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.