Glorious Citizen

Minority

2009-09-23T22:41:00.005+08:00

Somebody, Everybody, Nobody, Anybody

2009-09-01T21:41:00.004+08:00

Some work hard to be somebody
Some try to please everybody
Some show concerns for nobody
Let's enjoy our life and not try to be anybody

The world is a book

2009-08-27T00:22:00.002+08:00

Singapore, you need a break...

2009-08-24T21:47:00.007+08:00

No. I'm not doing a commercial for Jetstar. There's this online petition going on right now for an extra public holiday in Singapore. The petition stays open until 13-Sep-09. Go on... Do your part for Singapore.

Family Gathering = Majong

2009-08-22T00:56:00.004+08:00

It's feels good whenever I get a chance to have a round of Majong with family over the weekend. And Majong reminds me of this music video...

Dreams

2009-08-17T22:18:00.003+08:00

Some pursue their dreams by travelling
Some live with their dreams dangling
Some thought their life were fulfilling
Some wish their lives had been more enriching...

Sometimes, all you need is a SIGN

2009-08-16T11:21:00.006+08:00

Not too sure if you guys have seen this before. But damm solid I thought... It is one of the Cannes Lions winners in 2009. This movie is actually an advertisement for Schweppes. If only we can see more of such great adverts.

Giving Blood

2009-08-15T02:01:00.001+08:00

Found this interesting story and thought I should share

"
Many years ago, when I worked as a transfusion volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liza who was suffering from a disease and needed blood from her five-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save Liza."

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?"

Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give her all his blood.

Find me a Singaporean Art Book - 稀游记图文影像纪录

2009-06-22T21:43:00.005+08:00

Somebody left me a comment on my "Find me a Singaporean" post. Apparentely, this fantastic show has decided to come out with an artbook (sort of). I haven't buy it yet but should do so pretty soon and will keep you guys posted on how's the book. In the meantime, if you want to find out more, I suggest you click over to the FindMeASingaporean.Com

Wolfram Alpha

2009-06-02T21:54:00.007+08:00

I came upon an article in Newsweek recently that caught my attention. There is this physicist by the name of Stephen Wolfram. He seems to have created a search engine which give result in a much intellectual way than Google. Well, not exactly a search engine. As Wolfram puts it,

"Wolfram says his creation is not so much a search engine as a "computational knowledge engine." It has a single input field, like a search engine, but users can pose complex questions. What is the date of the next total solar eclipse visible from Paris? (Answer: Sept. 23, 2090.) What is the current orbital location of the International Space Station? "Computing where the ISS is right now is not a trivial computation," says Wolfram. "You have to actually solve some differential equations for the motion of the aircraft in the Earth's gravitational field." And yet the result is returned as quickly as a Google search."

Upon trying this search engine, I must say it is really interesting (for a start). It returns me interesting result. I'm pleased when I type in "Singapore" and it returns me with a load of information of Singapore such as GDP, population, etc and how we ranked to the world based on these attributes.

However, I must say that it must continue to expand its database of information so as to return me more useful information when I need them. Until then, I'm still happy Googling. The link to this engine is here... Wolfram|Alpha

Bulk of pedestrians killed jaywalkers!?!?

2009-05-14T22:00:00.006+08:00

Check out this news headline. It's amazing to imagine a bulk of pedestrians have gone berserk and went around killing jaywalkers. This headline sounded more like a direct translation from an article of the "My Paper" Mandarin edition.

We've always been urged by the government to speak proper English. I don't speak perfect English but in a city where Singlish is often banned on national TV, I don't understand how did the editor manage to get this published. A word of advice to "My Paper": If it is so hard being a bilingual newspaper, don't hard hard come.

Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown - Know Your Enemy - First Single

2009-05-09T22:11:00.005+08:00

This is funny. I really thought it is the first single of their latest album. Don't get me wrong. I like Green Day. Which is why all the more we should buy their album and not catch it on youtube.

Still in Singapore, caught in Malaysia

2009-05-09T00:32:00.008+08:00

While some of the Singaporean believes that Mas Selamat is still in Singapore, the Malaysian police caught him. IN MALAYSIA.

Come to think of it, did the Singapore police ever managed to catch hold of him? As in personally? He was caught in Indonesia (#towards the end of the linked article) and was deported back to Singapore which he later on managed to escaped. He then left Singapore again and was caught again but this time, by the Malaysian police.

You don't get this type of news on Singapore from our local media!

2009-05-08T10:17:00.004+08:00

Check out this link. Honestly, how likely will it be for our local mainstream papers to publish news such as this? Anyway, this teaches one thing. Don't have an affair and if you need to, don't have it at East Coast Park. And men, watched out. There's a reason why a woman in her 30s is out having an affair even when she's already married!

Not just for our minister, we pay a high price to build our roads as well

2009-04-29T23:52:00.002+08:00

It takes more than S$4 Billion to build a 5-kilometer road. I'm referring to the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE). This means that we can build another North East Line (NEL) which according to this website, it costs the government S$4.6 Billion to build the NEL and the line length is 20-kilometer. That's 4 times longer than MCE. What about KPE? According to Wiki, the approximate cost for building the KPE is about S$1.8 billion and the distance is 10 kilometers underground. I always have the perception that it is apparently more difficult to build roads underground right? But it seems to be the other way round in Singapore?

OK. Let's not talk about Singapore. Let's talk about Michigan, one of the more populated states in America. According to their official-state website, it was indicated that a mile of freeway through an urban area costs approximately US$39 million. 5km is about 3.107 miles. You do the math. It's not even half of what it takes to build our KPE.

You might say there are certain challenges in building the road due to difficult soil conditions and what have you. How about building a tunnel that is 4,000 meters above mean sea level? In Tibet, this tunnel is 3.3km long and the whole connected highway is 117km in distance. It cost the Chinese government US$139 million to construct the highway according to Tibetan Review.

Darth Jackson

2009-04-27T23:10:00.004+08:00

While everyone on the net is going crazy over Susan Boyle, you should check out this Darth Vader who tried to walk on the moon...

X-Men Origins - Gambit?

2009-04-20T21:53:00.007+08:00

I was really excited when I found out that they finally have Gambit on the X-Men Origins movie. Gambit is like one of the greatest X-Men I've ever known. He was my inspiration to Blackjack, Poker and "Dai-Di"... But when I saw the poster of this movie...

I thought they had Michael Jackson on the movie instead. In my limited years of reading Marvel comics, I've not seen Gambit wore a hat yet (maybe after this movie).

And that hand movement, it looks as though Taylor Kitsch was trying to do a moonwalk or was reaching out for the Snake on the Plane.

Fail Blog

2009-04-18T02:44:00.005+08:00

You guys should really go visit Fail Blog... Here's a clip that I really like. Enjoy...

Olympics Arrow Opening

2008-08-11T08:49:00.009+08:00

The Beijing Olympics 2008 was really impressive. However, there was one torch lighting ceremony which I have always heard about but didn't know when it was held and which country hosted it. Nobody does. Like my friend on Saturday, we were talking over whiskey how successful this year opening ceremony was and he came out with the:

Shameer: I remember there was this opening ceremony where they shoot the arrow and voom... they light up the ceremony"...

Matt, Nizam and Me: So where is it?

Shameer: I don't know...

This isn't the first time this topic end up this way. More often than not, when we spoke about the Olympics, we'll talk about this arrow torch lighting. Nobody knows where it was held nor when did it happen. We just knew it happened during our era. Over the weekend, I had a gut feeling that it should be the Spanish who would come up with such an idea... So am I correct? I bring to you the answer...

One "Lust" Game at National Stadium

2008-07-25T10:16:00.011+08:00

Well done... We'll have another one last game between Singapore and Brazil. It's been more than a year since the "official" closing ceremony was held in National Stadium and we had our last game then as well.

We then went on to have our next last game between Singapore and Lebanon early this year. Who knows? According to Wiki, the Sports Council announced that the stadium would host at least two more football games, due to ongoing delays in securing the paperwork for the Sports Hub construction.

So moving on to the next game... We then had our last last last game between Singapore and Saudi Arabia. But hey! There's one more last last last last time!

As a consumer, I think this is fuck up though I never really participate in any of their "last game". But think about this. It's like you walked into a shop, they're telling you it's a closing down sales and they will close in 2 weeks time. So you spent the money, you buy the things. 3 weeks later, you went back and the shop is still there. You ask them why and they told you that due to the lease, they're extending another 2 more weeks. Buy what you want now. It's really the last time. You figure that there's still something you didn't buy the previous time and you went on to buy some other items in the shop. Now another 3 weeks had passed, the fucking shop is still there with the banner "Closing Down Sales"! What do you do? Isn't this just like the TV commercial about a father asking for money from her daughter "ONE LAST TIME" so that he can go try his luck on gambling?

For the folks who believe that last time was the last time, I pity you.

For the folks who believe that last last time was the last time, I I sympathize with you

For the folks who believe that last last last time was the last time, I laugh at you

For the folks who believe that last last last last time is the last time, I have no comments for you...

Will you remember?

2008-07-04T09:08:00.006+08:00

Just read Dasmond's blog and thought how true it was...

Will you remember?

How often in our lives, have we took our love ones for granted? I always ask my friends and myself, why is it that every time when we're in a foul mood or frustrated, the victims would normally be your love ones? One example:

When one has a lousy day at work, it seems inevitable that many people would vent their anger by raising their voice on their parents just because that person thinks that his/her parents is getting naggy.

Well... Left is too short to be frustrated at those small little things you face day to day... Just my advice to everyone, treasure you love one before it's too late.

Life is short, treat your love ones well
Do not left things unsaid until ones’ life fell
You can cry until your eyes will swell
Cuz when they’re gone… There’ so much things you just can’t tell

Saving Television

2008-06-07T01:42:00.007+08:00

On 5 June, I realized there was something wrong with the logo on the top right corner of my television. Both the channel 8 and 5 seemed "di-colorized". I thought the time is up for my flat screen CRT TV. I shouted to everyone in the family... Time for a LCD TV! This TV has broken down! Everyone concur that something was really wrong with my TV...

Before I know it, my dad was telling me he was facing the same problem on his TV too. I then realize that day was "Saving Gaia" day. They made the logo green to coincide with the World Environment Day. Sorry MediaCorp. The color really look bad on my TV.

Anyhow, I wonder how long such initiatives would carry on? I like these stuffs. Go Green. Save the World. It's the least we can do for this world right? But to the founders and creators of such initiatives, please bring it forward and carry it on. Don't just build onto the hype and thought that was it.

How many of you still remember a couple of years ago, Bono and Geldof (2 of the many celebrities behind Live 8) shouted to the crowd at Hyde Park "We don't want your money. We just want your vote". And they criticized the level of commitment G8 has to places like South Africa. I have often checked back to the Live 8 website... No updates since 2007/06. Doesn't matter. It's been more than a year and what have they done? Sometimes I can't help but to think celebrities are quite crappy as well.

Barri Gòtic - Barcelona

2008-05-28T10:39:00.007+08:00

Every time when we talk about traveling in Barcelona, most of the people will think of Sagrada Familia or Barcelona Football Club, Camp Nou. Now I'm not saying that these places aren't worth mentioning but I just feel that in Barcelona, there's a place which has been under-rated; Barri Gotic. I'm just so amazed by the architectures, the history, the surreal feeling when you walked into this place.

I just re-activated my flickr account since the free one doesn't offer you much flexibility and bandwidth... While I was surfing through my old photos to make sure they're still there, I realized that the Barri Gotic photos brings back the feeling of walking into ancient times. This is the feeling you will get when you walk into Gotic Quarter. Since there isn't much information on the web that talks about Barri Gotic (or maybe I didn't Google enough), I thought of sharing with you folks here.

There are many entrances to Barri Gotic. You will see maps around the quarter and since most of those ancient buildings are pretty tall, I reckon one would get lost easily. Don't worry. Not lost as in totally lost your way and walk yourself into a dark alley sort. But more on walking through the same place over and over again and some of the location within Barri Gotic aren't that easy to spot. I used the Town Hall (picture below) as a landmark to get back on track.

Once you're inside, you will find yourself walking through ancient times. As I read from some website, it is recommended to visit this place in the morning. For me? I believe it will be nice anytime of the day.

This place is beautiful from all angles.Being inside just gives you a surreal type of feeling. Some of the structures like the one below, allows you to step inside and get a feel of "being" inside.

If you're the impatient type, I suggest you slow down your pace when touring this place. You will notice many beautiful drawings, sculptures as you walk around the quarters. Some of the architectures actually allow you to walk up to the rooftop!

There's a nursery inside Barri Gotic as well! Amazing eh?

I rested along the stairways and saw this lady on the right playing the accordion. Kinda nice especially with the nice atmosphere. There was this guy on the right enjoying the music as well and for a moment, I thought they were a couple having a quarrel which explain why they seemed close but yet so far.

Find me a Singaporean - 2

2008-05-16T23:07:00.004+08:00

Sorry for the lack of update as I've been away for 3 consecutive weeks! But I've been keeping track with the latest happenings around the world and I must say, alot of things had happen lately.

From the cyclone that swept through Myanmar to the earthquake in Sichuan... From the freaking generals that wouldn't accept any aid to the premier who got to the devastated site within hours. How ironic this world can be?

Before I continue... I urge everyone of us to do our part for the world and the society... There are many ways to make your donation and going through the Red Cross is just one of the many. Click here to find out more.

Another ironic thing happened to me... I realize that one of the article which I've posted (exactly one year ago) has been receiving a considerable amount of hits. I then Google through the title of the post and I finally found the reason...

I've not forgotten this show... I still think that this is one of the best show from local TV. And honestly, I can't think of any other host would could pull it off as well as Belinda Lee. Kudos to her! My brother had managed to record a couple of episodes for me and the most memorable one so far has been the air stewardess who left Singapore to get married in Brazil. She made a trip back every 5 years. Every 5 years! Can you imagine that?

I heard the one on Mongolia is good too. Didn't get a chance to watch it yet but will do so soon!

Selamat... Jalan...?

2008-04-25T16:35:00.007+08:00

Legend
Glorious Citizen - GC
Robert Tao - RT

RT: Wah! Have you heard the news yet?

GC: What news?

RT: Uncle Low, a boss from another department challenge our company CEO to ask our security officer to "Jalan Jalan" ah!

GC: Jalan?

RT: Yah.. You don't know what Jalan means meh? It means bye in Malay...

GC: Oh yes yes... And if add a Selamat in front, it means Good Bye... But anyway, what happen?

RT: Oh... Uncle Low's staff caught a thief who was sneaking into our building... Then, they handed them over to the security department... Then this security officer thought that they should educate this thief to bring him onto the right path... So they sort of gave him some lesson while waiting for the police to come.

GC: Wah... You security officers are all social worker also ah?

RT: How I know? Anyway, while trying to guide this thief onto the right path AND waiting for the police to come, this thief mother cry and beg to see her son... So they arranged a room for the mother to see her son

GC: Then then?

RT: Then this thief say ok, you want me to see my mum, can. But let me go toilet first. I need 7 rolls of toilet paper also...

GC: Ha Ha Ha... That's a special request... So how? Did that officer give?

RT: He gave lah... Then they brought the thief to the toilet with good ventilation. And they also thought that they should give this thief some privacy while shitting. So they waited outside...

GC: Wah... That's one hell of a security officer leh...

RT: Human rights dude... Anyway... They waited for 4 hours... Then the thief still never come out... So they went in and saw that the thief had ran off! From the window inside the toilet!

GC: Oh, it took them 4 hours to realize that? He just climbed out of the window?

RT: Yah... And he used the 7 rolls of toilet paper to act as cushion for him to land onto the ground outside...

GC: Hahaha! Why he need the cushion for? Thought your office wall very low?

RT: How I know? That's what the report say...

GC: Now I see... That's why Uncle Low wants the security officer to resign lah? No wonder...

RT: Yah... But my CEO think otherwise leh... He feels that we shouldn't judge the capability of a person by just one incident... And forgot about the good things that he had done for the company...

GC: But wait... That's how the corporate world is mah. And beside, I heard that your security officers are paid higher than the security officers from other companies right?

RT: Yah... Because they are capable people...

GC: Oh... You mean capable of letting a thief run away?

RT: No lah... But as what my CEO said, we shouldn't let one incident affect the contributions they had done for the company.

GC: Oh... So your CEO is paying them so high, so much money so as to allow them to make more mistakes? Then under what circumstances would they be asked to leave?

RT: How I know?

GC: Hahaha! So your company really Selamat Jalan to the thief!

Dasmond Koh in Bangkok?

2008-04-22T21:13:00.010+08:00

Haha! I thought I saw Dasmond Koh in Bangkok! As a samurai! See what I mean from the picture below...

Anyway, because of this poster and for the fact that we were craving for Japanese food, we decided to give it a shot. The experience? Not bad at all! You guys should try too! We ordered several dishes... Sashimi, Tempura, Unagi Rice and of course, beer. I've forgotten what is the dish below though. Anybody any idea?

The soup is really really nice, and I like the way they kept it warm. I mean soup... One of the most important factor is if it's warm enough right? The soup base... You can drink it without the meat at all... The ingredients is sufficient and it is not too sweet or salty... I'm sure you have experienced where the soup base is really solid but after finishing the soup, you feel thirsty and all right? Not for this... To me, this had been the highlight for the restaurant... I suppose that's the reason why they named it as their signature dish..

As for the Sashimi and Tempura... Hmmm...I feel it's generally better than the ones you will get from Sake Sushi or Genki Sushi... But still not perfect... If you have the chance to go to Fuji Restaurant in Siam Center, you'll know what I mean...

The Unagi Rice... Not bad... But I don't know why they chopped up the Unagi though. I though you will enjoy the full Unagi taste if the fish is in one single piece. On the whole, not bad considering the price and the amount of food we ordered... I think for all these plus some beer, the bill came out to less than 50 bucks; which is what you won't find in Singapore...

It's fine that I got fined

2008-04-04T09:18:00.012+08:00

Appeal Rejected

Legend
Glorious Citizen - GC
Robert Tao - RT

RT: Wah ho say lah! My IT department appeal ganna rejected by our CTO!

GC: Oh? What happen? What appeal?

RT: You don't know? Cuz they were suppose to support network connection throughout the company even during peak hour mah... then they screwed up...

GC: I reckon that... Since communicating during peak hour is so important... People need to work you know? So what happen?

RT: So the freaking network was down for like...7 hours... and that day... because we need to communicate with the outside world also... then in the end, I have to use my own 3G and GPRS connection to work loh... Some bopian was late to send report to their customer and ended up taking taxi to send the hard copy to them...

GC: WHAT!?!?!? So you're paying for their mistake? I mean can claim right?

RT: Wait wait wait... Let me finish my story first... our CTO was very pissed... so he fined the department for the disruption it had caused to the network service...

GC: Fined? But how much was the fine?

RT: Not too sure leh... Close to 400k plus ah...

GC: Wow! Then can you guys claim for the taxi fare and the bills that you have chalked up from your own internet connection... since it's their mistake...

RT: Eh... I'm not too sure wo... Think can lah... But you need to go to the IT service centres to do the claim I think...

GC: Hmmm. But very strange leh... So where did the money go to? I mean the fine which your CTO had summoned.

RT: Eh... I don't know

GC: WHAT? Shouldn't the money go to your guys? Who are the actual ones that got affected because of the messed up service they're providing?

RT: Yah hor... I don't know leh...

GC: But where the hell your IT department is going to get those money? Since they also need to be accountable to the profit for the company... Does that mean they will increase the prices to the general public like me? Who subscribe to their IT services?!

RT: Maybe leh...

GC: What is this? We're just paying for their mistake...

Don't judge too quickly

2008-03-24T23:16:00.008+08:00

Don't judge too quickly... This is the message that sounds really familiar. Ah... I know where I heard it... Please don't judge too quickly on why the escape happened... Shit happens ok? And before we start to speculate, I think it would be better if we can wait for the findings of the investigations to be released... But wait... The hearings can't be held public now... This is to prevent us from being too complacent? And in order not to be overly complacent, you should start giving "lessons" to people around the globe. Maybe the Middle East region... And what do you do when your island wide manhunt still doesn't show any results? You made a headline out of the person who made a false report on the escapee... That should be it... Now that's what I call incompetency... Sorry... I mean learning to be in-complacent...

Perfect English or English Prefect?

2008-01-21T14:59:00.000+08:00

Before you continue... Read this first...

English!英语!

Legend
Glorious Citizen - GC
Lao Gao Fatt - LCF (or some say London College Forensic)

GC: Hey.. Fat... Why you so angry?

LCF: Atrocious!

GC: Wah...Simi Daiji?

LCF: How many times must I remind you?! Don't speak to me in Singlish!

GC: Why leh?

LCF: Because it isn't the right way to speak!

GC: Aiyah... Nevermind lah... So long you understand me can liao mah... But why you so angry? What "a- throw-shirt"?

LCF: Oh gosh... It's A-TRO-CIOUS... If you check out the Oxford dictionary, it says (adjective 1 horrifyingly wicked. 2 informal extremely bad or unpleasant.)

GC: Un huh... Then?

LCF: You got to start brushing up your command of English!

GC: Ok ok... Whatever... What is it that causes you to throw your shirt?

LCF: You see, I was at the school today to discuss about my son's progress on his Math for the year 2008... and I'm very disappointed with the standard of English with 2 of his teachers.

GC: Wah! You very kiasu leh... We're only at January for year 2008! And you want to know how your son is doing for his Math? You sure bo?

LCF: For Pete's sake! Stop speaking to me in Singlish!!! There's is no such word Kiasu in the dictionary! You should said extreme fear of losing!

GC: Who is Pete? Relax relax... Why you care so much? So long you can get what I'm trying to tell you mah... Anyway... What did the teacher say about your kid? Alright bo?

LCF: Oh well... They weren't too sure because they were teaching Chinese and Higher Chinese in school.

GC: Nabei! You're actually complaining about the "standard of English" of 2 teachers who don't even teach English or Math!? you alright bo?

LCF: It's wrong. Then they shouldn't speak at all!

GC: Yah... But you were talking to them in English mah... As if you know Mandarin

LCF: No. I disagree... Singapore is supposed to be a first-world country, but the English used by the 2 teachers is just so embarrassing...

GC: Knn... I don't know what English Breakfast or Earl Grey lah... You can choose not to talk to them if they irritate you so much...

LCF: This is atrocious! Shouldn't you feel embarrassed about it? We have many foreign students studying in Singapore. What would they think of our English standards if their teachers speak so badly?

{GC throws a punch at LCF}

Life

2008-01-15T23:59:00.000+08:00

Before you start complaining about how boring life can be in Singapore. Please spend some of your "boring time" to read up on this blog.

Days of My Life

I don't know how much it will affect you, but it certainly did... for me...

ENCORE vs encore

2007-12-16T12:52:00.000+08:00

We were very fortunate to catch Aaron Kwok's final concert during our holidays in Hong Kong. The concert was held at, as you know it... Hong Kong Coliseum. Having seen a few concerts in Singapore and now in Hong Kong... I realize one BIG different between concert goers from Indoor Stadium and Coliseum.

Indoor Stadium: encore Aaron... encore... (clap one of twice, yawn... turn to his friend and say) shit so many people leaving liao!... still don't come out ah? wait cannot catch last bus how?

Coliseum: ENCORE ENCORE ENCORE! Aaron ENCORE! (clap, shout, scream, turn to the producers who's control station is just below the stage and shout) ENCORE ENCORE ENCORE, WE WANT ENCORE

They didn't plan for the encore in the first place. As we had seen it... The light was already on, and when Aaron came out, he was in the most casual attire that I had even seen. He then mentioned that that they didn't plan for the encore and went on to sing a couple more songs.

So you see... the fans were just not ready to leave until they have gotten what they wanted. Pretty much like the Hong-Kongers' mindset... This could also be the reason why till date, they're still the shining pearl of Asia...

You deserve it...

2007-12-12T14:47:00.000+08:00

Legend
Glorious Citizen - GS
Robert Tao - RT

GS: Wah! Heard your company, they're increasing the price of the limo service that fetches you guys to and from work?

RT: Yah loh... Too many people taking this limo service, and lately ah... I heard the petrol price kept increasing leh... So bopian, think gotta increase loh...

GS: Wah... Like that also can? But last time you told me that the US dollar weakening against the SGD right?

RT: Yup

GS: And I suppose in Singapore, we pump petrol in Singapore Dollars right?

RT: Yup

GS: So the barrels of oil we're buying, what currency are we using? USD or SGD?

RT: I suppose in USD lah... Why? [RT abit pissed off that GS is asking so many questions)

GS: No mah. I thought if our drivers pump petrol and pay the petrol kiosks in SGD, our petrol kiosks pay the oil company in USD... Shouldn't we be using lesser money to pay for the barrel of oil that is calculated in USD, since SGD is getting stronger?

RT: Nabei... Yah hor... No wonder the Europeans say that the oil price hike has no impact on them...

GS: Knn... Like that very unfair to you guys leh...

RT: Bopian mah... To many people taking our company limo service during the peak hour liao... Guess my management need to control abit... [Can see that RT is in a state of self-denial, coming up with another reason]

GS: Huh?! Who would take the service during off peak hour? Everyone working leh...

RT: How I know? Tourist lah! I mean the visitor that comes to our company... Our company also got provide good limo service to visitors who come for a tour in our company facilities and manufacturing plant mah...

GS: Like that very unfair for you guys leh... You all got complain to your boss or not?

RT: No need complain lah... Cuz we have a HR department that will look after the well being of all the employees... They make sure the canteen food lah, company limo service lah, etc are well taken care of.

GS: So what did they say?

RT: They said this increase is fair and timely leh...

GS: Like that also can!?! But I heard your company also got newsletter right? Can use it as a medium and reflect to the management about what you all think or not?

RT: Got lah... They got interview me... Ask me what I think about the limo service price hike...

GS: Good... Then what did you say?

RT: Of course say I don't mind the 35% increase lah! So long it improves the situation...

GS: WTF?

RT: Of course what... Else all the people working in the company think I very stingy, "Giam Xia", (Hokkien) how?

GS: Nabei... You deserve to pay more...

What's your True Color

2007-12-07T10:27:00.000+08:00

I found this interesting clip, from Daniel Wu's website... Make sure you read the entry from his blog before you watch it... It's funnier that way and it also explains why there's a chicken inside his video. Here's the link to his blog. (PS: You might have to sign up to be able to read it)... Anyway, I've included an excerpt from his blog...

Taken from Daniel Wu's blog

Why a chicken?

I’m not sure really. I’ve had a strange fascination with chickens since college. Their existence often baffles me. Why are they on this planet? Do they exist only to be eaten? Being the lowest mammal in the food chain, I often feel sorry for them, because chickens are the weakest animals on the planet with no dangerous form of attack and absolutely no way to defend themselves. They can’t even fly away because their wings are so out of proportion with their bodies. So in a way this short film is turning the tables around for once. A chickens’ fantasy if you will. A chicken rights film. A chicken kicking my ass.

The Willow Tree

2007-09-03T10:31:00.000+08:00

If I tell you that Iranian movies are good would you believe me? I caught this movie by the title "The Willow Tree" over the weekend... Beyond excellence. Though I don't really recognize the actors and actresses, they were all terrific. The cinematography of the movie, you got to give it to the people behind this film. I've put together some pictures of the show that I found from the internet... If you have the chance to catch this movie, please go watch it. If not, let's pray and wait for the DVD.

Now why is the movie title The Willow Tree? Youssef, a blind university professor was sent to France for treatment after being suspected of having cancer. Before he left for France, he pleaded with his God for a second chance in life. His prayer was answered and it was later diagnosed that his cancerous cell was benign. Meanwhile, he was brought to this place filled with willow trees which is said to bring him luck. Miraculously, he regained the sight which he lost when he was 8.

Life began to change. Those simple little things which he used to appreciate and found wonderful began to bore him. He began to have expectation for everything. Even for his wife whom had stand by him all this while. He started losing the goal in his life as well. He hated teaching. He hated staying at home. He fell in love with another woman.

I would like to chat more about how real this movie is. You see... In one of the quote, Youssef spoke about how everyone took pity of him when he was blind. He doesn't need that now because he can see. He can see how "boring" his life has been. Books, books and more books around him. Does this mean that a person expectations would be higher when they see more things in life? Now, I'm not just comparing in terms of being able to see with those who cannot see. I'm referring to those people who had seen more things in life. Such as, when a guy have seen the comfort of living a luxurious lifestyle, he would have that kind of expectation. Isn't one suppose to grow wiser when you see more things? How ironic...

PS: As much as I would like to share more photos of the movie here, I can't seem to find the good ones on the internet. If you have them, please let me know. Thanks!

Phone Conversation with IRAS

2007-08-08T15:16:00.000+08:00

Legend
Glorious Citizen - GS
IRAS Officer - IO

IO: Hi good afternoon, how can I help?

GS: Good afternoon... I've some technical problems with the bank's GIRO payment to IRAS... If IRAS were to wait for this to be resolved, it might take up till a month. Is it possible that I can make my payment via Internet Banking while I'm waiting for this technical issue to be resolved?

IO: OK... If we fail to deduct the payment on the 6th every month, we will try again on the 20th.

GS: *Thinking the officer is also aware that we're almost towards mid August*... Yes... I know that... What I'm saying is... I've tried talking to the bank and they will take one month to resolve the issue... Can I use internet banking instead for this month's payment while we're waiting for the issue to be resolved?

IO: Maybe you can try talking to the bank and see if they can process the issue faster?

GS: I did! They can't do it!

IO: Oh in that case, we also cannot.

GS: OK... All I need to know is... Beside using GIRO, can I use internet banking to pay for my monthly installment?

IO: Yes. You can use AXS or SAM machine.

GS: No no no... Am I allow to use internet banking to pay for the installment cuz I found IRAS under the list of Payee companies

IO: Can ah... You can use AXS or SAM machine to pay for your monthly bills mah...

GS: No. I know I can pay through AXS... And I know I can pay through SAM... What I need to know is... CAN I use INTERNET BANKING to pay as well?!

IO: Yes

GS: OK... So that means I will cancel my GIRO arrangements and use the Internet Banking to pay for my monthly installments.

IO: Oh! so that means you want to cancel your installment plans ah? And pay in full?

GS: No... I'm saying I will use other other methods to pay for my installment!

IO: I need to check mah.

GS: *speechless cuz I don't know what the hell he's checking for*... OK... So how do I know if IRAS has received my payment?

IO: Please hold the line and let me check. *Waited for 1 to 2 minutes*... Sorry to keep you waiting... I've checked with my colleague and she has told me that if we failed to receive your payment on the 6th, we will try again on the 20th... If we fail to receive payment on the 20th, we will deduct double the amount on the 6th of the following month.

GS: *DU LAN to the maximum*.... NOOOOO! That's still doesn't answer my question! All I'm asking is, would IRAS inform me that the payment has been made!

IO: No.

GS: So like any other bills which I'm paying, so long that I never receive any reminder to pay up, that is to say I'm good as IRAS has received my monthly payment?!!!?

IO: Er... You can check your internet banking transaction history what...right?

GS: YESSSSsssssssssss... But that doesn't tell me if the payment has gone through to the right account or has it been taken correctly as my monthly installment payment... All I need to know is, if there's any way to find out my payment went through!!!

IO: Oh... You can call and ask us again...

=_=
I rest my case...

男兒本色

2007-07-30T10:56:00.000+08:00

Amazing... I take my hats off to Hong Kong movies. In terms of action flick movie: the stunts and plot, not even Hollywood can come close.

In Hollywood action movie, it's mostly about a terrorist wanting to take over the world... Or a terrorist who's in fact not a terrorist but he just wanna robbed all the money in the world... I'm not saying such movie plot is bad... but sometimes... you don't know what you end up watching... I supposed it mainly for the explosion and how grand the whole movie is... The stunts are so impossible that you'll know for sure they're computer graphics... If I wanna watch a CG film, I would rather go for movies such as Transformer or Star Wars anytime.

Looks like Nicholas Tse had chosen to do most if not all the stunts himself.. Jumping towards a moving bus, jumping down from a roof where he ended up hitting on to a truck... amazing... can see that he put in alot of effort and faith into this movie!

I'll spare you the plot though... But in this show... In my perspective at least, there isn't any good or bad guy... very Grey... except for one bad guy lah... who happens to be the ultimate bad guy... but he's not the main character in the movie anyway...

In such plot... you can really see the anger, thoughts and pain which each character goes through for things they've done... this sometimes reflect our society isn't it? you wonder which side you are on... is there a good or bad side in our society nowadays? I'm not saying the extreme cases where one goes committing crimes for no reasons... I'm referring to an action or an act... one that would affect your principle and integrity... but you were being forced to do it... pretty much like you're left without any choice...

I once saw this movie call 真心话... Starring Fann Wong and Peter Ho... In one of the scene, Peter who works as a journalist spoke about how his boss would reward his colleagues with bonus if they can take "up-skirt" photos of celebrities. He then recalled that he was beaten up by his dad when he was a kid for stealing girls' panties... He lamented about what is right and wrong... Sometimes it's hard to judge... Between ethically right and professionally wrong... So to all those people out there... Believe in yourself... Do wht you believe in. Most important is being true to yourself and stay happy... Nothing beats that...

Transformers

2007-07-15T23:00:00.000+08:00

Sorry for the lack of update lately. Super duper tied up at work. Anyway... amidst of the hectic work, I've managed to catch a couple of movies. Yup... As you can see from the poster on top. I'm going to talk about something that is more than meet the eyes...

Terrific movie I must say. Being a kid who has grown up with the cartoon. I'm just so amazed by the Computer Graphics that are built into this movie. Never have I ever seen so much interaction; of a robot so real life with a real life actors and actresses. You got to give it to Michael Bay. From the earlier movies like Bad Boys and Armageddon to now, Transformers. If you do a wiki on him, you will realize that he doesn't have much movies in his portfolio. But, he has already created a name for himself. However, I'm somewhat disappointed with the ending though. As we all know there will be a sequel to it and I reckon they will have to bring Megatron back to life. If not, who will fight Optimus Prime? Just think about this, which movie wouldn't be a big hit when you have names like Bay and Spielberg? Therefore, they should have thought about a sequel long before this movie was launched.

Beside, as much as I like the special effect, I do have to admit that I was kinda confused when the robots were fighting. From my fading memories, beside Prime and Bumblebee who are rather colorful, I can't seem to identify who is who when they were fighting. Guess there's still a couple of hurdles before we can see real seamless fusion between real actors with CG.

Way too over

2007-07-02T22:25:00.000+08:00

I was at Crazy Elephant last week and I saw this girl who dyed her hair blonde. Now before I move on, I want to clarify that I have no qualms about Singapore girls dating a foreigner. In fact, the typical Singaporean guys aren't as sensitive or loving as the ladies want us to be. And as they always put it, we Singapore men are more reserved or shy or simply, DULL.

Now here goes the story. I saw this girl... She was like so indulged in dancing to the blues music (courtesy of the live band). But, it seems like she's on ecstasy more than she's enjoying the music! She acted like she's in some low class disco dancing and jumping all over the place! Now here's the part that makes me wonder. It seems like she's enjoying herself... Or shall I say, all by herself. She got a couple of Caucasians and tried to dance with them but most of the guys just left halfway through as I reckon they didn't want to make a fool out of themselves. They seemed so uncomfortable with this lady dancing like a Red Indian around her campfire.

So what's my point? My point is... She gave me the vibe that she's acting way too over! Stop trying to think you're more liberal or open minded by being too over! For obvious reason, she tried too hard. So hard that even the "more open-minded" ang mos got uneasy with her action. And what did she get in the end? Like a fool standing at one corner smiling all by herself... But anyway, it's her life and she can pretty much choose how she wants it to be...

Google Founder Who?

2007-06-15T09:31:00.000+08:00

The Full Story

Shade from the trees!

2007-06-13T23:12:00.000+08:00

Can you believe it? Sentosa launches tree conservation programme. I can't believe it. After the recent ordeals of trees falling and hitting people, they're still treating trees like LEGO, pulling it out/up from one site and plant it on some other places. For me, I will rather shade from the trees than to take shade under these trees!

Wine Connection

2007-06-09T03:04:00.000+08:00

I feel bad not being able to update this blog as much as I wanted to. Well, partly due to job and mainly due to work. Anyway, there’s always time for a breather and it is NOW! So I bring to you, my adventure to Wine Connection. It was great FUN. Wine is cheap, people not unfriendly… In fact, we reckon they were all Filipinos! Nice bunch of folks…

I wonder when this drinking wine trend started. And, I wonder how many people out there really know how to appreciate wine. I don’t profess myself as being one who can really appreciate wine…BUT… Neither am I like those Ah Bengs who goes out there and down a glass of decent wine like they “dah” a jug of beer. Don’t ask me why they do it; perhaps they think it’s very manly.

For ages, man has always related drinking to something as being manly and mature. It’s fine. I choose to be a man who is still learning how to grow up.

Find Me A Singaporean

2007-05-17T22:10:00.000+08:00

I’m appalled. This is the first time I’m watching this show, "Find Me a Singaporean” and I didn’t expect it to be so heartwarming. The show revolves around host Belinda Lee traveling to all places in the world searching for a Singaporean. They were there for different reasons. In today’s show, she arrived at Yunnan China, to visit a psycho-therapist, Chen Fang-Fang.

The journey started off by introducing Fang-Fang who is a volunteer in China. She has been climbing up the mountains, bringing medical aid and therapy to the villagers. The villagers whom she is providing aid to are either orphans or mental patients.

In one of the residence they visited, there was this 26 year old guy who was kept within 4 walls (stack up by wooden planks), similar to a pig ark for 8 years. The host was shocked. The guy was suffering from some mental illness and it led him to go into rage at times. At the age of 18, he burnt down his house when he had an outbreak. His family had no choice but to put him up in a pig ark. As much as I know about how suppressed some villagers are in China, I didn’t expect that such things existed.

Towards the end of the show, Belinda broke down in tears. I’m impressed with how she had fought back her tears throughout the interview with the patient. I’m even more impressed with Fang-Fang, against all odds stayed and help out the needy people in this place for 3 years. This show really taught me something. I’m going to catch it again next week. You should too.

Definition of Life

2007-05-13T02:47:00.000+08:00

I met up with an army mate recently and man...was he inspirational! We sat down for a jug of beer at Pasir Ris Park soon after dinner and we started chatting about LIFE... He just got his advance diving lesson and I could tell he is very passionate about scuba diving...

This “diving” subject somehow got us to start lamenting about how we are wasting our life while we like our fellow Singaporeans, kept whining about how boring our life is. On the contrary, it is WE who made our life seem so dull.

We realized that a majority of us are stuck in the so call “Rat Race” where we’re forever chasing a bigger house (got to be condo) and better cars. We have seen people who are able to spend the whole weekend cleaning and polishing their cars, going to the accessories shop to “zhng” their cars (putting luminous light, adding spoilers as high as Taipei 101, etc). At the end of the day, they start to complain how boring life is.

You see, it is not uncommon for the general public to define “success” as being rich, driving big cars, staying in condos, carrying Gucci and LV. So what are we missing out? Experiencing LIFE;

So what do I mean by this? Well some of you may say, No… I do experience life. I make it a point to go on holiday every 6 months. I see the world. But what are you seeing actually? I told this army mate… We do more of a “sightseeing” rather than really experiencing the culture, mingling with the folks, enjoying the pace and basically… the whole package. Besides, you don’t really need to travel to experience life.

Let’s start with picking up a sport or any activity which you could be excited about, something which will drive you to look forward to before the start of the day. This way, you will start to meet more people, learn newer things and enjoy life. I know it’s difficult to explain my definition of life to you in just this simple post. However, everyone is allowed to have their own perspective in life and how they want to manage it. The adventure begins now...

Yahoo Photo Shutting Down

2007-05-08T07:27:00.000+08:00

How lucky I must have been... Just a couple of weeks ago, I was contemplating if I should be getting a Yahoo Photo or Flickr... I surf around and realized that Flickr brings out your photo in the best fashion as compared to Yahoo. There you have it... I'm right again...

我在美国的第2个星期

2006-02-01T23:07:00.000+08:00

OK ok... I must apologise! Haven't been updating this blog as I promised! Ha ha!!! 不过你们要了解，我的工作真得很忙啊！我去了Lake Forest又回来了！Anyway, 2nd time never bring camera. So nevermind. But then, I'm suppose to upload the photo for the 2nd week right? Haha. Ok ok..Here we go!!!!

La Jolla Beach (1)

This place is pronounce as La HoYa...Strange right? But that's what Discovery Travel and Living says. Anyway, its a pretty nice place. Just look at the sunset.

La Jolla Beach (2)

La Jolla Beach (3)

La Jolla Beach (4)

The beach was pretty relaxing... There were sea seals relaxing on the beach as well!

Seals relaxing on the beach

However...Sad thing is when we got there, there were not too many seals left. WHY? Becuas too many people were walking on the beach according to this signboard.

Signboard telling us why they left

Well, so long for the beach. We were pretty hungry and had craving for some Fonduuuuuuue... Heh heh....Long time never had it le..

Fondue

Coooooool...But I still prefer having it with Twinkie in Singapore! Hahah.. We ended the day at San Diego. But, as we were on the road most of the time, didn't get much chances to take pictures. The place was pretty busy and I was pretty worried to carry a camera around looking so much like a tourist! I still managed to take some pictures from the car though.

San Diego

It was about an hour an a half drive from San Diego back to LF. But if you're driving during day light, you would see the beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean. Very Cheo. Oh yah! How can I forget. 这就是我的Batmobile!!!!

Buddy that brought me around

还有，这就是我的狗窝。

Comfort Suite

它就是陪我共度我在LF的第二个星期！

OK lah...Time to get back to work. 不然东西太多，要OT就Chia Lat loh...

我在美国的第一个星期

2005-12-11T18:01:00.000+08:00

哈哈！大家好！我是阿民。现在是美国2am! 这一个星期里，非常的忙啊！开会完后还是开会!这就是我在这里住的第一家酒店。

这家酒店叫Hampton Inn。

OK! 不要complain了。还是告诉大家我星期六做了什么！今天早上陪我的同事送我们另一个韩国的同事去机场。她们的韩国的飞机师罢工。所以要去机场跟别的航空工司盖映（chop) 才可以在明天也就是星期天飞回韩国。过后，我们就前往Santa Monica。那里有购物商店和沙滩！我们在那吃午餐！

这个就是Santa Monica Beach!

好大的大炮面对着和保护 Santa Monica Beach!

Santa Monica Beach!

算是沙滩的门口吧。不过我们从这里出来的。

这就是他们的广场。不过没时间 Shop 啊！

OK。不要 upload 太多。回来再给你们看。过后呢，我们就前往好莱坞！Hollywood!塞车(Traffic Jam) 好厉害啊！不过我们还是到达目的地。一到了，第一件要做的就是拍新光大道 (Walk of Fame)！收获不错！

好多星星啊！

然后，我的同事就带我们到最好的地点拍好莱坞的招牌！

呵呵。我的技术不错吧。

晚餐也就在好莱坞那一带用。过后，我们就前往迪斯尼乐园。不过没有进去里面啦，只是在他外面的购物商店 Shopping。也没什么机会拍照。因为人很多，而我们也忙着看烟花！那里每一晚都会放烟花的！不过不是看得很多，就是等。因为，这些烟花是给那些近乐园里面玩和看表演的人放的。

如果给钱去里面玩，会看得更清楚。

下一次再来看个清清楚楚吧！好了！这就是我的星期六！下一次在聊！拜拜！！！！