the world was spinning a bit. There were still people talking to me and joking together about stuff with me. I had to maintain appearances and so talked as best I could and laughed/ made comments as appropriately as I could, under the heavy influence of alcohol. But I don't know if you guys experienced it before.. you know you're drunk. you're high. but you have to act as though you're not drunk. you're suddenly so "self aware" - not sure if this is contradictory, since you're suppossedly drunk, but you feel as though the noise around you beginning to rise in volume, yet you can't make out what others are saying. you inspect others people's faces to see if they recognise that your eyes are beginning to "stone". ah well, thats what I did, while I was still happily enjoying my medium rare piece of venison - and having little sips of the red wine, which smells so good.

After the main course, I wanted to go to the toilet. The guy on the right of me left first. So I said to the guy on the left of me that I would go too. I stood up, slowly, while pushing the heavy chair out. Turned around and realised that I wouldn't be able to keep up any apperance at all the moment I let go of the chair that I was holding on to. I will definitely be walking tipsy turvy to the toilet. So then I sat down immediately and told that guy "maybe I'll go later."

haha, so paiseh, luckily he didn't notice (or at least I think he didn't notice).

Then they served another complimentary dessert, which was some caramel pumpkin mash in a shot glass that looks like a test-tube. was interesting la, but didn't really like it.

And then my dessert came. It was this nice chocolate cake that has chocolate fudge oozing out when you cut into it (the kind that they serve at bakerzinn), served with pistachio ice-cream. yummy.

and they just kept ordering bottles of this dessert wine. I don't know what its called la, but its a light sparkling white wine (not champagne) with very low alcoholic content and tastes so fruity its like grape juice, not wine. But its nice. mmmm...

And the best thing of all, I didn't have to pay a cent (or pence). =D

My birthday cake(s)

My lovely housemates bought these two cakes for me two days before my birthday. Small la, but its the thought that counts rite?

Ugly warts on my hand

I had ugly warts on my hand. There were two on my thumb, one on my last finger, and one on the back of my hand, near the middle finger. Its so ugly, and worse still, it can possibly spread to other parts of the body and to other people.




I wanted to do surgery/ liquid nitrogen treatment in Singapore, but the National Skin Center is so slow at processing appointments, by the time I saw the doc it was like a day before I had to leave. So he prescribed me Verrymal, a salicylic acid (with some other stuff) solution that you apply externally.

It wasn't fun I tell you. First, the solution dries up and becomes white in colour, just attracting further attention to the warts on your hand. Second, you need to peel the previous layer off before you apply the next layer - and sometimes its so difficult (and sometimes painful) to peel. Third, sometimes when you peel it off, you cause damage to the skin, resulting in bleeding and infection.

And because I've tried cutting the warts away - to no effect, since they always grow back, this time I had to make sure that it is gone before I stop the application of the solution. But how do I know when to stop? it isn't in the instructions.. so I continue application even after the wart is gone, even after there is no skin on the spot, and even after there is somewhat of a depression in that spot.

And finally, six weeks later, I've stopped applying the solution - and let my wounds heal.

Another six weeks later, this is the result.



The warts are gone (I hope), and all that's left is a little bit of dry skin that will hopefully drop off in a couple of days.

Nice posters in the National Library of Singapore

A poster in the National Library of Singapore.


Eh, wah lao. this is the library la.. please be considerate can?

Making of green tea ice-cream

Its finally a weekend (ah well, actually its friday night) so I have the chance to blog. And since I got my brand new computer, I don't really have any excuses not to post some pictures.

Back in Stanford, after I had graduated, I spent like 6 weeks there before I came back. Back then I didn't have much to do, so I was very much like a house-husband. And I experimented with making ice-cream.

L's flatmate had like one whole bagful of green tea powder, which can be used to make "pao pao cha", also known as "tapioca tea" in the US (yah i know, weird names). So anyway, I used that powder to make the green tea icecream. its very simple really, as these pictures will suggest.


First, mix the green tea powder with water. Next, whip it, while grinning happily


Place the whipped stuff into the freezer. Wait for 15 minutes. Take it out and whip it again. It should get thicker and thicker, like so...


Repeat the procedure of taking the green stuff out of the freezer, whipping it, and then putting it back into the freezer for 15 minutes, until it becomes like so..


The finished product.


Scoop out a spoonful of the green stuff and feed it to any willing party.

Time...

How time flies by.. Its been slightly more than 2 months since I started work. I've started adapting already, knowing more about what I'm supposed to know, what I'm supposed to do, and what I'm NOT supposed to do. I'm feeling more confident, getting more responsibilities, and getting to know more people around the office.

I've made mistakes. Not exactly major mistakes, but mistakes nonetheless. Mistakes that I shouldn't have made had I been more careful and meticulous. but then again, that isn't my trait. thankfully Manager didn't scold me. He just pointed his finger at me in the shape of a gun and "shot" me. haha. ah well...

i've settled into a routine, more or less. Leave the house at exactly 7.03, plus minus 3 minutes. Reach the tube in 10 minutes. The train will arrive in between 0-6 minutes. I'll arrive at work at 7.43, plus minus 5 minutes.

I'll leave my desk at around 7.30, plus minus 15 minutes. I'll then go to the gym and workout. Been trying to trim my tummy.. haha, problem la. the fat around there so stubborn, refuse to go away. see, girls have it easier, when they put on weight, it distributes throughout the body. when guys put on weight, it goes straight to the belly. haiz.

And then usually I'll catch the tube back at 8.40. For some reason though, the train was late today. by half an hour. damnit. waste my precious time. very very very precious you know, considering that I sleep at 11.. if I reach home at 9.30, I only have one and a half hour of personal time. do the doctors in singapore have it harder?

haiz. not that I'm complaining la, but when the train gets late by half an hour, it really pisses me off. it just rubs on me that i have so little time to spare.

and then in the blink of the eye (ah damn cliche siah) its been two months already. i am left without a shadow of a doubt (since I am at it) that a few years will pass by very quickly.

don't even have time for reflection.

The bloody tube

I waited almost an hour for the tube today. The announcement was "There are minor delays on the Circle, District, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan lines due to an earlier signalling failure at Paddington."

"minor delays" my foot.

Quote of the day

Mutton is what lamb becomes after their first birthday. Somehow we have a prejudice against old sheep but not old cows.

The tube.

what do you think when I say tube? Do u think of a long rubber hose? or plastic?

or do you think of the london underground (or metro, or MRT, or subway, depending on which city you're in)?

anyway, i actually mean the london underground. yup, the one that got bombed on july 7th. Why is it that terrorists like to plan things on these easy-to-remember dates? eh watch out, the next bomb will happen on 11-11. hmm.. why not 7-11? cus then 7-11 will get free publicity issit? or may 24-7. oh, but then in the US it'll become 7-24. haha.. haiz. I'm deteriorating...

back to the point. i just saw a couple kissing.. no smooching.. no, i believe the word is "snogging" (go check the dictionary), in plain sight while they were waiting for the train. and just yesterday I saw another couple snogging away too, inside the tube. and the day before that, I saw another couple, not just snogging, but the guy was groping and squeezing his girlfriend's butt. And they were standing like right in the center of the platform.

Now, who says londoners are terrified of taking the tube?

another interesting thing happened later in the tube. This young punk, dressed in drab casual clothing came up to me and flashed an identity card at me. Vaguely it looked like some London Underground kinda pass. He identified himself as a ticket inspector and wanted to check my pass. My initial thought was like, "what? really? he's joking right?".

but then after that, i saw standing behind him, acting nonchalant and as though he didn't know the punk, was a guy dressed in the Underground uniform. Oh, then it hit me, that punk is really a ticket inspector, trying to catch people red handed. macham like plain clothes policeman.

Now, what if bus inspectors also wore plain clothes?

Blady spam comments

I hate them. From now on, only registered members of blogger gets to leave comments. (not that I have many pple outside of blogger reading my blog la)

Relaxing weekend

My weekend wasn't exactly fruitful. I spent the whole saturday (10am to 10pm) playing Playstation 2. Damn waste time man.. i feel so guilty after that. But it was fun - and I didn't have any other plans...

So on sunday, I decided I was going to be more constructive. I went to the gym and used the:
- cycling machines
- running machines
- weights machines
- free weights
- floor mats
- swimming pool
- jacuzzi
- sauna
- shower
in that order. I know it seems as though I'm listing the facilities at the gym.. well, I'm not, I just wanted to make full use of the gym, and a lot of spare time. And I only get to use this particular gym on weekends, AND its not all that great hor.. For one, the pool is 17m long, and the jacuzzi can fit 3 max.

And then after that, I came back home and played playstion again, until 10pm when I decided I should go get some sleep.

Boring weekend, but relaxing nonetheless.

Now what did I do today?

1. Went in to office early, as usual. R, the no-lifer who had finished his masters, was in another country at the moment, so when I got into the office, only M, my manager, was there. I didn't greet him cus he was busy with his emails already.

2. I bought cereal and milk from the cafe and ate them while I figured out what I was supposed to do for the day.

3. Did a little bit of stuff here and there, nothing too urgent, nothing too serious, until I smelt something very nice coming from the table next to me. Turned and saw my neighbour eating Cornish Pasty. Ah! lunchtime! I decided to be nice and asked my collegues whether they wanted to grab some lunch. 'Sure!' they all said. So lalalala, we went down to a nearby market and bought pies for lunch. 6 pounds mind u... i won't have that everyday.

4. Went back to office, then did a bit more stuff here and there. Before I knew it, it was 7 and M actually left first! wow! unfortunately I was in the middle of something and decided to finish it first.

5. After I finished whatever I was doing, it was already 7.30. Then I went to the gym and ran. then I showered and came back home, hungry and tired.

6. My housemates mum is staying with us now. She cooked dinner and left some for me. I reached home at about 9 and ate like a pig. Caught a bit of soccer on TV - England 2, Poland 1. Nice goal, the last one.

7. Now I'm going to sleep like a pig.

Later folks!

More Pictures

This is what you see the moment you enter the front door. A dining table (which we seldom use), a clothes rack (that is perpetually used), and further down, XP's room. To the left of XP's door is the door to another room where my other housemates are living. and to the left of the picture (just behind the chairs) is the living room. my room is on the other side (behind you).



Two televisions and two playstation 2 in the living room. talk about overkill...



And this is my untidy bedside table. I don't use it for anything other than to put my wallet, hp, coins and keys... can't believe i spent like 30 quid on it. duh..

Pictures..

This is my untidy table. It's actually not too bad already. It'll get worse, I tell you.



My bed! I'm so proud of it, because its so beautiful and so nice. I bought a mattress from IKEA that costs 200 pounds (can you believe it?), bedspread that costs 11, duvet that costs 15, duvet/pillow cover set for 24, pillows for 12, another goose feather pillow for 9... the total cost of my bed comes up to about 270 pounds. Money well spent I believe, since I spend 7 hours a day in bed.

Oh, and the little cute bear, with a very un-imaginative name - "bear-bear"... I don't have to say who its from right?


These are my cufflinks I got from NEXT. Pretty cute huh?

I'll post more pictures soon. Take care!

Had another routine day in the office today. Nothing special to report, but just thought that it'll be nice to update this blog more frequently. maybe next time I can post pictures... but i'm currently too lazy right now.

Spent the whole day doing something really uninteresting. Nothing much to talk about. I think the most exciting thing that happened today was: I pee-ed in a urinal that wasn't draining well. You can picture it: white urinal, yellowish stream of liquid, collecting in the urinal, not draining, hear the stream of liquid splash into the collecting "puddle".. ahh... so interesting. =)

After work I went to the gym again. My third time there. Getting to like it. Its not crowded and people aren't that well-built. kinda less intimidating you know. Like when u go to those "fish-tank" kind of gyms, such as california fitness, everyone there like eat steriods or something.

I think I lost 500 calories. there was this calorie counter on the treadmill (I was going to say "running machine"), but the last time I checked was at 3 minutes - 120 calories.

And then I made up my loss by eating Burger King. =P

Ahhh... the internet...

Yes.. ooh yes..

I've got internet at home now. so right now i'm at home typing away on a laptop I borrowed from XP. i'm gonna buy a computer soon. as soon as i get the time to surf around for the bestest value for money option.

It took me some time to get used to the idea of the internet again. i forgot why i used so much time in the past. WHAT did I surf? hahaha..

Work has been kind to me so far. Getting to do more and more interesting stuff, and I get lots of freedom to do what I feel I need to do. Its great that my manager thinks I'm smart. ahhahaa.. he introduced me to a few people already, and he always adds in a comment like "he's got a very strong quantitative background". cool eh?

then today he asked me to look at some complicated stuff so that I can make sense of it and see if its correct. wow. loverley. but enough work stuff. i'm worried that revealing too much may reveal my identity, while not revealing enough stuff probably makes u guys wonder WHAT THE HELL AM I TALKING ABOUT?

So, on to a different topic. Today I finally got my gym membership. well, not exactly, cus though the gym membership starts on the 1st of the month, I won't get the receipt until the 15th. But apparently I can start using the gym.

And thus I'm proud to say, today I went to the gym! Finally. I'll definitely be going on a regular basis. pay money already dun go abit wasted right?

funny, why do I think that way even after learning "decision analysis" and "sunk cost theory". hahaha.. the human mind works in mysterious ways...

and today I was reading some tips for investment managers/traders. There was this one point I take offense with. It was something like "Good investment managers, like good gamblers playing poker, know when to identify a winning streak." WTF?

Anyone who did stats, or has enough common sense will know that each game has absolutely no effect on the next. It doesnt mean that after you've lost 12 times, the next game you'll have a higher chance of winning. N-O.

And while its not exactly the same with stocks/funds, the trends of funds are virtually impossible to predict.

that particular successful investment manager must have been a pretty lucky gambler...

i'm tired. i need sleep...

My first...

Payslip. Muahaha! ~Happy as a bird~ Damn shiok I tell you. I went down to the ATM on the day the money is supposed to come in. Then I checked my balance and couldn't wipe the grin off my face. Only thing is they bloody taxed me a damn lot extra. I'm gonna get my money back, I will...

Beer session with collegues. You know, I've always heard accounts from so many people that the culture in London is that people always go for drinks after work. Or during lunch. Or at any time. And I believed them, because everywhere I look, I see pubs, and a lot of people in ties and suits holding a pint of beer. But curiously, NOBODY in my team ever went for a beer. NOBODY ever asked, "Wanna grab a pint?".

So one fine day, at 7pm, after the Manager, M, has left, British Boy (BB) came over and started making some small talk. He was all ready to go, with his jacket on, and his bag slung over his shoulder. Then after 30 seconds, he asked, "Wanna grab a pint?"

*STRUCK LOTTERY* Finally! Someone has asked me out for a beer!

It was quite fun actually. We talked about all sorts of things, work-related and personal-life-related. And I found out that two of my collegues (out of 3) smokes. hmm..

Yup, thats it. My weekly update. =)

Quick Entry

This has gotta be quick because I only have left 15 mins on the clock.

I can't believe it, time passed so fast. I was just reading thru the few blogs I regularly visit, and then suddenly its been 45 mins.

Its so nice to read blogs of people you know, find out how they're doing and so on. I know, a call is probably better to keep in touch. its more personal and all that yeah. but i'm not the calls kinda guy. i dunno, somehow i don't pick up the phone and call a friend and start chatting. i know some guys do, but not me. so i'm thankful for blogs.

so any of you have started a blog let me know kay?

AKK got featured in Straits Times. I learnt about that from L. Wow.

Was expecting her to write about it excitedly in her blog, but nope, no mention. hmm..

Anyway, congrats!

***

Life for me has been pretty normal so far. (meaning: boring)

Weekdays pass in a flurry. Really fast. It feels like just yesterday, I was sitting her typing furiously at blogger.

I've really got to count my time. 12 hrs of work, 1 hr of travelling. 1 hr dinner, 30mins talk with gf. i need about 7 and a half hours of sleep, so that leaves me 1hr 30mins of spare time. NICE.

its no wonder time passes so fast.



so, chatting with my gf on a weekday, invariably I learn more about what happens to her than I tell her what happens to me. but what can happen to me? i go to work, greet whoever's there (usually only the manager and another no lifer-the one that's doing his masters), take off my jacket and drape it over the chair. log on to my computer, sit down, take out all the previous days files/paper (not a lot) onto the table and start looking for things to do.

in between, go toilet break, water break, coffee/tea/chocolate break. maybe about 2 times before lunch. lunch is simple... go out and buy a sandwich, a pastry or something. or there's a deli inside the building, in the same floor as I, just 2mins away. lunch usually costs 3 quid now...

bring lunch back to desk. sit down and repeat cycle of work-toiletbreak-waterbreak.

7.30 soon arrives. look up and see about half of the people gone. so I too get up, tell my manager that I'm going off and off I go.

There, 12 hrs of a day gone.

ah.. 1 min left to blog..

Love you guys!!

Finally...

Finally its a weekend. Finally I get a chance to use the internet. Finally, I'm updating my blog.

Its not that there isn't internet in the office. But its so open, I am even cautious to check my gmail, let alone type a blog entry. yes, there's supposed to be a one hour lunch break. but everybody buys lunch back to their desk to eat and continue doing their work.

and in case you didn't know, i start work before most establishments are open, and get off work after most establishments are closed (except restaurants, pubs and discos.. usually they open till quite late). so in that case, internet cafes are out.

and, i still don't have a computer, NOR internet, at my flat.

Finally, though, its a weekend, and I have some spare time to catch up on my blog. haha..

Work has been pretty ok for me I suppose. I am enjoying what I am doing right now - working with Excel and VBA. haha, its great that I like programming.

But just yesterday, I was suddenly, with 1 minute notice, asked to attend a presentation. Ok, I grabbed my jacket and went up with the rest of my team. I thought it was like a monthly update on the progress of the department. It started off like so, until 3 minutes into the presentation, the global head announced that my manager will take on the role of Head of something something, and will be reporting to him directly. I was like "huh?"

He's so young lor. I think he's only like 37 at MOST. he looks more like 33. and now he's one of the management team. wah damn power.

I knew there were implications, but i didn't really understood them yet.

After the presentation, the team went back to our desks. M had to settle some other tasks, so he wasn't around. Then the most senior guy on the team (who i think joined for 6 months), O, told us what might happen.

1. Since M is taking on a new role, he'll be moving out.
2. Somebody else will take his place
3. He will be new.
4. Therefore, nobody will be taking care of us.

WTF? I just joined lor. Worse still, he said something like we may not be doing what we originally signed up for.

Well, I guess its cool that I just joined anyway. Cus then I'm fresh and new and untainted, and can adapt easily to any new situations. hahaahaha. I'm just trying to be optimistic.

Anyway, M finally had a chance to talk to us and assured us that hey, nothing has changed. don't worry, i'll still be here. Now, go back and do your stuff.

OK BOSS.. *

* Just joing, I don't actually say that. Everybody calls everybody else by their first name. So you don't really know who's senior who's junior. hahaha.. I love that.

In singapore, I know a particular government agency (or is it a stat board) where everybody calls the chairman, "Chairman".

Eg. "Chairman says this", or "Yeah, Chairman is a..." or "Hi Chairman!". Wow, sounds to me exactly like Mao Zedong was running the agency.

-----------

And I recall a certain conversation I had with a group of Malaysians. I knew them thru XP.

A malaysian girl was saying that she had to force her sis to study, and would beat her if she doesn't follow her instructions.

I said that beating wouldn't help right? It'll just cause more conflict and hatred and weaken the relationship between the two.

Then she said, "We're from a Chinese family. Its OK".

hurh? then XP said, "Yeah, If I have children, I'll beat them to relieve stress. I'll store up the stress until they do something wrong, and then I'll beat the hell out of them!"

.......

parents, or would-be-parents, please do not do this at home.

Children, please call a helpline if you're abused in this manner.



I just went to argos and bought a shoe rack. you know what happens when you have 2 girls -> there will be at least 20 pairs of shoes.

ok, i need to get back home and do some big business. otherwise the entire internet cafe would be cleared out by my poison gas. =)

My First Days of Work

I don't know where to start. I think I'll continue from the previous post.

After that internet cafe session, I started seriously missing my darling. But then I didn't have a calling card, and calling her using my Pay-as-you-talk mobile phone is prohibitively expensive. Think in pounds a minute.

So I decided to SMS, which costs 24p, btw. That is about 75 Singapore cents. I sent about 4/5 SMS that day. Anyway, soon after, L called. =)

There isn't internet at my place. Probably take another month to set up. That's ok, because I still don't have a computer. And according to Human Resource, I can only buy the computer using my benefits package on 1st January. WTF.

On Wednesday, I still hadn't started work. So I walked around and bought more stuff. A laundry basket, a tumbler to place in the washroom, a towel, and other misc stuff. Still need to get lots of other stuff, like a wastepaper basket, and a nice firm bed. Yeah, the bed they provided is damn light and soft. Unbelievable I tell you... you'll never suspect a spring mattress could be so light, and so soft.

And xp, my housemate, told me of a nice deal. 99p to wash and iron a shirt. COOL!! Now I don't even need to iron my own shirts. Assuming i wear a shirt for 2 days, 5 pounds can last me 2 weeks! WAHAHAHA. I just dumped 6 shirts to that launderette.

I had to sleep early that day, because I had to report to work by 7.30 the following morning, and therefore had to wake at 5.45.

WOW.

I had never woken up so early in my life.

I'm exaggerating of course. Back in JC i used to wake up at that time. but thats out of point.

Anyway I reported to work, asked for my manager, M. He showed me to my desk, introduced me to a few people (most weren't there yet), and left me to my own devices. Well, basically he pointed to an empty desk and told me that the guy that sits there, B, is also pretty new, so he can show me around. Gee, thanks!

The rest of the day I spent familiarising myself with Lotus Notes, which is very similar to Outlook. But I hate it. I prefer my Thunderbird. Gimme my Thunderbird anytime!

Oh, and they use IE. WHY? Firefox is like a hundred times better.

Then after that I spent hours reading up on the various products they have developed. WOW. I have just an inkling as to how those products work.

Finally, as the hours passed, people started leaving. By 7.40pm, there were just 3 other people left in the team of 8. So I thought, since M and another person is apparently a "no-lifer" - according to a source, I might as well go too! So I went up to M and asked if I could go.

He said, "What? So early?"

.... Awkward Silence ...

Was he joking?

Finally, he said, "Ok, since you're new, I shall let you off."

*phew*

BTW, I should probably tell you, the offices are "super-open" concept. you know its like a school canteen with benches laid out? Yeah, each person is assigned a desk, arranged in rows. M sits right in the middle of the row - I guess so that he can manage/supervise better. haha.

I was initially told to take a seat at the desk at the corner. Which suited me just fine. But I was actually assigned a seat diagonally behind M. I didn't feel like moving, so I sat there for the whole of thursday. I moved eventually, for reasons that I shall say later... in the next paragraph... Because its so important.

At the previous desk I was using 2x17inch LCD screens. yeah baby!

But I moved because the new desk had 2x19 inch LCD screens! YEAAAAAH BABY!

On Friday, my second day of work, I was assigned a task. A "project" they said. Which I didn't really think was that challenging. But it was satisfying. Its basically creating an Excel spreadsheet and working MAGIC with it. hahaha.. I'm joking of course. It isn't magic. Its my superior programming. Yah right.

it was pretty fun. And I spent the whole day with it. I know, I'm probably wasting my time - but hey, there isn't anything else to do!

its a friday, so M left at 7-ish. The other no-lifer - because he was doing his Masters thesis in addition to his full-time work was of course still there. So eventually I left at 730. Yayy..

Except that I didn't finish the spreadsheet, so maybe.. maybe.. maybe I might get a slight chiding on Monday.

My housemates are all out, partying or something. Cause I came home late, I missed them. And I'm too lazy to call them, besides, its quite expensive.

do you know how expensive it is? my god, i forgot! i bought lunch on thursday. it was a jerk chicken pie, with mash potatoes and peas, and it costs SIX freekin pounds! and i bought it at a "market" somemore. Today I bought Kebab for Three freekin pounds. And I just had roast duck rice for FOUR freekin pounds.

Back to the story. My housemates weren't in, so I came out and had dinner, and walked a bit further down to an internet cafe so that I could update u with my life. See, so thoughtful? Even though I am so tired?

But then again, there isn't anything to do at home. the TV shows sucks. big time. Maybe we should get cable. Maybe I should get a computer.

Sigh. I miss my darling...

*Point to note: This entry was written in half an hour with minimal editing/ thought processing. I'm tired, my eyes ache, and I think I'm going home to rest. So don't complain about it being incoherent or has numerous spelling errors.

I'm in London

Hi guys,

I'm right now in an internet cafe, near the flat that I'm sharing with a friend and his friends (about to be my friends too).

Just arrived about 6 hours ago. At the passport control, I was directed to the Health Control because I was intending to stay for 6 months. At Health Control, the nurse asked me if I did any X-ray. I said I did, and spent about 3 mins digging up the X-ray, which was, incidentally, 4 years old.

At first the nurse looked it over and said I had good paperwork done. I told her the X-ray was done a couple of years ago. She wanted a date, so I pointed to at date ".../01". She was like "Its 5 years old! What's the point of showing it to me? You have to get another X-ray done!"

"Okay", I said.

"That means that if you don't pass the X-ray, you can't get into UK, and you'll not be able to work!"

"I didn't know I was required to take an X-ray. And I shouldn't have any problems with my chest X-ray."

"It is a requirement. Next time tell your company that. And don't say it too early, there was this other guy that had to be turned back because of his chest X-ray."

I was like, WTF? Take X-ray take lar! Why go and scare me like that, as though there's another way out? So evil, this woman.

After that I was led into a room, told to take off my shirt. And I waited in the room, with my 15kg carryon bag and a suit bag.

Then I heard moaning. It was faint, but I heard it. I wondered what could be happening, what could make a woman moan so... So I thought it was sex. But then the moaning became louder, and more painful.. GASP, rape? Then I heard sobbing together with the moaning, and it got quite unbearable. I was thinking, "What are they doing to this poor woman?"

Turns out the woman was pregnant, flew in to London seeking for asylum.

Anyhow, I took my X-ray and was scooted out of the Health Control a few minutes later. Got my suitcase (which was 30kg) and boarded a bus to Hatton Cross tube, and then took the tube to Tower Hill. The journey took me 1 hour plus, and a lot of effort. Travelling alone with so much baggage isn't fun, especially when you have to walk quite a distance, and climb up and down staircases, buses, trains etc.

At Tower Hill I got the key to the apartment from my friend. He's undergoing training, so no time to stay at home or fetch me from airport. sigh, so sad. After I got the key I got on the tube to my final destination (which will remain secret, in case some readers decide to send me a bomb).

By the time I arrived at the flat, it was already 4pm. Rested a little (5 mins?) before I left the flat, went to duplicate my key, and then bought my bedding stuff from Argos. I had to buy pillows, duvets, duvet cover, pillow cover and mattress cover. Argos was about 20 mins walk away from my place, so try to imagine a guy carrying such bulky stuff down the street, for 20 mins. uh huh, not fun right?

My flatmates aren't home yet. I'm hungry. Think I'll go grab something to eat.

Found a huge health/fitness center near my flat. Wow, damn impressive la, better than california fitness x3. Just the treadmills already got 2x the california fitness one. some more got swimming pool, jacuzzi, spa and all that. win already. the price? also win already. at 92 pounds a month, plus a 50 pound joining fee, AND a minimum membership term of 12 months, its really stretching my budget. put it this way, even if i go there everyday, it works out to about 3 pounds a day. ey, i somemore complain the singapore national sports council gym that charges 2.50 singapore dollars as expensive.

Here in London everything is usually more expensive. But! Surprisingly, internet at internet cafe is DAMN cheap! its only 1 pound an hour. in case you all dunno, the rates in singapore is about 6 dollars an hour. and the connection speed is very slow.

Ok la, I spent the last 25 mins on this blog entry. Somebody do the maths and tell me how many pence is that ok?

Miss Singapore already. No, i mean i'm missing singapore already.

take care you guys.

She's got a nice personality...

I was watching "Guess Guess Guess", a Taiwanese variety show on TV about 2 hours ago with L and her bro, Hunn. There was this segment where 5 girls who are musically talented come on the screen ... *pause for effect* .... I mean, they show themselves to the audience and talk a little about themselves before finally playing a song on an instrument of their choice.

The third girl that came on sent shivers through our spines. She was so "act-cute"!

Hunn described her very well, "She's the type that has 450 friends on friendster".

We all burst out laughing. You know, those kind of girls where the take the picture at an angle, from the top, thus making their face look slimmer and their eyes look bigger?

I understand you people quite busy, so I took the effort to look for a "case-study". Here's an example:


I won't link to her, lest she finds out and bitches about me like XX bitches about people who use her photos. She has 356 friends, by the way.

Anyway, after we finally gotten over the goose-bumps and the shivers, Hunn said the punchline, "I'm sure she's nice la".

We burst out laughing again.

Ladies, I'm sure you know what that really means. Guys are a little less subtle, so I'll explain with the following experience L told us:

She said she was playing taboo with her friends. Its a game where you're supposed to get your team members to say a particular word, without saying some taboo words and the word itself. For example, the word might be "Grass", the taboo words may be "green, blade, ground, plants, hay". So you can say something like, "A cow eats ..." And hopefully someone says "grass".

One person said, "She's got a nice ..."

"Butt". Nope.

"Ass". Uh-uh.

"Chest". *shake head*

"Breast". *sigh*

"Eyes". Uh uh.

"Face". No.

Finally, someone said "Personality". Which isn't the answer, but that isn't important. The important lesson here is the order in which the words came out.

Moral of the story: Use the words "I'm sure she's nice" as a joke, never as a compliment. =)

Roti Prata at Casuarina Road

Met up with some of my very good friends for roti prata yesterday. I guess some of them would be wondering, "why roti prata? again? at casuarina? why?". The answer is "L wants to eat roti prata, can or not?"

The SMS that I sent my friends on Tuesday went like this, "Weds supper at Casuarina Road, 10pm. Best deal, last chance to see L and me". I sent the SMS to seven people, yet only three replied.

One reply was "Ey, I thought you leaving end august? why last chance?"

Another was "When are you going back?"

And another was "Har? So late, so far?"

And the others ignored my SMS! Dun like that la, when people invite you, you must RSVP! refer to quote about punctuality, "respect for others". Common courtesy, like when somebody asks you a question, you don't look away and ignore them! Bad bad bad.

One of the three who replied couldn't come, but luckily at 9.55pm another friend replied. Whoa, thanks lor. Fortunately, in the end, three of them could come. Had quite an enjoyable time with them, again.

C, one of them who turned up, told me that I had twice written about CT but never about herself. So C, here's one entry about you ok? Shall I write another entry about how your comics made your way to Singapore from the USA? Then there'll be two entries about you too!

Next time I come back, I'll make sure I don't meet up with friends too often. Then there's the novelty of meeting up, and then I'll get to meet more people. When I first came back, everyone I smsed replied.

Hmm, and then I might even lie about my flight. I'll say "I'm flying off tomorrow, last chance already!". Hahah, just joking. I don't lie you know.

Soccer Khakis

CT invited me to play soccer on sunday. yippee!!

Honestly, I was feeling a little down that day. I can't really put a finger to it, but I think its because I've not been very productive these few weeks. Everyone I meet has been asking me, "So, what have you been doing?".

I'm sure they wouldn't want to hear what I've really been doing - fetching my mum to work, meeting with some friends, sitting in front of the computer writing blogs/emails, reading my textbook that my future boss asked me to read, and loads of other mundane things.. you know, like eating, going to toilet, and stuff like that.

So I said, "I'm slacking...". Which is true to some extent. And which is probably why I've been feeling a little.. unfulfilled, if ya know whadye mean.

Naturally, after I got CT's sms for soccer, I was really quite happy. AND AND AND, Arsenal and Chelsea were playing that night! We could all watch it together and comment on how the players play, how the referree referrees, and how some of the audience looks. It was going to be an awesome match, given that Arsenal and Chelsea are the top two finishing teams of the English Premiere League and they are known to be rivals for the longest time EVAR.

***

On Sunday though, our PM Lee Hsien Loong was giving a talk, the National Day Rally, at NUS(btw, I wonder, there's probably a group of computer savvy people dedicated to trawling the net for "sensitive" issues that might compromise our national security.. and they might actually search for our PM's name, and my blog might actually come up! In that case, name dropping might actually boost the popularity of my blog, whadya think?) So when I drove down to NUS, an entrance along Clementi Road was blocked. I stopped there and a policeman asked me if I had a "Y Permit". Huh? I don't have lor, so I went to another entrance.

Phew, the entrance wasn't blocked, so I drove in. But halfway in, there was another blockage... win already. I got diverted to some winding road, and drove along it for some 5 mins before I reached a dead-end at some School of International Policy. Finally I found my way out... to Pasir Panjang Road...

I wanted to get to the Sports and Recreation Centre, so I went all around to the entrance at NUH. Luckily it wasn't blocked... but the carpark that's nearest to the SRC was closed. In the end, I had to park illegally.

At this point, I'm considering whether you're bored stiff of my parking adventures during the National Day Rally at NUS. I may decide to delete this paragraph and the other three paragraphs above it.. but then again, I may keep it, given that I've just put in about 10 mins of my time on them. hahaha..

***

The past few times that I've been playing soccer, I've been getting injuries like 30% of the time. Once, I fractured my foot. Once, I sprained my ankle. Many times I've been tackled to the ground. And as much as it seems like I play soccer to get injuries, I'd really much rather prefer to be injury-free.

when i get injured, i go through a phase of Denial, Anger, Sadness and finally Acceptance. Sometimes the Denial part is gone damn quick, because its bloody (pun intended) obvious I have an injury. Sometimes I can't get over the Anger, especially when its somebody else's fault. And though I act civil and don't sprout vulgarities, my mind is constantly humming the words "C-B". Horh, so now you know, you blady CB who blady kicked my legs WITHOUT getting the ball, causing me to sustain an injury on my delicate chin, and resulting in people wondering why the hell I have a goatee to the side of my chin. Now you know that I haven't forgiven you, you blady CB.

Luckily, on Sunday I didn't get injured, and enjoyed the game quite a bit. We then had mixed grill at Beauty World that one of them recommended. Fwaaa, the serving is very generous la. And it came with a thick slice of bread with butter. We had a friendly competition trying to finish the food. The food was good, but a little oily and besides baked beans and cucumbers, there was (were?) no other vegetables.

So anyway after dinner we watched the match, and the result isn't important. If the result was important to you, you probably already know it, so what's the point of me writing it down? sigh...

I've been thinking though, that I've only met some of my soccer khakis like 10 times in my entire life. And I've never talked much to them since, you know, what sort of conversation can you have while playing soccer. Yet strangely, I feel good hanging around with them, and they seem closer than just aquaintances. I guess they are nice people who share a common interest, so its easier to make friends...

I'll probably not get a chance to play with them one last time this coming sunday, since I'm leaving for London pretty soon. So CT, if you're reading this, thanks for jio-ing me for soccer and giving me the opportunity to meet these people.

Lunch at Pizza Hut

Met an "army" friend for lunch. One of my closest friends for the whole duration of my National Service. I wanted to meet at Toa Payoh, since he lives there, but obviously I didn't know where to go. He suggested meeting at Crystal Jade instead.. so ok lor.

Then we decided to go somewhere else to eat after we met. Because might have to wait some time before we could seat down and eat, and I was really quite hungry then. Then I saw sizzler, so I thought maybe can have lunch there. then i saw the prices and got put off quite a bit. My goodness, everything was like more that $15 can? Even for lunch? And I'm currently unemployed can?

So we went next door, pizza hut. honestly hor, at that time i really didn't feel like eating pizza. actually, i don't think i'll feel like eating pizza for another 2 years. Its fat, its oily, its cheesy, and its very fattening. and has very little nutrition. and its mostly just bread, tomato puree and cheese. but somehow we still went in and ordered a set meal for 2 - 2 soup, 2 coke, and 1 medium "volcano 3 cheese stuffed crust pizza". whoa, just short of naming the pizza "tornado x-treme super cool name quadraple cheese stuffed crust with supreme super cool topping pizza"

The food was pretty good la, I have to concede. The soup was tasty and the pizza was really not bad. The bread was soft, the stuffed crust part was nice, the toppings were quite generous... And the both of us couldn't finish it. And I thought I was hungry... Well, I finished my share at least. so it was he who couldn't finish it.

Yeah, thats all to this rather boring entry.

Thongs...

I met up with TJ and F yesterday, at Essential Brew at Holland Village. I think its quite a nice place to hang out and waste time. At the second story, the seating area is on the floor. There are mats and cushions and low coffee tables. They also have magazines to read if you want.

You have to take off your shoes and place them on a rack if you wanna sit at the second floor. There's a toilet on that floor too. And they thoughfully placed slippers outside the toilet so that you can slip them on to go into the toilet.

It is a nice place to hang out because the environment is relaxed and air-conditioned. it isn't a high end restaurant, so you don't have to dress nicely, speak softly, or keep up whatever appearances. and i like sitting on the floor with cushions. can lounge around, lean back, slouch, whatever. and they serve quite nice desserts and drinks.

So anyway, after we were done with dinner, TJ and I were engaged in conversation, and didn't notice F went to the toilet. As we were still talking, F came back and announced:

"I don't like thongs."

You have to excuse me. I, like most guys, am particularly sensitive to the various names of ladies underwear and anatomy, and anything with sexual connotations. And this is my line of thought when she announced that.

***

Ah, F doesn't like thongs.

Why doesn't she like thongs?

Could it be because its uncomfortable?

Maybe...

Wait, F just went to the toilet.

What? F is wearing a thong?

Too Much Information!! TMI!!

***

All those thoughts occured within a fraction of a second. I said "Huh?", just to make sure i didn't hear wrongly.

She repeated it, "I don't like thongs".

"Did you say thongs?"

"Yeah, the slippers outside the toilet. I hate it because of that thing that goes between your toes."

Ahh.. I think I made an erroneous conclusion.. She meant slippers. Just to make sure, I asked again, "How to you spell thongs? t-o-n-g-s? t-o-g-s?"

I think she got my confusion. Its really the same word that I thought it was, T-H-O-N-G-S.

Then she started laughing. We all started laughing.

"Did I say it very loudly?", she asked.

Well, I'm sure if other guys around had sensitive ears to certain words like I do, they would have heard it. hahaha...

In case you also never heard it before, check out the dictionary. She's correct, it can either be a type of underwear or a type of sandal.

Wow, you learn something new everyday.

Punctuality

I see punctuality as an essential virtue. It is necessary for a gracious society. It is a reflection of a person's respect for others. It also shows the importance of the activity to the person - Jeremy Lim, 15, Young Ambassador for NKF

I admit that I am late sometimes. I understand that something unexpected can happen. But I hate being late and I try my best not to be late.

I have a friend, who's usually late. I've tried explaining to her why it is sooo important to be punctual. To reiterate, its a reflection of a person's respect for others. After some years, she seemed to have improved. But I don't know for sure since I met her only a few times, and she really seemed to have valid reasons...

So yeah guys and girls, quote of the day: "Punctuality is a reflection of a person's respect for others". Don't be late!

Clerk - Klurk or Klark?

A couple of weeks ago, I was with my friends when somebody mentioned the word, "Clerk". She pronounced it as "klurk". Everyone understood her, but I had another friend that corrected her - should be pronounced as "klark".

Everyone else agreed that it should be "klark". I didn't know, so I made a mental note that clerk should actually be clark.

Until one day I was watching a TV show, and then I heard them pronounce the word as "klurk".

So, should it be "clerk" be pronounced as "klurk" or "klark"?

I looked it up on dictionary.com, and though I don't have speakers, its stated clearly: klurk; British klark. So US is klurk and UK is klark. Given that in Singapore we follow the British English, we should pronounce it as klark. Question answered.

There are numerous other words that have this kinda problem. For example, should "tomato" be pronounced as "tomayto" or "tomahto"?

Should "America" be pronounced as "Air-merica" or "Ay-merica" or "Er-merica"?

Sigh... people should just invent an easy language...

Unwanted pregnancy...

I saw this blog on tomorrow.sg. The description of the blog was:

My ex-boyfriend and I had been dating for months. On our 8th month anniversary, he broke up with me when I told him that I was pregnant with his child. This blog records my thoughts, reflections and feelings of dealing with this unwanted pregnancy

I read the whole blog because I very kaypoh, the blog had only 3 entries, and it's probably not going to be updated anymore. Cindy actually wrote about this scenario a couple of days ago...

I feel really sorry for her after reading her blog. It made me sit up straight (not literally, since I ALWAYS slouch) and think seriously. It is also perculiarly unsettling that her profile is so close to my circle of friends. My friends probably know a friend who knows this person. Heck! My friends probably know this person (I probably don't know her, because according to her, she emailed everyone she knew, including his friends). She (and him) went to JC (like most of my friends), got educated in the states (like some of my friends), and got a double degree (like a few of my friends).

It is unsettling not because I may know her, or my friends may know her. It is unsettling because this is not some case of a teen/pre-teen unwanted pregnancy, nor is it some uneducated woman trying to tie down a husband with a future. No! This is a case where a couple, both with bright prospects in their future career, both with a full set of loving parents, who both know the risks, really have an accident/mistake.

After cursing and swearing at the irresponsible boyfriend/father of the unborn child in my mind for the duration of the blog-reading, and perhaps another half hour after... lets take a step back from all of that and see what we can learn.

One. Guys like LX (the F*&%ing B^%ST$&D) just give all other men a bad name. These kind of guys that get their gf pregnant, then break off and shirk away are worse than cheating husbands. At least cheating husbands take care of their children.

Two. Contraception is VERY important. If only if they'd use a condom, this wouldn't happen. Remember, don't get pregnant/impregnate unless you really want to!

Three. Guys like LX should just get their heads chopped off.

Four. If and when you really get pregnant, should you abort or keep the baby? I guess this is the crux of the issue, and the main point of this post. * I have a really long intro huh?

I personally find myself a pro-choice kind of person. I'm all for voluntary euthanasia, passive or active. I'm also all for organ donations, and i think legislation such that all people will donate their organs by default, unless they opt out, is a very good idea. I'm also pro stem-cell research, and can't really comprehend why so many are against it. In fact, if you've been reading my blog, I even think Iran and North Korea have a right to building their nuclear weapons. Hah. So naturally, I think abortion should be legal.

But just to clarify my stand, in case it ever gets questioned... I think it is ok to do whatever you want, as long as you do not impose your will onto others, and do no harm to others.

So, back to the point. I think abortion should, without a doubt, be legalised. But should the person in question go for the abortion?

If I were her, I'll abort it.

But then again, I'm a guy, so its too easy for me to say...

My darling is back!

Muahahaha!

But then she's going to Ipoh tomorrow morning... for 5 days... *pout*

Heartlands, Heartlander

The word "Heartlands" was mentioned during the NDP parade no less than 30 times. The narrator/compere/MC would always say something like "And from the various Heartlands..." or like "Tampines Heartlands" or like "Lets have a look at the celebrations going on in the Heartlands".

Oh my god. Everytime I hear the word, I wince.

So the word "Heartland" has replaced the word "New Town"? i.e., instead of Ang Mo Kio New Town, its called Ang Mo Kio Heartland? Pasir Ris New Town becomes Pasir Ris Heartland?

In case there are some non-singaporeans reading this, the government (or was it Lee Kwan Yew?), in a bid to reduce congestion in the city area, decided to construct several self-sustaining neighbourhood "towns". In each of these "towns", there would be hawker centers, restaurants, all kinds of shops, movie theatres etc, so that people need never leave their neighbourhood.

And now these towns become known as Heartlands. And a "Heartlander" is a person who lives in these towns.

But, here's what the word "Heartland" means in Google:

• identified by the British geographer Halford Mackinder (1904) as the zone in East-Central Europe, control of which would be a key to world domination. The term has since been appropriated by Latin American geopolitics.
• the central region of a country or continent; especially a region that is important to a country or to a culture
• Geopolitical term, used to refer to a central area of Eurasia that is remote and inaccessible from the periphery. The term Heartland has a particular importance in the works of Sir Halford Mackinder. He believed that the Heartland was the strategic region of the foremost importance in the World.

Why has the word taken on an entirely different meaning in Singapore?

Happy Birthday Singapore!

On Singapore's 40th birthday, I'd like to express my feelings about Singapore. Even though:

• The government is composed overwhelmingly of a single party


• The salary is low


• The prices of property and cars are very high


• The law can be very strict at times

I am still very happy to be Singaporean because:

• The food is the bestest and the cheapest in the world!


• You can find food at anytime in the day


• We are truly a multi-racial society


• The public transport is efficient


• The government is not corrupt


• The environment is clean and green


• And its safe and secure. Can go out at anytime of the day

Hmm.. I thought I got jaded/disillusioned.. Turns out that I still love Singapore very much and I still am proud to be Singaporean. To think I only realise that on National Day. hahahaa..

Once again, Happy Birthday, Singapore!

Going nuclear

I've been watching the news for the past two days, and the North Korea talks and the Iran talks keep coming up. The issue is that both North Korea and Iran want nuclear capability, but the "rest of the world" doesn't want that.

To me, it all seems to me like bullying. There is no fairness or justice. It's like "hey, I can use electricity. But you have to continue using wax candles, because who knows, you might hurt yourself or others with electricity".

So the way the western world works is like this: Go and colonize other civilizations. make them work for you. hey, why not bring back some of them to work as slaves? oh, you need wood? chop these trees. what about those people already living there? Chase them away! Relocate them, kill them, whatever! The land is mine! I bought it from the British/French/Spanish. And then they build their land and wealth, and impose their governance on the natives...

Now, in present day:
"You're practicing slash and burn? Don't do that! You're killing off a large proportion of the world's forests! Think global warming!"

"We should set limits on the amount of greenhouse gases emitted. Lets attempt to cut emmission by 50%! Since we're already emitting 100 billion tons of CO2, I'll cut it to 50 billion. You're only emitting 10 million tons? Oh you have it easy then, you'll only need to cut it by 5 million."

"hey you know what? over the years, i've lent you a lot of money, and grain, and food, and medical aid. but I'm rich, you're poor. So, I will write off the debt you owe me. See, I'm so nice."

and with regards to nuclear weapons? "Please disarm! You're causing a lot of tension in this area! I mean, what if you fire your nuclear weapons at us? I have nuclear weapons too? I'm different, I have them as a deterrent! I won't fire them at anybody unless somebody fires at me first!"

There's this sense of double standards, injustice that I am so pissed about. First they develop nuclear weapons, then coerce everybody else NOT to create nuclear weapons. in my opinion, if they want the whole world to not possess nuclear weapons, then they should disarm, first of all.

And anyway, it makes perfect sense for ANY country to develop nuclear weapons. First, you can create a powerful deterrent so that you probably won't need to spend much money on other defense systems. Second, you gain a powerful bargaining chip: "you want me to disarm? sure, give me 10 billion dollars, Free Trade Agreements, peace treaties, and other concessions.". Third, you create a very strong sense of national pride. Just imagine la, if Singapore manages to build its own space program and sends a man to the moon. I tell you there'll be 10 days of celebrations, and the current party in power will be re-elected for the next 10 generations.

In conclusion, I think that it is unreasonable to expect Iran and North Korea to scrap their nuclear plans. No wonder the talks are not making any progress...

What have I been up to?

I've made several small accomplishments so far, so feeling slightly better, despite my stupid foot that's irritating me.

1. I've installed another light. Wasn't able to do that previously because I didn't have a drill. But then on Sat when I was trying to drill a hole into the ceiling, the drill bit didn't go through the ceiling! It went in like only 5mm. That's not enough, because I had to insert a plastic plug before the screw goes in so that the light can be held firmly in place. After a lot of effort, I discovered that there's a metal plate hidden under the cement. Why there's a metal plate there I couldn't understand. How the light was originally installed, I also didn't know. I drilled many holes all around the area but to no avail; I couldn't drill through the metal plate. In the end, I used the same hole which the previous light had been installed with. sigh... A bit sad that I had to compromise with that.


2. Then I managed to complete painting my room. No surprises there.


3. And I got the water heater replaced. No I didn't do it myself. I had the help of the classified ads and $350 dollars.


4. And I bought a textbook on Options, Futures and Other Derivatives. I emailed my future boss that I had all the paperwork done and was all ready to start work. And stupidly asked if there was anything else to prepare. He asked me to read up on a textbook by Hull. sigh.. Now I gotta study.

BTW, please, my name is Wally. I don't have a surname. This blog is meant to remain semi-anonymous - in that people who know my identity already know me, and people who don't know me WON'T know me. There's been reports that bosses now look at their employees blogs to learn more about them. I don't want my boss to look here. OK?

Chocolates?

I found this while surfing phdcomics.com.

No smoking please

Hooray! Singapore is going to ban smoking in coffeeshops/ hawker centres next July, and pubs and discos by 2007!

Finally, being able to eat roti prata without being chased away by smokers. Being able to just hang out at pubs/ discos without suffering from second-hand smoke.

Cheers!

An accomplishment

I worked around the house yesterday, even though I am still suffering from a sprained toe. Kinda suspect it isn't really a sprained toe, since its still slightly swollen, and its affecting my walk (limping around).. But i refuse to put my foot in a cast again. or sit in queue for 2-4 hours, or take an x-ray. no thanks, i'd rather limp around, thank you very much.

I'm so proud of myself. I removed six bolts from a wall, using a pair of pliers and twisting and pulling it similar to how a dentist might pull a molar out of your mouth. Then I patched the holes up with plaster, and I went around the whole house looking for holes/cracks to patch... like a pro plasterer.

Then I changed my ceiling light. Hooray! It was my first time actually removing and installing a brand new light. Eh, I can be a light technician already!

And then I covered a section of the house with newspaper and got to work painting the ceiling. whoa, painting is a tough tough tough tough tough job. cannot stress that enough. for that small section of a ceiling, I spent almost 3 hours painting. For the first few minutes, it was really tough, but it got better as I got more efficient - being able to roll the roller with the right amount of pressure and paint. But even then its still super tough. Have to paint a couple of layers. cannot la, next time either i enlist some help or i pay a professional. i give up, painting is NOT the profession for me. light tech still can =).

after I had a shower, i saw this show "while you were out" on TV. there was this interior designer and carpenter and a few other people redecorating a room. and i saw the designer applying wallpaper to the wall and I thought, "wow, so cool! I also want wallpaper!" hahha.. luckily it isnt "I also want to be a wallpaperer" hor?

and thats it. i'm going to continue painting the other parts of the house tomorrow.


*** Photos as promised ***


The original hole in the ceiling. After the leaking pipe was repaired, the ceiling came crashing down.

Repairing the ceiling in progress. This first board is already in place. The second one was still being cut by the SDG.


Finally, the ceiling repaired. SDG did the plastering to patch the cracks between the boards and the screw holes.

And its painted! By me. can see the paint isn't really even. But i'm working on it. =)

I did a good deed!

Actually, I did that good deed about 2 hours before I fell into the drain. The fall simply erased whatever satisfaction and good feelings I had after I helped a lady (eh, actually auntie, but I'm no longer that young ah, so lady sounds better) carry a can of paint. but then the feeling of resentment and anger towards the drain subsided, and surprisingly, I still feel good about helping her, so i'm going to talk about it.

i went shopping about two/three days ago. Went to buy plaster, scraper, paint, paint roller, paint brush, ladder, and two ceiling lights. had to visit three shops to get all i needed. along the way, while i was in the paint shop, there was this auntie that bought two cans of paint. she also had a lot of other stuff (brushes i presume) in another plastic bag. she seemed to be struggling with the paint. the shopkeeper, also an auntie, obviously wanted to help, but she had to look after her shop. so i offered to help her carry the can of paint to the taxi stand.

*** out of point warning ***

that reminds me of an incident, about two years ago when I was in London, I witnessed a mother with a baby cart, trying to get into her home. there's a flight of stairs before the main door. I said "Can I help?", intending to hold the door open for her while she carts her baby in. She eyed me suspiciously and didn't answer me. So I thought it would better if I left her alone... i guess i didn't look decent?

***

so they say people who do good things usually have good things going for them. but wtf? i fell into a drain!

perhaps if i didn't do that good deed something else would have happened? whoa...

and that brings me to.... another point. unprovable (and hence cannot be proven to be untrue, and hence can only be debated, but not dismissed) theories..

• "God only helps those who helps themselves." Brilliant quote. The person who first said that deserves to win a Noble prize. Unprovable because you never know if God did help the people, since they obviously helped themselves.


• TauSuan Theory. Read about it there for more information. Its unprovable because you will never know if there are indeed admirers that you don't know about.


• Retribution theory. "Hao ren you hao bao" (good men have good rewards?) or something like that. Again, unprovable.

There are obviously many other theories that are unprovable, and perhaps most of them are related to religion and superstition. this is obviously not an exhaustive list of them.

My point is that if you believe in any of them, there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't believe in the others. of course, there's also no reason why you should believe in them.

I'm talking in riddles huh?

I fell into a drain.

Call me unlucky, call me blind, call me clumsy.. whatever.

I fell into a drain about 4 hours ago, and I think i sprained my toe and suffered a few small cuts/abrasions on my foot and knocked my shin. Its painful but not crippling. at least i can still walk when i have to.. about my painting project, hmm.. maybe have to hold it for a few days.

how the hell did i fall? well, it happened like this, i went to a coffeeshop with my mum and bro. they're the kind that don't like to walk a lot, so they asked me to park right outside the shop, at the double yellow line. and while we were waiting for the food to come, two traffic police came on a motorbike.

"quick! move the car!" my bro exclaimed to me.

i turned around, saw the police, and hurried to the car, which was like 2 metres away. suddenly, i was shorter by a meter or so.

*ouch*. damn painful can! i discovered myself with my leg in a drain. i quickly clambered out.

the policeman saw all that and said, "eh, don't worry, take your time"

i didn't get a ticket, but i learnt an important lesson. well, actually a few important lessons...

• Don't park at double yellow lines


• especially when there's a drain just next to it


• and even when there's an urgency, look where you're walking


• do not be distracted by something that is obvious. look around yourself to check for other problems/issues/oppotunities

my foot is starting to swell a little. i had to cancel my appt with TJ because i didn't feel like moving. i'm so sorry, TJ.

i think its a sprain, not a fracture, because the pain is not severe and i can walk. and the pain is at a joint. but its a sprain because i can't really bend my toe.

sigh... reminds me of the time when i broke my foot.

i should take better care of myself.

i'm NOT going to park by that double yellow line again. EVAR.

Ceiling repaired

*I'll post some pictures soon*

Today my ceiling got repatched. The "boss" that came down a couple of days earlier and gave me a quotation was a chinese speaking, fair skinned, and a little bit plump guy. He was nice and gave a fair price, so we settled on him.

I wasn't exactly expecting him to be doing the repairs, but I thought he'd be working together with his men. Well, today he brought a guy, small sized (about 1.62, 55kg?), dark skinned and looks fit. well, he looks like a construction worker.

They came together. The big fair guy (BFG) and the small dark guy (SDG). After the BFG showed the SDG where the problem is and what he's supposed to do, the SDG went to work. He took off his shirt, then tore down the roof while BFG went to get the replacement ceiling boards. After that, while SDG was measuring the dimensions, BFG went to sweep up the mess. And then after SDG cut the boards to fit, BFG helped to hold the boards in place before SDG screwed them in.

And then BFG said (in chinese) "So you'll just plaster the ceiling yeah? I will go off now?" SDG nodded. So BFG turned around and told me to give SDG the money when he's done. and then he left! hmm.. i'm thinking how's SDG going to go home?

anyway, with his shirt off and his arms always raised above his head while he was plastering, i got a good view of his body man... not that i'm gay la, but i really think he's got a good bod. slim and fit, and agile, and dark. and his muscle definition is just nice lor, not too huge to be intimidating, but of a size to get respect and adoration.. hahaha.. wah, i feel guilty looking at him like that. man, i need to get a tan (and also hit the gym more often ahahahaha).

ok, back to the point. after he finished plastering and i paid him the money, he basically just packed up his tools and left on his motorbike. his tools fit into just a small cloth bag. the bag of plaster he just threw away. its amazing, all he needed was a saw, a powered screwdriver, screws, those metal tools for plastering, a container for the plaster and a bit of other tools and he's basically a fully functional, mobile construction worker! all that BFG did was to provide the boards and the plaster.

anyway, i can understand how his muscles came about. imagine plastering a ceiling above your head for 2 straight hours. and climbing up and down a ladder every minute. wah low, if construction workers are paid better, i think i'm going to look for a change of jobs. its fun constructing/building/repairing because you get a sense of satisfaction, AND you get to exercise. how cool is that?

Thinking of that, I'm quite envious of a boyfriend of a particular friend of mine. He's a civil engineer but he does a lot of hands-on work himself. Maybe I should have done civil engineering too. Or maybe just be an apprentice to a carpenter. or a plasterer.

Anyway, back to the topic. While my ceiling is patched, it is not painted. I think I'm going to paint it myself, since i have nothing better to do, and its more fun painting it than watching people paint it. And I can pretend to be a full-time painter. Not the arty kind of painter... the construction kind of painter. =)

Funny thing about Singapore $50 notes...

You've probably noticed this anomaly, but dismissed it immediately because its so commonplace it seems almost natural...

First of all, take out any Singapore 50 dollar bill you have. Fold it into two.

...... Don't look further until you've done what i said ........

Now, did you fold it such that the face of Yusof Ishak is inside the fold, or outside?

If you folded it such that the face is inside, well, you're one of 99% of people that folds it this way. The other 1% that folds it the other way probably has some vision deficiency. hahaha.. just joking. seriously, if you folded it the other way, i'd like to know why. drop a comment will ya?

Why do people fold the notes the same way? Is it because everyone else folds it like that, so the notes are already folded in one direction and therefore its easier to fold it the same way? but if so, why do people also fold NEW notes the same way? habit? and, why is this more prevalent in $50 than in $10, $5 or $2 notes? it cannot be easily explained, hence i call it an anomaly...

I've never noticed the same thing with American Dollars or British Pounds.

National Skin Center

Some of you might know that I have little warts on my right hand. it isn't really bothering me, and most people won't notice - but i've been having it for some time now, and it seems to be increasing in number...

My mum asked me to put some salicyclic acid on it. its supposed to "burn" the warts away. but i've been putting it faithfully for 2 weeks now, and it isn't getting any better.

So I thought its best to burn it away with liquid nitrogen or something. my mum told me can just walk into the NSC, see a doc, and get it burnt away immediately.

This morning, (no, actually, i woke up at 1pm, which was considered "morning") I left for the NSC, went up to the reception, and was politely informed that I need an appointment. Can either pay "fifty-four, sixty eight" for consultation for an appointment, or go to polyclinic for referral. haiz, she scared me with that "fifty-four, sixty-eight", so i decided to go to the polyclinic.

i went down to Geylang Polyclinic. I took a queue number for registration, then walked out to get a sardine puff and teh-ping for "breakfast". came back and waited for another 15 min.

after registration, was given another queue number for room 51. Hmm.. this time the queue numbers are not called in order, so I didn't know how long it'll take. I went upstairs and saw that there were another 150 patients to be seen, so I decided to take another walk.

I came back in 30 mins, and there still were another 75 numbers before my turn. Finally, after another 20 mins, I was seen. I didn't want to waste the doc's time, so I got straight to the point. In the end I was out of the room in 2 mins. btw, ever notice how almost ALL docs have very very simplified signatures? some docs just write a single letter. there are some docs that just write a tick mark. hahaha.. understandable i suppose, given that they prob sign a thousand signatures a day. hahaha..

so after about 2 and a half hours later, and eight dollars poorer, I had my appointment at NSC on 2nd Sep. "what? i'll be gone by then!"

"oh don't worry, just call this number to change your appointment"

i managed to change the appointment, fortunately, so don't worry.

I'm just wondering, will my doctor friends be able to help next time? can i get a referral just by calling? or must i still sit in line at the polyclinic?

A bad dream...

I had a weird dream last night. and it wasn't pleasant.

in the dream, i was a student. hundreds of us were sitting in a lecture room, listening to different lecturers. there was this "chief" of sorts who was sitting right in front of everybody, it was almost like he was a king on a throne.

anyway, it went pretty fine until one lady lecturer started speaking. she was in front, but she didn't face the audience when she spoke; she was facing the "chief". i couldn't hear a thing, so i put up my hand and said "i can't hear you".

she turned around and started speaking louder, and i could hear her now, loud and clear. so i said "yes, i can hear you now."

but the chief was quite pissed. he looked at me and said, "i can't believe you can't hear her just now. she was speaking at the same volume!"

the lecturer also said, "yes, you're obviously lying"

i was like *huh*? i started to wonder.. perhaps i wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying, so i didn't hear a thing. so i swallowed all that, kept quiet and listened till the end of her presentation.

all the while, i was wondering, how could it be that i'm lying? isn't it obvious that when the speaker faces the audience, the projection of the voice is louder and clearer?

so at the end of the presentation, i said, "excuse me, but i have to clarify this with you. if you have a loudspeaker and face it towards you, will the sound be louder than if you face it away?"

the chief and the lecturer didn't argue with that point, but said something like i was so rude to interrupt her presentation. then i said, "but you've always taught us to let you know when we can't hear". the argument went back and forth.. and obviously, i lost. i was called rude, arrogant, and all sorts of things. in my dream, i started crying.

and then i heard a shout "huang weijian!!!!". its my mum calling me to wake up.

what's with my dream? is it weird or what? anyway, i think it taught me a very valuable lesson. sometimes there's injustice around, but don't fight unecessarily.

Met my wilson house mates...

Wilson House is a student dorm. I stayed there in my first year while I was studying in the UK. Incidentally, its very close to Edgeware Road, which you might remember was one of the targets that got bombed on July 7th.

Back then, as a freshman, it was the first time I was abroad alone. a bit goondo, a bit geeky, and naturally, a bit out of place. so the natural thing to do was to find people like myself to bond together. Turns out there were a couple of singaporeans (all guys) also staying at Wilson House. and so we became friends pretty quick.

we had dinner together almost everyday. we were like a family away from home. because london is notoriously expensive, we cooked our meals ourselves. and we took turns to cook. we pooled our money together into a "cooking fund", and we had a cooking register, or timetable, so that everyone of us would be in charge of cooking a particular day. if someone wasn't eating, we'd let the cook know. it was almost like "ma, today not coming back for dinner".

The dinner times were our real social/recreation time. we would sit in the kitchen (a shared kitchen btw, but we sat there as though we owned it) after dinner and talk for 2 whole hours. everyday. all of us (except maybe one) didn't have girlfriends then, so we all had lots of time to spare.

we were all quite different. SC is a very hardworking guy, to the point of being a chao-mugger. strangely, he's pretty atheletic and some would say, good-looking. He's from a chinese speaking family. XP loves to play computer games, likes to slack, and his chinese sucks. ZX, the oldest of the group, nicknamed "laoda", cracks very funny jokes. he's also chinese speaking. HR is very athletic, and quite handsome. also chinese speaking. we were all quite different, and so its interesting how we bonded so strongly. i guess cus we were all good guys... (there was this other guy that we unceremoniously kicked out)

ok, back to the present... (or recent past)

i managed to meet up with only two of them, HR and ZX. We met at fish and co and had lots of food - fried calamari, grilled salmon, and seafood platter.

Recommendation: Forget the grilled salmon. Its nice yes. but nothing special. The seafood platter isn't too bad, but maybe not worth its price. the fried calamari is very good though. its crispy, tasty, fresh, and best of all, only $9!!!

After that we went to bakerzinn. i wanted this cheesecake dessert thingy that didn't have any cake. it was supposed to be cheese icecream with strawberries and biscuits. but they ran out of cheese icecream and so i had to substitute it with vanilla instead. sigh. *businesses please take note: it is VERY upsetting to customers to NOT have something you claim to have*

it was nice catching up with them. find out how they're living their lives, what their future plan is and all that.

and then i met agnes for roti prata. i wasn't hungry, as u may have realised, but thats not the point. i had a "dinosaur", which is iced milo drink with extra milo powder on the top. what's milo? its a choc malt drink. (haiz, i guess at some point in my blogging lifetime, i should define my target audience.. i can't just keep explaining every little term that might seem remotely unfamiliar...)

enough... this post is very long by now. and it doesn't have substance... hahaha.. sorry if you had to read thru all of it.