R.I.P, my love

one of my cammie lenses has gone kaput. 

gone. destroyed. wracked. 

sad. 

it brought me so much good memories...

hiaz. 

leave is evil

one thing good about taking leave is that i get to wake up wayyyyy later than usual.

no work... no RP... no laundry...

shiok.

but the thing bad about having leave, is all these free time i have on my hands and how my mind can actually start to wander about... thinking of stuff that do not warrant immediate attention.

take 2009 pressies, for example.

more ELC stuff for the 3 boys? (quite tough, coz their parents and i have practically ransacked the whole place by now.)

can i actually get anything for 3m that will top his xmas pressie? (whoa... this one very tough. very very tough.)

& for the G4 members...

thomas sabo? 

hermes (ok, maybe not hermes. economic crisis.)

tiffany's?

loewe? (they do have nice small little stuff around...)

of course, these are just plans. 

if this economic crisis is to continue, they might end up just getting stuff from Daiso. 

instead of staying at home resting my soul (and wallet), i'm now actually plotting to spend more money!

leave is evil, i tell you... evil!

hahahaha

Wolverine teaser... looks good so far.

hmm... not bad.

not bad at all. 

he did not learn that from me hor!

i dun care what people say, my godson did not learn that "di-gong" face from me, ok? 

maybe he got it from his mom, i dunno.

but definitely not from me. hahaha

photo copyright: this nice photo is taken by godson's mother. 

Errr, fish!... err, food!... err, fish!

my godson... what can i say? hahaha

Xmas pressie hint

ok, 5 more days before D-day. guess it's time for me to up the ante in revealing more hints on the pressies that i'm giving. 

so... to the G4 members, there it is. 

in this photo, are hints to the presents that i got for you all. this image is made up of strips, taken off some of the brands... logos... & gift wraps i got.

a couple of colours are thrown in to mess things up a bit, just to up the imagination (coz i know how good you all are at identifying logos). but generally, yeah, most of the the brands are there. 

so... have fun.  

hahaha

Did i say this book is good?

it's damn solid.

of course, one has to know the basics of econs and the general stuff (such as Bretton Woods system) to get it going, but really, it's a good read.

quote form preface:

"much has been said about panics and manias... but one thing is certain, that at particular times a great deal of stupid people have a great deal of stupid money... At intervals,... the money of these people - the blind capital, as we call it, of the country - is particularly large and craving; it seeks for someone to devour it, and there is a "plethora"; it finds someone, and there is "speculation"; it is devoured, and there is "panic"".

                             walter bagehot.

i like.

13 more days to D-Day.

2 more weeks to D-day.

that's the day when the gang will have the annual Xmas dinner-cum-pressie-exchange session.

and, as usual, i am at a lost when it comes to choosing pressies. 

specifically, there are two individuals that i am having problem with. not problem of getting the present... but more like problem of ensuring that the M.U. is up to the standard. 

13 more days of second guesses.

13 more days of what-ifs. 

Arghhhh!

and one of them is even gonna ask for daily hints of what i'm getting for her!

Double Arghhhh!

well, at least i've settled the gift for my godson. guess i'm not THAT bad.

ps: i know, i know... i sound pretty shallow in this entry. but life's full of serious shit lately. i could use some shallowness to lighten my life a bit. 

ignore my earlier rambling...

please ignore my earlier rambling post... me is talking nonsense.

i hate it when i'm in this mood. grrr....

once in a while... i need to rethink my life... and ramble about it.

what's going on around here anyway?

work... work... and more work. i want to feel zen about life, but all this shit is just messing up my focus. i have not had any peace of mind for like... years. 

i can still recall what it was like, to look at the one i love when she was asleep and yet felt absolutely blissed-out.

not anymore.

f**k.

oh well... 

anyway, this dude in the clip looked happy. at least i think he was happy, when i looked at the clip. no story line... no words. just music and some silly dance moves.

and yet... he looked happy. 

i suppose sometimes it's the little things in life that matter.

or maybe someone.

i dunno.

i'm still waiting.

i'll still be waiting. 

ps: i almost went to Mumbai last week! 

and almost stayed in Taj Palace! 

round the exact time when the terrorists attacked!

 

sheesh.

Shanghai... my version of it

spent the last few days walking through the older parts of Shanghai. 

you know, it's kinda weird. people talk about the new shopping complexes there. the new financial district's office buildings. the Bund. the night lights. 

link to google's search on Shanghai photos.

and yet, the old scenes are so much more interesting. so much more potent when it comes to telling stories of the place. 

residents hanging their clothes on the power and telephone lines.

old residential areas.

man busking along the underground tunnel. his face is, apparently, an after-effect from a fire burn.

old lady picking rubbish along the streets... on a 10-degree day. with no gloves. 

i know it's security... but why the nail cutter?

strange how airport security works these days.



"Sir, you can't bring your swiss card along. you'll have to check it in or we'll have to confiscate it."


"ok."


"and your shampoo too.... it's classified as chemicals, see."


"Grrr.... ok."


"and your nail cutter too."


"what?"


"that's right, sir. your nail cutter."


"but why?"


"coz of security. it's in the list, sir."


"list of items that classified as dangerous?"


"yes sir."


"you're telling me that my nail cutter is now a weapon of mass destruction?"


"no sir, just a precaution."


"precaution of what? that i might kill the pilot by cutting his toe nails too deep and let him bleed to death?"


this is not a matter of temporary-inconvenience thing. it's a this-is-getting-out-of-hand thing.


what am i suppose to bring if i am to travel for more than 2 weeks? sand paper?



i know i can bring the nail cutter along if i am to check it in, but that's not the point.


point is, that it doesn't have to go to this extreme.






this is not just nuisance. . .


this is freaking ridiculous!

New words to be included in our primary school syllabus

i dunno about you all, but i seem to see some interesting terms being used more often over the past few weeks than the whole of the last decade. 

"cash-hemorrhaging", is one.  

"too big to fail" is another. 

ditto "market disruption" too. 

cash strapped, i see a lot. but cash-hemorrhaging?

pretty soon, it's gonna be as commonly used as "Burger King" or "Nokia".

maybe these terms will appear in some PSLE exam papers pretty soon... i dunno. it's possible.

a disturbing thought, but possible. 

while you are in shanghai, can you reserve for me a birkin please?

"since you are going to shanghai, can you help me to reserve a paprika* birkin please?" asked my consultant.

for people who has no idea what's a birkin, let's just say it's one of the most expensive handbags a woman can ever get their hands on... that is, IF, they can get their hands on one.








apparently, my consultant has been in the waiting list for 4 years for this elusive bag and she is apparently still waiting for it!


4 years leh.


i think the cow has came home, ganna milked dunno how many tons of milk oledi and still she is waiting for the bag.


all the waiting... all checking... and more waiting.... and more checking...


i must give her credit. she's really on-the-ball about getting what she wants.
maybe after 4 years, she might be on the wrong ball, but nonetheless, damn on the ball.


hope shanghai does not have a 4-year waiting list.

*: oops, my mistake. it should be Wine-red.

Some things have changed... some things stay the same

Sori... been away for almost a month. 

i've been busy... but (yes, i know) that's no excuse. 

thing is, some not so nice stuff had happened to a few of my friends and they made me ponder stuff a bit.

so, things that happened over the last one month (in brief, of course): 

- one dumped her fiance not long before the wedding;

- one walked out of her husband (for being abusive) ; and

- one dumped her girlfriend for being too possessive.

initially, the bombardment of questions and cold stares they got...

... it was hell.

"how come like that?"

"can things work out somehow?"

"how to tell parents?"

"how to tell friends?"

"how to tell relatives?"

"can it be that bad?" 

but you know something? 

"so what."

no one wakes up one day and decide, "let's go screw someone's life."

but shit happens.

if someone's not treating you well? walk. so what.

if someone's abusive? walk. so what.

life's still fully of nice stuff.

i still have friends who decide to getting hitched;

i still have friends who decide that the world is decent enough to have kids;

.

.

.

as for me,

i still have hope that worth hoping for.

i still have affections that's worth lusting for.

Neil Gaiman once wrote in Sandman, "What power would Hell have, if those here imprisoned are not able to dream of heaven?"

see, hope can deepen the pain, but it can also brings optimism.

it all depends on how one sees and uses it.

it's the mentality that counts.

and if that's the case, then perhaps nothing is ever that bad afterall. 

now that's a thought.

Woo... what have we here?

a new Volvo model?

nice. 

My new beau...

this, is my new beau.

what can i say, she's chio, and 

wears lots of eye shadow.  *grin*

oh, and her names Asajj.

as for the bond rating or CDS of my new beau, rest assured.

as of today, the MTM gain is oledi 28%...

which is quite decent for a 4-month holding period these days.  :) 

so, to anyone who has any bright ideas as to who i might be referring to yesterday, 

please re-align your idea.

you know who you are. hahahaha

Houston (or London... or Singapore... or wherever), we have a problem

(charts from Bloomberg)

STII lost 7.3% in a day. 

Tokyo lost 9.6%; 

Sydney, 8.3%; and 

FTSE plunged 8.85%. 

all in one single bloody day!

this is ridiculous. 

but this is not the main problem.

fact is, no one knows when it's ever gonna end. 

that, is the main problem.

anyway, anyone who wants to read more about this mess, please read this week's Economist. or better still, go read Martin Wolf's weekly articles published in F.T..

as for me, i'll just go and laze around and recuperate, since i vomited too much blood over the past week. 

---------

oh, and by the way, there's a new girl in my life.

she's tall... 

exotic looking... 

uses lots of eye shadows...

and she has this interesting dress sense. 

oh, and her name begins with an "A".  *ahem*

maybe i'll post one of her photos tmr. i dunno. 

maybe.

Jane Austen. . . Vanity. . . Me

Jane Austen once wrote, that, "Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief."

and what mischief indeed. 

over last few weeks, i went 败家 again. well, i should say i almost went 败家.

i said "almost", coz i didn't get the ones that did the most damage. it's more like half-败.

but still, some considerable damage is done.

Mental note: Paragon is wicked. Grrrr. . . 

1, i understand; 2, i comprehend. but 5?

the more i look at the number of spotties we got, 

the more absurd it becomes.

this is ridiculous! hahahaha 

but godson happy, so i'm good. 

Banks kaput, banks becoming gahmen owned... & bank run.

Lehman, WAMU, AIG... i dun even wanna count how many have gone kaput over the recent months.

most have gone down the toilet. others are now gahmen owned. 

in most cases, i suppose we can point the fingers at greed. greed made us value things more than what they are really worth; greed made us assume that risks can be managed so long as we can split them into small enough units and spread over enough people. and greed made us believe, that there's such a thing as principal-protected investment products. 

i dun mean to be rude (well, actually i am) but high interest with principal protection products are nothing but figment of ones' imagination!

come on lah people, stoopid means stoopid.  you truly believe that there are such risk-free products? just think about it. it makes no common sense. 

which brings me to the second matter - myopic tunnel vision. 

couple of days ago, one of the asian banks got hit when a rumour (that it is going to collapse) was spread via sms. hundreds of clients queued to get out their funds. 

oh yes, it was on the papers and news. and i was there and i saw the customers.

i saw them nicely seated in aircon lobby. had drinks. had food.

i saw order. 

but at the same time, there was something ridiculous about the sight. 

and it was that in mist of this chaos, while these people were trying to break their FDs and get out their principal, they actually argued about the interest calculation. about how much interest shd they collect. oh, and if the "promo rates" which they have locked-in can be calculated when they break the contracts. 

hello?

come on lah! if a bank is collapsing, you think the few dollars matter? you sorry arse should be happy simply becoz you get to have your principal back. 

------------

make no mistake, we are surrounded by petty arse who have no sense of logic nor priority. they can't see the big picture. even when one faces a derelict situation where millions could be lost, greed still kicks in. 

these people will never learn. 

and when the next crisis comes, they will make the same mistakes. again.

this, i can guarantee you.

The Spotty has landed.... err, make that TWO spotties.

Finally! i got my hands on them.

which means no more sad godson. or at least, no more mother-of-my-godson telling me that my godson is sad and that i have let him down.

made me having trouble sleeping at night. 

that woman is an extortionist! muahahahaha

but no matter, coz once again, godpa has delivered.

damn i'm good. 

i'm getting very good. hahahaha 

Spotty

just who is spotty? well, it's a very very important comfort toy to my godson.

see, he has two spotties (well, one is supposed to be used as spare though it's no longer the case, but that's another story) and he likes to carry both of them around, especially when he wakes up. 

anyway, to keep a long story short, i'm tasked to find a third spotty (just in case one gets dirtied... or whatever is the god-damn reason that denies him the luxury of having 2 at a go).

initially, i thought i finally managed to nail it, but turned out that the staff reserved me some wannabe instead.

(i'll have to deal with the staff separately on this.) 

anyway, after spending half of my Saturday sieving through pages and pages of google'd links, i managed to locate another spotty. hope can get our hands on it soon... or the-mother-of-my-godson will keep namo-ing me till the cow (or in this case, the giraffe) comes home. 

Oktoberfest...

Ahh... Oktoberfest. 

imagine setting up a tent the size of a soccer field, setting up rows upon rows of benches and tables, delicious German food, beer, live band... and being served by ladies in dirndl. 

i tell you, this is an open invitation to get drunk!

and true enough, like everyone else, i got drunk. 

how i come to realize that i was really high, was when:

(a) i actually drank 5 pints of beer. (hang on, i can't remember when was the last time i ever had 5 pints)

and (b) when it was actually a good idea to stand up on benches/tables and join in to sing "YMCA".  (ok, this is like so embarrassing)

anyway, i merlion'd. 

not there in the tent, of course.

only merlion'd when i got back.

not very glam, but...  yeah. 

and the cause?

not the pork knuckles, or the beer... but the champagne. 

actually, it's the combi of the three that kills.

moral of the story?

pork knuckles + beer = good

pork knuckles + beer + champagne = bad. 

the 2 boys...

my godson and his brother fight with each other from time to time. they fight over attention... over cartoons... and toys. 

they fight over toys all the time. every single toy.

typical sibling rivalry.

but once a while, if you are patient enough, you will see some brotherly love between them. 

Awww... nice.

Lavender kiss tea... by the pot, please

went back to TWG again a couple of days back. and this time, i tried the Lavender kiss tea. it's actually pretty good, not to mention the nice looking tea pot that comes with it. 

overall, the tea quality is excellent. 

and the pastries there were decent enough, though the choice are kinda limited. 

the only complain i have, is that the seats are too close to each other. not enough space to space out (duh). 

definitely not enough for me and my friends to bitch (i mean err... discuss! yes, discuss about deals) without being afraid of being overheard.

still, maybe one of these fridays, i'll just clear half day leave, sit there, and rot.

nice. 

Geylang Serai - crowd... rain... and sinful food

i must admit, i dun get to eat much local delicacies. not that they are not around, just that i dun get to eat them.

so, in view of the Malay festive season, i had a shot in the traditional malay food. ok, maybe not that traditional, but stuff i dun get to eat/see often.

this uncle is making what is known as Ramly burger. ok, i have no idea who Ramly is, but the burger's actually quite good. sinful (splattered-with-oil-sort-of-sinful), but good.

this store was selling otah. but what's new to me, was that this was the first time i've come across otah with prawn fillings.

and what's more interesting, was that while 2 ladies were in front selling, there were 3/4 more people at the back busy making them. right there! on the spot! 

by the road!

hang on... is that even allowed? 

Hmm...

Bo liao post - laundry bags

a friend once commented that i should use laundry bags for my office shirts. "it prevents the fabric from being pulled forcefully," she said.

"just dump the shirts into the bag, and the bag into the washing machine and voila!" 

sounds like a miracle invention if you ask me, since my office shirts do not exactly come cheap. why risks it when a bag can cost as low as SGD2 from Daiso.

so i googled the word and at least 10 pages of laundry-bag-related stuff came up. (hey, this is promising)

heck, they even have online stores providing personalized laundry bags services. 

(wow... guess this product must be damn good, since a cottage industry can actually be created out of a bag that's full of holes).

but umm... i dun get it.

i mean, how will putting shirts in a bag make them clean? wouldn't the bag restrict the fabric from rubbing against each other (thereby rubbing off any dirt)? i'm no washing machine expert, but if you think about it, that should be the case, no? 

and when i looked again at the pages of links that i googled (ok, maybe just the first 3) , none of them actually state how laundry bags can effectively clean clothes. none. zilch. nada. 

most are links which sell laundry bags.

others are links which lead to other links (duh) that sell laundry bags.

which bring us to the main question - do laundry bags actually work in getting stuff clean anyway?

coz if not, what's the point of using them? why use them when they can't perform the primary function of cleaning stuff?

perhaps having such bags is not about cleaning stuff. 

perhaps it's about convenience. 

perhaps it's about not losing one's socks (or anything else that comes in pairs, come to think of it).

who knows?

but if they are not useful in helping to clean whatever-that-are-in-them, then it must be one of those bo-liao inventions that linger in our lives for the wrong reasons.

.

.

.

.

.

in the mean time, i've just bought 8 laundry bags and they (each with a shirt, of course) are now happily spinning in the washing machine, while i carry on satisfying my alter ego as a weekend blogger. 

guess i now know why laundry bags are invented after all - so that people can have more time on hand to do even more bo-liao activities.

bizarre week - i win some... i lose some... and i win some again

In a nutshell...

i bought this...

... i lost this...

... and i replaced the a/m with this. 

___________

funny thing, when one loses his/her hp. i suppose most people would feel the anger.. and desperation... or even, panic. but for me, i'm actually kinda zen about the episode. i dunno why, i just didn't feel any of the above.

i just strolled into the telco store and got myself another phone (well, since i'm at it, i might as well get the best available, but that's another story). 

ok, so transferring the contacts were a chore. but by the time you read this, it's done. so i'm good.

hmm... couple of years ago, i would have been most livid about it. not now though.

i wonder why.

meditate on this, i will. 

Starwars Clone Wars - the one-word review

Avoid.

Star Wars The Clone Wars SUCKS!

George Lucas' Clone Wars sucks. big time.

period.

if you think that Part 1 to 3 are really bad, then this cartoon is, to me, the final nail to the coffin. i mean, compare to this, part 1 to 3 are like oscar contenders. 

there is no story plot. 

there is no character development. 

and those silly tin-can robot "roger-roger" soldiers have more screen time than Asajj Ventress!. how can? Grrr...

i caught the afternoon show today (Sunday) and there were less than 30 people in the cinema hall. 

30! on a sunday afternoon! and we are referring to a show that only started 3 days ago!

i should have known, when the cartoon only received USD27mio after 15 days of screening in US. 27mio! that means it earned less in 15 days what The Dark Knight earned on the opening day. 

think i'd be better off watching The Dark Knight the fourth time (yes, i've watched it thrice). 

think i'd enjoy more watching ants crawl around the table, or my JRT sleeps.

in fact, think i'd enjoy ironing my office shirts more (which goes to show how much i really hated this cartoon, since i really really hate ironing). 

another pissed off day... another pig out session

ahh... Peach Garden. 

a place, where the banking clan meet for lunch.

a place, where one can still find venison in RP area. 

a place, where food is served in micro portion? 

food wise, i have no complain. 

price wise, i have no comment. 

not no complain... but no comment. 

you go figure.

prawns with salad cream.

scallop with vege.

shark bone soup

venison.

beehon

ice jelly with coconut.

when it rains... doodle

it has been pouring non-stop over the last 2 days. And the whole weekend's ruined! ruined! sigh.

oh well, since i have oodles of time, i might as well do some photoshop doodling.

damn the s/w is good. think i use less than 3% of its full potential.

what's with me and food this week anyway...

this has been a pretty lousy week for me. well, work wise, at least. 

and when i'm in that mood, i sort of look around for food. i dun pig out, of course. i just sort of... splurge on food. 

mango cake from Cova at Paragon...

kamo seiro (spelling?). again from Paragon. 

TWG's artas tea. this is a new joint in RP. 

less than a week old, if i'm not wrong. 

hmm... think will write more about this place soon. 

they actually sell Phu 'Er by the pot. Amazing.

... and of course, baby back ribs from tony romas. 

i feel like a glutton. 

i dun eat like one, surely. but i just feel like one. 

Sheesh. 

-------

Anyway, on a side note, my consultant has send me an executive order - from now on, i'm not to buy anymore pastries for gatherings. 

no more. 

i'm not actually sure why that order came about. but it may have got to do with the fact that we have tried pastries from Bakerzin to Hilton; from Candele to Cova... and all within a short span of a couple of months. 

well, i suppose she thinks that's about enough. 

either that, or she thinks that i have absolutely no imagination in coming up with food alternatives and took the easy way out.

whatever.  *roll eyes*

so, during the next gathering, i am to provide a dessert known as Ah-bo-ling. 

huh? si mi lai eh? 

quite frankly, i have no idea what that is. i dun believed i have ever tried it.

hmm... an interesting challenge. an interesting challenge indeed. 

wonder if paragon sells them. 

... and then, there's The Little Prince

This, is another of my fav. it's another book where you get to learn something new every single time you read it. really. 

but this is not a book review, so i'm not gonna write about the story. i just want to say that i especially love the brown fox.

... So the Little Prince tamed the brown fox. and when the time for him to leave was approaching:

'Oh!' said the brown fox. 'i am going to cry.'

'it's your own fault,' said the Little Prince. 'i never wished you any harm; but you wanted me to tame you...'

'i know.' said the fox.

'and now you are going to cry!' said the Little Prince.

'i know.' said the fox.

'so you have gained nothing from it at all!'

'yes i have gained something,'said the fox, 'because of the colour of the corn'

i think i'm kinda like the brown fox. in fact, i think we all have a bit of the brown fox in us.

we sometimes choose to do what we do,

not because we like to,

but because we have to.

even when it hurts.

even if it hurts.

"side note: strange, but me is getting a little emo lately... must be the Pisces thing."

Emily Dickinson... Open Me Carefully

all the people i know are aware of Shakespeare. 

a good chunk would know at least one of the Bronte sisters. 

and Jane Austen.

etc etc etc...

but i kinda like Emily Dickinson myself. been having this book for years and i can still find nice quotes in it from time to time. 

not all her works are for keeps, of course. but when she's good, she's good. 

"When i hoped, i feared -

Since i hoped

i dared."

i like. 

'nuff said.