In Conversation with Kevin Spacey

29th April 2005, Friday

A day away from work and a initiation to a fantastically long weekend...Came to Hotel Intercontinental (always remembered blissfully for its nice lavatory ambience, best for the big brown business) for the product symposium... and my 3rd time to the hotel's ballroom

Actually it's the food we came aiming for and the avalanche of food from the registration snacks to the tea break and the lunch did not disappoint...

From muffins, egg/chicken/tuna sandwichs to samosa & doughnuts to fried rice with leek &potato soup, pasta salad, sauteed fish, teppanyaki sauced chicken, juicy beef and french pasta, brownie, ice cream, fruits to satisfy your taste buds...

But in between we have to tolerate through the few talks given by the elite staff of the company from the States, U.K. & Taiwan (oh that Taiwanese really bring boredom to an entirely new level)...

Then during lunch while we are happily savouring the food, the few guest speakers came over to out half empty table & tried to mingle with us over lunch... we duly obliged and reprocicated...

Typical questions about their products and equipments as well in what aspects could they improve... we of course replied in our typical, nonchalant way, "Your stuffs are good but a bit too expensive"...

Next came the usual questions about our island:

"How big is your country?"
We were dumbfounded for awhile... then uttered "42km in length 20 something km in width"
Bottom line: It's pathetically small... we talked about Las Vegas and Grand Canyon and I'm sure the Grand Canyon encompasses S'pore quadrillion times over!

"What's the current population now?"
4.2 million... and only half are real Singaporeans, and that's the bottomline...

"Where can we go in Singapore?"
wow that's a tough one ... we are really short of ideas... we suggested zoo and Sentosa which I doubt interest them also... too bad our intergrated resort with casino ain't not ready yet to entertain them...
Then one of the guy, Chris Steake whom I said looks like Kevin Spacey, mentioned that he would love to go Indonesia and Malaysia... The girls been, pretty undiplomatic, deterred his intentions, claiming places like Jakarta & Johore Bahru ain't the safest place to go to now... some part is true, but it may not necessary so anyway

Our advice to Kevin...er..Chris was to dress casually (shabbily) and not to draw too much attention on him self...hey he is a bald 6 feet 2 Caucasian, in either place he would stand out like me in Congo...

Then he mentioned he would love to go to Batam to sight-see...hmmm...
I haven't been to Batam personally but it could be a quick getaway to locals especially local men over the weekend to satisfy their ever-vibrant libido... I wonder what he was thinking to derive from there...


Trying to get lucky at Batam...

Well, after the symposium, the nice conversation and the sumptous lunch, I head to La Tendo of course and they sure had a massive stock in stall over these few days, I am deemed to spend a fortune over this weekend... and I am sure is a willing party....heehee

Japanese word of the day:外人　~ga-i-ji-n~ (Foreigner) sure nice to talk to some now and then

Home Sweet Home...

28th April 2005, Thursday

Just a pretty quick note for today, don't feel too obliged to write more (actually my mind is too full of how to restructure my Football Manager 2005 game asI felt my current game lacks the bite seriously)...

The entire day at work I long to rush home to start a brand new game as I fervently counting down the seconds, even comtemplated with the option of taking a half day leave...
Browsing through the Sports Interactive community forum doesn't help the cause at all...

How I wish I could be in the comfort of my home, doing everything I love to do and live to accomplish... surely there's no a better place like home

Of course the holiday mood is surely kicking in with a impending long holiday (due to Labour Day on Sunday, making Monday an automatic public holiday)...guess what I would be preoccupied with the entire weekend... oh come one, isn't it very obvious?

But I am also looking forward to another rampage purchasing session at La Tendo as well as savouring the nice "tim sum" at Yumcha on Sunday as a belated birthday/ advance mother's day celebration for mom (actually I should be the one indulging in the food the most)

Alright time's up, sigining off now...

Japanese word of the day:家 ~U-chi~ (Home) There's no place in the world like it!

Death of a salesman...

26th April 2005, Wednesday

No not to delve into the well-known broadway written by Arthur Miller.
It just that there was a pretty persistant yet unprofessional salesperson that really irritated my supervisor yesterday who herself was preoccupied with a product specialist and could not take time off to entertain the tactless salesperson...
Well which leads to realise that in our line, there had been salesperson in and out, trying to get their share of the profit pie from our research institute which is always in need of all sorts of raw materials, chemicals, kits, equipments etc..
There have been a few pretty infamous ones which I would like to list out today...

Before so I would like to introduce to 2 new faces in the music scene which i think should highlight:

Firstly Kimura Kaela,木村カエラ.
She's a 21 years old lass, originated from the prefecture of Kyoto, and heard she had a mix parentage, half Japanese, half Britishm, which explains her sharp features (could be surgery as well)

She might looks like a crossbreed of Kaori Mochida (Every Little Thing) & Ryoko Hirosue, but I was totally infatuated with her in her MV, "Happiness"... her bubblegum rock-chick cuteness takes my breathe away...seems like the "Avril Lavinge-Michelle Branch-Skye Sweetnem" rock babes uproar is spreading to Japan and well represented in Kaela-chan...Well she even has a photo-blog of her own... *Adding to my favorites now*

Next the one that claimed to be "U.K's answer to Justin Timberlake", Tyler James, a 22 year-old lad from east London and took years to break into the scene..

Behind that suave appearance is a real talent of a songwriter... his own composition and 2nd single, "Foolish" has been receiving plenty of air play on local radio and always gets me going.. sounds so much like Prince/the Symbol/the artist formerly known as Prince...

Ok now for the main topic about the list of repugnant salesperson that have graced our workplace over my time here:

1. M.P.D. It's an abbreviation for "Mo Peng Da"... given by the acid tongues female colleagues of mine.. "Mo Peng" actually means pock-marked, referring to the scarred face of this particular salesgirl from acne/pimples attack... "Da" is for "Big" referring to her wholesome assets which I never take notice myself..this I swear. This is because got that listless "dead" eyes and that inability to hold a conversation (even for 0.3 nanosecond) despite her profession as a salesperson for scientific tools and kits. She was the one that irritate my supervisor yesterday as she tried to pester us to engage on her robotic kits which we had decided to opt for a cheaper alternative. Using her looks (what looks!?!) she always enchants our dear JxMMy D. within her fingers and they sure is a match made in heaven with those "dead-eyes".... Once when she invited us for lunch and she was sitting at one end and JxM at the other, I swear the entire stretch could be as "dead" as Parliament...
2. Szesze... Close to blood-sucking African fly Tzetze, but actually his name is P. Sze. He was the one that used to provide us with the clean-up kits which had recently discontinued... Overall he is okay but he gives people the feeling that he is always trying to save his own ass, and not willing to go that extra stretch to asisst people. Like for the case in which the products had been discontinued & we had sent the purchasing order for past batches that they had yet fulfilled. He simply asked us to cancel the order which could be pretty cumbersome and he even failed to produce an official letter of discontinuation... This salesman loves to use Mandarin for conversation even when I initiated one in English.. the worst part is that he is a pretty touchy guy, who once had caressed my thigh....urgh...
3. Da Niao... The most notorious of the lot. "Da Niao" (大鳥) was actually derived from his name (go figure).. and this guy used to be an acquintance of mine back in my 1st 3 months in Serangoon Junior College. He was always a pretty passive guy who seldom talked much, so knowing that he had took up this profession sure bewilders me. The problem is that he wasn't that good of a salesman either. That was once he was to distribute their latest catalouge for my supervisor to browse through. We were all in our lab doing some routine stuff, he would waltzed in, without a greeting or a sound... slowly approached my supervisor's workstation and realised she wasn't there. He just placed the catalogue and waltzed his way out of the lab, all these while taking granted of our presence without uttering a sound....He's the best! Once we shifted to our new location, he was been "head-hunted" (rumoured to be) to the same company as M.P.D. as the company has acquired the distribution rights of the brand of products which Da Niao is well-versed of and been selling for ages. His continuing presence really started to irritate the girls and once again an ally to JxMMy D (oh believe me, he is buddy to every mother's sons/daughters) whom he tried to clinch many deals with JxM's recommendation. However its the girls who are in charge of the purchase and they totally ostracize his products. LF even sent an e-mail to his boss to complain about his unprofessional behaviors, till he was been banned from our vicinity! It reached a boiling point when a former colleague of his told the girls that he took a fancy of another of my female colleague, Y.M...Last heard he as been fired from the company, truly wish him well and out of my sight....

Not all salespersons are as repugnant as those mentioned above. There was one they called "Frog" due to his slighty protruding forehead, thus slanting his eyes a bit like frog does. This well-attired, tactful and professional salesman is based from the company they provided us with the our main working machines and the related chemistry, acessories etc. Our supervisor took very highly of this guy and he would tie up all loose ends almost instatneously upon our requests. Of course he was also under the banter of "Y.M. Fanclub", noticing her every move and difference and he once had to stressed he spent $250 for a couple of boxes of high class Godiva chocolates (which doesn't taste as well as to jusitify that high cost),this fact that he had to emphasize did not go too well with the girls ...

Well there would be more sales people to appear now and then and time to get judgmental by then...

Japanese word of the day:セールスマン　~se-rusu ma-n~ (Salesman) Some are professional, the rest just dunno why they are there...

Derailed and de-reel...

26th April 2005, Tuesday

Yes I'm in the robot room all by myself (go Celine...don't wanna be all by myself...) typing yet another post so that I could have more spare time for my Football Manager hours in the evening...

Generally today almost patterns itself after yesterday except there are less routine stuffs I need to cover and I made sure I started the white elephant running the moment I stepped into the lab, so that I could jolly well finished up the pending truckload I mentioned about...

Managed to transfer some of the anime files I had in my workstation to my brand new notebook harddisk, and seriously I could see the difference in speed between a USB 2.0 pod with that of its predecessor, the USB 1.1 which my workstation could solely provide...

One massive news that hit me while I was flipping through a copy of the free distributed Today...
A deadly railway accident occured at Amagasaki, a suburb of Osaka yesterday morning resulting in 73 deaths (latest) and injuring more than 400 others...

It is definitely the deadliest train accident in over a decade in a relatively safe-travelling country like Japan, and sure makes me feel queasy as I would actually be embarking on my trip to Osaka in August... well at least now the authority would put in extra attention to ensure the overall safety of railway ...
If I was to go for the trip now, I'm sure Mr Wet-blanket himself, JxMMy D would add in a brief comment like.."er... you still dare to go Japan ah.. got train accidents leh..." I would sure give him a "Stone Cold Stunner" just for that, my friend...

After gracing through my buddy's blog, I got a feeling that my own domain is a wee bit too wordy and seriously in dire needs of some pictures...

Perhaps there are seriously too few occasions in my deadpan life to be highighted with nicely taken pictures nor am I that photogenic nor am I well-skilled in Adobe Photoshop like Xia-xue. My self narcissism has not yet reach that level that I should adorn my entire blog with nothing but my own pock-marked face...

However I would try to incorporate more pictures in the future if my Canon Ixus is not that busy snapping pictures of my toys collection instead...

Japanese word of the day: 写真~sha-shin~ (Photographs) need more here for sure!

Breeze on By

25th April 2005, Monday

Taking referance to the recent Donny Osmond's single (yes that brother from the Osmonds is still around and kicking... ~don't love me for fun girl, so let me be the one girl, love me for a reason, let the reason be love~~)
My Sunday did breeze on by especially when I manage to correctly format my newly-acquired notbook harddisk after calling the tech support from Best Bargain, Aliff was a great help... but so is Rahimu san, Chin san and whoever appears in the Japanese textbooks..heehee
Well it was simple, I just need to run a command on the "RUN" option in the startbar, it was quite evident that my harddisk is uninitiated and lying dormant... However I could never understand on the fact that they promised you 80GB of wonderful hard disk space but i truth you only get 74.5GB!?!
Do you know how many goodies can I stuff within that 5.5GB of space they cheated me off... more anime epsiodes, more mp3s, more jpgs/gifs/bmps of Celest and Linda, more useless old emails my friends sent to me in the past, more porn...ahem... arts-related documents...
Well I can never win can I...

Talking about can't win, spent my entire day, well almost the last 10 hours before I call it a day, engaging in my highly-stressful managerial appointment at Barcelona.. with fixtures coming fast and furious and a limited squad to choose (somehow those fictitious 15 years old wonderkids I created are ineligible for every damn competitions), I had to conjure and salvage whatever results from multiple fronts (Champions League, Primera Liga and Spainsh Cup) to appease my board of directors in the Nou Camp...

There was one tough tie against Man Utd in the Champions League group stage... It seems like Ruud van Nisterooy and Wayne Rooney are on steriods or something, they just couldn't be stopped , and Paul Scholes got like a magical midas touch, as wherever he shoot, maybe even in Zimbawe, the ball would always resulted at the back of the net..But in the reality now if Man Utd is to play Barca , even at Old Trafford, Barca would most probably come on top... But not so in this game when the Red Devils just couldn't be held, let alone beaten... of course Trazanspor from Turkey could hold them 0:0 and Aston Villa can beat them but my team of on-form superstars seem to go jelly when they face their opponents from England.. Fortunately unlike Rijkaard in real life, I could always "Quit Game" at any point and restart the duel... (yes I'm a no-good sore loser, bite me monkey-boys!)
Even stooping that low, I got sick of spending 2 hours on one measly game without any joy, so I was pretty okay with a 1:2 loss, and swore to get my revenge on the home leg...

This game, under the meticulous concoction of Sports Interactive who knew what the fans want at all time, is sure more addictive than the Eidos one...So more of me biting my nails in front of the monitor for the next few days/weeks/months/years/centuries...

Back to work today, knew I had a truck load of plates to process, plus the usual Monday machine maintainence that would keep me preoccupy for the entire morning...

But once again JxMMy D just had to get into the mix...

1. He forwarded an email to me regarding a new product which resembles the kits that had been discontinued, he stated each reaction would cost 0.90 Singapore cents.. oh come on, the previous kit cost around 40 cents per reaction, and this is so much cheaper, I really doubt so, perhaps he had typed the email in such hush (as he always does, full of grammatical errors and structural problems in his sentences), that he mistyped "dollars" with "cents"...
2. Realised he copied my template for the notice to inform all the ingrate users that we would be going for a product symposium on coming Firday (WOO HOO!!) and we would be close for operation till next Tuesday after the Labour Day holiday (WOO HOO HOO!!!) ... He even wrote that we would be back on Monday ( calling JxMMy D back to earth..hello...) and in such unprofessional scribbles that even a kindergarten kid would do a better job... So to save some face to our department, I did a fast Microsoft Words document which was pretty much hassle free and looks so much more presentable...

For the rest of the day I would be residing peacefully in that robot room ($800,000 white elephant ladies and gentlemen) , doing what should be done, surf the internet and even typing this post...

Oh yeah not to forget wishing I could be home now playing my Football Manager 2005....

Japanese Word of the day: そよ風　~so-yo-kaze~ (Breeze) Life can be a breeze at times... but really really rare ocurrence for myself.

Damn Ogling Men

24th April 2005, Sunday

Mom went to Ipoh for some "religious" purposes so the household is a bit disarray and Dad is especially bored...heehee

Anyway yesterday was a really nice, hot and humid Saturday which I spent a majority of it with my girlfriend...
The main agenda on my mind was to hit to Sim Lim Square to get my portable notebook hard disk which I managed to find one at this shady little Indian shop called Best Bargain.
As the name implied they definitely offered the best bargain at least for the 80 GB notebook harddisk I was looking for, and the friendly (not to mention well-rounded physically) Muthu there who lent a hospitable approach does add up the marks for them...
So I purchased a 80GB Samsung 5400RPM 8MB Notebook HDD as well as a nice aluminum hardbox to shelter and protect the delicate disk...
They even offered to assemble for me which is a plus as well as I always had problem with all these PC hardwares...
Under the prompting of my girlfriend, also bought a Kingston 512MB CF card for our upcoming Japan trip, thus we about got all the accessories needed for the trip at this very point...
However my fabulous luck was to go on wild streak again as I happily plugged up the Hi speed USB 2.0 connections to my workhorse Dell PC, and indeed it detects the external storage, but there's no icon highlighted in "My Computer", oh great....
I got a ghost storage space which is around just that you can't see it nor use it....
I was really flabbergasted by 12 plus in the morning to rig the HDD up and this was compunded by the fact that it could not be seen on my sister's laptop as well...
Crikeys... need to call and seek assistance as usual...

Another issue that got me a bit tick off yesterday was some lecherous ass-freaks who couldn't get their amorous glares off the nublie flesh of my girlfriend...
Actually she wasn't one who loves skimpy attires and to flaunts (which she has to flaunt in the first place)
However yesterday she was going for the Emil Chau concert and she wore a pretty "cooling" top, which she says she felt like wearing under the excruciating weather...
This fo course lead to all the lecherous stares from the hot blooded male population spanning from Sim Lim all the way to Sunshine Plaza where La Tendo is...
I mean it's their liberty to do so but i still got me pretty tick..perhaps it was a compliment paid for having such a drop-dead girlfriend...

Japanese word of the day:スケベ　~su-ke-be~ (Lechers) Sure have bunch them with wandering eyes around...

Friday I'm in Love....

22nd April 2005, Friday

"I don't care if Monday's blue, Tuesday gray
and Wednesday too...
Thursday I don't care about you &
Friday I'm in LOVE!"

A song by the gothic British band, The Cure back in 1992 surely signifies the importance of the last day of the work week, the very existence epitomizes how well your entire weekend would go...

For me I love Friday nights, it's also the time I feel really laid back yet totally in shambles due to been released for 5 consecutive days of routine work...which is why there are times I dozed off upon first contact with my bed, pretty prematurely than I actually planned it to be....

In fact Friday nights if you go clubbing (not actually taking a club to whack people but what we Singaporeans love to know as "cheong), you could really enjoy yourself because you know you have 2 full days to recuperate from your hang-over...
For me no more "cheonging" since my early NUS days, so what do I normally do on Friday nights?

Usually I call it "Anime Friday" because I would gather all those newly "acquired" anime I had been fervently following for my pleasure viewing in the hours between after dinner & 10 pm.

Be it whether Harima can win the heart of Tsukamoto or whether Ichigo can save Rukia from execution or who else would come and bother the blissful couple of Keichii & Belldandy, Japanese anime sure fill my every second with fun and leisure...

Well 10p.m you might ask , well it's when I tune into 中天亞洲頻道 (CTi) for 2 of my favorite mindless Taiwanese variety programs now...

Firstly is "康熙來了", it's amazing how 徐熙娣 (Dee Hsu, one half of the group ASOS) who envisions herself to be the most slutty TV compere in the Taiwan entertainment scene can align with 蔡康永 (Cai kang Yong), himself a gay and eccentric authour and educator. They are like poles apart but somehow they can really click and this show continues to prosper especially their daily guests include the who's who in the Chinese entertainment scene now, not a single superstar has yet to grace the show and let their secrets unveiled by this dynamic duo...

After that it's "全民大悶鍋", in which a motley crew of Taiwanese top-tier comedienes do their "cosplay" of some famous celebrities and politicians to quabble about anything under the sun that is bothering the current Taiwan state... This show never fails to tickle my laughing bones and my fave is when a really ugly being they called 九孔 (Jiu Kong) started to disguise as some of the hottest male celebrity in Asia at the moment such as Eguchi Yousuke (江口洋介), Bae Yong Jeon & Jay Chou...but the most endearing one & the most entertaining one has to be his personification of 費翔 (Fei Xiang, a 80s singer who look irresistable evn at the age of 40 and a dashing broadway star who sends millions of young girls' hearts flustering)...
He love to croon the twisted version of "Phantom of the Opera" which can be really really hilarious....

I could even laugh till I doze off...

Man looking at what's been keeping my Friday nights alive, I think I need a corner to repent now....

Japanese word of the day:金曜日　~Gin-you-bi~ (Friday) I'm in love!!

Mai..I mean My Hime (Princess)

21st April 2005, Thursday

As we creep into the weekend which I am really looking forward to...the prospect of more toys to be purchased, as well as I most probably be getting the portable hard disk I really need for awhile now, even my girlfriend is coming over tomorrow night...

Back at work, our main vendor would provided us with the useful machines will be holding a symposium next Friday, meaning a good rest day with more free food..damn I'm such a cheapo...

Quite a fair share of interaction with JxMMy D who I enlisted help in rigging up a program on the $800,000 white elephant (the robot by the way) which he committed his full heart and soul into constructing the tags and perfecting it... in fact I had 3 milliseconds of sympathy towards him when one of our female colleague, LF (who really needs to work on her personal interaction skill), points at him blatantly, accusing him of drawing some kind of elicit deal with a sales person whom we loathed, causing them to send a product costing $3000+ permaturely even we had sent the purchasing order over... She just pointed her long slender finger vociferously, which I find pretty rude and if I was JxM I would really fumed up, and there would be no tomorrow, then again I ain't such a push over...

Anyway on the home front, a huge up-heaval last night in the household when my moody sister who had just started part time somewhere on the island and wasn't too please with her beau for choosing watching movie with his friends instead accompanying her to shop for something...well that's their affairs, I rarely dabble mindlessly.
However feeling concern and always having a good impression of that guy, Mom gave her usual advice so that she might not aggravate into a greivous conclusion (the worst a break up)...
Always been big-headed and unreceptive to others' suggestion, my sister snapped back at mom, reproaching her of bringing up an issue she need not at that moment as she was tired from work...
Then all hell break loose as Mom reached her limits and got really outraged, and Dad the bystander once again had to signal his authorative role in the house by hurling "WHAT?!" in the most unpleasant manner, surely did nothing to help the entire situation...

This scenario is all so familiar, it happened a few years back and seriously it seems like our "princess" (as labeled herself) have yet to be more sensible as she was years back...
Always tend to think a world of herself , and perhaps think that the world evolves around her, she has been upholding her reign in our little kingdom all these time and seriously my parents usually obliged due to the fact that they doted her, yet she would deliver some insensitive slander like my parents having favoritism over me...

Seriously I am clueless how I could help to reform her but then that's beyond my control anyway...
She had a pair of doting parents, a good life, a very accomodating boyfriend, I really dunno what else she finds fault in her life...

Then again like all princesses, she can get pretty unreasonable now and then...

Japanese word of the day: 姫　~Hi-me~ (Princess) I'm sure there's one in every household...

A woeful error

20th April 2005, Wednesday

Midweek blues compunded by the fact that I actually got high on anticipation over a game I actually bought wrongly.. here's the gist of the whole case...
When I inserted the disc for installation, I notice the name Championship Manager and the distinctive Eidos label which in the past should be a norm since Eidos is the official distributor...

However I was puzzled on the fact that the official patch from Sports Interactive could not be installed and reflected the error message that there's no Football Manager 2005 been installed..

wait a minute... Foot..ball...Man.....NOOOOOoooo!

I had forgotten about the fact that Eidos upon falling out with S.I. develop their omni-best seller CM series... without S.I., the gameplay and the database just lack that usual bite that got me hook..
I do like the fact that you could do all the options for your squad while the game is in continuation, sure cuts down plenty of waiting time

anyway I bidded for the actual FM 2005, and hope it arrives soon

Back at work, still recovering from the repurcussions of the discontinuation of our usual purification kit and we managed to find other alternatives, and this time got the girls to help...
seems like JxMMy D has turned our lab into a jazz lounge for the entire day..Norah Jones, Micheal Buble, Jaime Cullen, Laura Figi...I never expect that kind of cultured attribute exist within him..

The German collaboraters of ours who we had found to be an item not too long back hit us straight in the face with a pregancy news which was evident yesterday as we spotted the lady with an inflated tummy, fleshier bum and increased bustline.... and no they are not married yet, but going to anyway...

One co-worker who had a leg predicament a month back staggered back to extend his hospitalisation leave which was exceeded to further to June... he whined that it was really boring imprisoned at home, how I wish to be in his shoes, cos I got way too many stuffs to do at home...man I am woefully domesticated....

well now just gonna wait patiently for my FM 2005

Japanese word of the day:失望　~shi-tsu-bou~ (disappoinment) Can blame anyone but myself to not check things out properly

Symposium, just an excuse to wine and dine...

19th April 2005, Tuesday

There's a day long P.I symposium for our institute when some of the principal investigators would give the research community here an insight of what they have been doing..

However to us, the 3 buffet breaks should be more of the attraction...

Gave the morning session a miss due to ease some of the work pile-up from yesterday, and managed to complete everything just before the half past 10 mark so as to be on time for the tea break which we stuffed ourselves with tasty curry puffs downed with milk tea...

We stayed on to support our P.I who gave all researchers an idea how abusive they are to our service, well with JxMMy D around, he is born to serve and been push around... Some of the classic quotes that our supervisor brought up are still fresh in my memories...

Then came a very satisfying lunch but by then I was terribly stuffed and we took the opportunity to spot the assortment of co-workers (all of whom we have designated a unique nickname each for recognition purpose) whom we rarely had a chance to see now that our labs are all segregated to the 8 different levels in the building...

Back to work, an unexpected discontinuation of a certain purification kit left us handicapped with our usual work process, and thus lazed about till 3 plus again for the afternoon tea...

Man, could not imagine taking so many meals a day, since I'm no more in my puberty stage, and the extra food residues surely adds on to around my tummy, thighs, neck, and which ever area the fat cells could squirm their way through....
Even many of the China vultures do not even bother to take their usual flight in for whatever food they could find by then...

The big news from our Parliment yesterday was that the government finally stamp their approval for the amusement centers in Singapore with casinos included in the package..they even thougt of plenty of measures to deter local gamblers and aim for more foreign based ones...
well for me I would not pay $100 for each trip only to lose even more money in the process... I rather spend my time playing my latest Football Manager game, like I am going to now.... seeya

Japanese word of the day:食事　~shoku-ji~ (meals) Had way too many today...

Kick off!

18th April 2005, Monday

Another brand new 5-days work week as I once again counting down the null months which stands between me and my Japan trip... I fell into deep slumber within seconds on my long train trip to work due to the lack of sleep after a couple of episodes of "Gun Grave"

I am really grooving to the mafia storyline which really remind me of an amateur self-drawn/written comic I have read in my younger days...hmm, shall not digress into that... That "Brad Wong-Cannon" storyline though absurd, got a nice pace to it..

An entire day of working my ass off for the Germans (they better bring me for the World Cup next year)...

My mood was bouyed by a rampant Red Devils cruising into the finals of the FA Cup after beating Newcastle 4:1, well not just left the Gunners to oust to continue holding that accolade ..

Talking about the footballing scene, recently bought a "neighbourhood friendly' edition of the latest version of the wildly popular Championship Manager series, now known as Football Manager 5 2005, due to Sports Interactive's ejection from Eidos... Well been an avid supporter of this series for since my love for football develops back in the 1990s.. still remember gathering over a friend's place and could just spend the entire night looking at some statistics and totally entertain ourselves...

However as years gone by I realise playing CM, is like watching porn, you gotta play on your own, especially when the results are not going to your favor, it is always convenient to know that your buddies on the keyboard: "CRTL, ALT & DEL" are there to make sure you would get your ideal results by hook or by crook...

It was my favorite multi-tasking game in which I could watch my fave programmes on TV while chit-chatting over the telephone with friends, and yet able to lead my championship winning squad to more trophies in the cabinet...

Another fave feature of mine is the Pre-game editor in each I could create an alter ego (much like Enminen with Slim Shady), most probably a Dutch young and talented forward with name always containing "Krystofur" and "Heinz"...

I used to be able to play this freaking game all day, all week and even all year long , that my girlfriend slapped a ban of the game whenever she was around... how the addiction was superbly overwhelming, I would creep to start playing it when she dozed off...

well she should expect it as our very first date (way before we became an item) was to acquire a copy of CM....

Surely this management game series and myself had gone a long way, and we are like a pair of inseperable friends...and after looking through some of the screenshots of the new, improved 5th edition, I could feel bubble of excitement effervescing within me...
can't for this new friend to arrive via the post...

Japanese word of the day:　サッカ　~sakkaa~ (Soccer), time to "kick off"...hmm that reminds me of another self drawn/written comic I read in my younger days of bewilderment.

The O.C. Part 2

The 2nd part to perhaps a long lasting series of rants about my obnoxious colleague, JxMMy D...

After the in depth characteristic features about him in Part 1, let's relate some significant tales about our main man that never failed to bore me and my colleagues as we would have our weekly tirade about the man we love to detest...

Love interest

One of the most amazing tale that I wouldn't get sick of listening is JxMMy's love timeline...
Been as down-to-earth as he is, as introvert as he is, he would not be your average casanova or even let his feelings made clear to the girls he ever fancied...

One of his earliest target in our workplace was a former colleague, C who like him one of the pioneer in our service establishment..
Working side by side everyday as well as taking the same part time course at SIM , it would be pretty logical for our male lead to take a fancy to perhaps the only female friend he has in contact to day in day out...
Unfortunately for our stoic friend, she was very attached and this year blissfully wedded to her long time beau...

So JxM D continued his prowl for brand new targets which include a colleague of mine now, YM (whom he was also pretty devastated when he overheard she was attached as well, poor loser..HA HA!)

It was until he met his wife,LL.... It was love at first sight for her, maybe not so much for him.
In fact he was her very first target cum idol when she first joined the company, but he was remotely showing any interest, she went on to fall for a co-worker in her own lab but did not receive the affection she has been giving...
Which resulted her to fall to her very 1st plan and with help from colleagues, managed to brace up her courage to ask JxM D for their initial date (not too difficult if you tell me)
The strange thing is that her initiation was through e-mail and sms but long never got any reply...
The problem lies in the guy, he was waiting for her confirmation of date and venue all along... yikes...

After a few dates, one of the inquisitive colleagues, BY who was also JxM's poly course-mate had to prompt him to reveal the status qup between him and LL, and the ungentlemanly JxM's only response was to be irritated and shrugged his shoulder-blade (one of his trademark movement), and exclaimed "神經 ah!" (crazy!)

well no way the skeleton in the closet was to show and the 2 became an item but the wife after causing successive shut down of the laboratories she was assigned to, decided to seek a new job environment, perhaps to prevent any unnecessary attentions from other people from the company (especially JxM's horde of adoring fans)

And in only 1 and a half year time they wedded, and live happily ever after.. They surely is made for each other, she had a problem with weraing socks underneath her sandals and could really stink like the incinerator while he has a very bad sense of smell...

Hygiene

I mentioned briefly about JxM's hygiene problem in my last post, but there were 2 case that could bring this to a brand new level...
WARNING: The below may contains some nauseating vivid description, so you better not eat anything while reading this....

• Case 1: There was once a colleague spotted him scampering into the Gents urgently with mucus seen decorating hie left cheek....He doesn't carry a pack of tissue paper with him and when a wet sneeze comes by this would bound to happen.
• Case 2: Once when C, JxM D and their SIM friends had dinner at a steamboat restraunt, our dear friend was too indulged in his food that little did he noticed that there were food residues smearing his entire lower jaw area... Just as C wanted to offer him tissue paper to clean up, he turned around and all the residues were gone and it was spotlessly cleansed, just make a guess where the food went to...

Saying the Wrong Thing at the Wrong Time

One of the main reason why I abstain from talking to him is that he has a knack been 100% negative and pessismistic as well as saying the wrong thing at the wrong time...

One case to highlight it all was in 2003 as I was preparing happily for my Japan trip, he asked with concern about my departure date and period of stay which I duly replied... then

J: You think it's ok?
Me: Ok? What you mean?
J: There might be terrorist attack in Tokyo! (That time Osama's Al Qaeda warns Japan about sending troops to assist U.S. in Iraq in their wrecking Hussein's regime)
Me (feeling really hot up by then): well if it happens it happens, I mean we can have it anywhere!
J: yah even in Singapore and Malaysia
Me: No lah we have such huge Muslim population here...
J: no lah, they will "格殺勿論" (kill indiscrimiinately)

From that point I ended the conversation abruptly and stormed to complain to the rest of the colleagues...

Another incident was when the Nobel Prize winning laureate, Professor Brenner invited us for buffet dinner at Shangri La Hotel... While engrossed in his heap of shell fishes and crabs, he made a passing remark when seeing us having our raw oysters, "er.. oysters have high cholesterol level"
Seemingly disturbed by the remark, YM rebuked, "wow you shell fish is also very high in unhealthy cholestrol level"...
Man dude, get a clue they hate your guts, so better keep your comments to your self, don't even anwser when we asked you!

well that's all for this week, stay tuned to the next instalment of what I call.. "The O.C."....

The La Tendo Clique

17th April 2005 Sunday

Came back too late last night, seconds off the midnight timing...
Had a great day hanging around La Tendo once again which had become a weekly pilgrim to satisfy my thirst for new toy collection as well as unlikely companionship in the form of the La Tendo Clique...

Actually had knew Vincent and Tay-chan (Reedy) since 1998 - 1999 when I was involved in the now-defunct DJ Su Pati Pati Fanclub, as Vincent's "Universal Human Network" was the main legal organisation to report any mass gatherings..

After the shut down of the fanclub and me too busy with my other aspects of life, didn't keep contact with Vincent till 2003 when I started going ga-ga over the manga series, "One Piece" and started my gashapon fetish, I was thrilled to find out a long lost friend involved in the trade of bringing such toys in and eventually lent a hand with their fle market establishment at Clarke Quay till early 2004 when they decided to rent a shop at Sunshine Plaza and carved a name for themselves in the local toy scene...

It was also here where a eclectic group of people would gather to share information about their fave interests in manga, anime, toys, model kits and other hobbies...

Beside Vincent and Tay chan, the other omnipresent La Tendo bosses include Matthew who was specializes in his 12 inch customised figurines as well as American toys; Tay-chan's brother, Eng Keong who has an infactuation for Gundam model kits and Transformers, and not to forget Eng Keong's wife, Yan Hui...

Beside your truly in making part a quarter of the LT clique, there are:

1. Chan - The same "Mr Chan" I knew from our Clarke Quay era. Has a love to all nice Japanese figurines, be it gashapons. trading figures, fully painted PVC figurines , transformers, Saint Saiya armored figurines to even some McFarlane figurines... Thomas, a self proclaimed "Handsome" and the son of Father Chan, nephew of Uncle Chan and grandson of Grandma Chan. He has perhaps the closest affliations with La Tendo than anyone else, and his nonsensical rumblings is crucial to entertain us at times.
2. Karen - Perhaps the biggest "One Piece" fan in Singapore ever, yes even bigger than myself. Never writ away from a brand new One Piece merchandise available to purchase. Like yesterday she spent a hefty $50+ dollars on just "One Piece" pencil boards. The only female of the pack, always deliver an indifferent and innocent point of view to many issues.
3. Ferris - Chan's secondary school friend who has a talent in garage kit. Never fail to surprise me each time I have seen him.

Our conversation usually involves us anticipating new products as we flipped through magazines or receive our array of information from the internet, the most convenient thing is to be able to make order from La Tendo themselves of course...
Our love for manga and anime sure plays a large part in the talks and sad to say plenty of "spoilers" of course, sometime just out to spite each other.

We also have a knack in "suan"ing (scorning) each other, but just for the fun of it, nothing malice , and the crew of La Tendo would join into the mix of course..

We also played some part in assisting the crew in the running of the shop at times when they are too caught up to other commitments...
Of course one of the big thing is to pack the toys; and in the form of gashapons, it can be quite a tiresome and painful experience.. Just like the "Bleach Chimakore" gashapons really take a toll on my palms as they are so small with scotch tape wrapping the circumference of the capsules... an immense amount of strength is need to totally open those capsules...
But it can be quite fun doing the un-shelling and the eventual assorting process, sometime can be quite fulfilling...

Well our stay always goes beyond the shop closing hours like yesterday which we proceed for supper and chit chat till the wee hours...

well despite coming from all walks of lives, not knowing each other all our twenty plus years of existence but when you click, you click...
sure can be quite enjoyable to establish a friendship with someone of your same interest and passion, and at times make you forget about the problems at work and life

So here's a post to friendship itself...

Japanese word of the day:　友達　~to mo da chi~ (Friend) I think I might have found some recently.

Armpit Dilemma

16th April 2005, Saturday

Just a quick note for this morning..

Last night called one of my wreckers buddy, CS, the undisputed Pepsiman..After the usual rumbling about his wretched life and work and increased desire to settle down from his girlfriend, he told me the most hilarious joke I have heard in weeks:

My TV was on and there was a program advert about some match-making show from China and I made a passing comment that some Chinese girls can be quite alluring...
CS agreed unremittingly, even citing some flesh and blood examples from his workplace...
He then stressed on a point that he now has an indiffierent view about his China-originated female colleagues...
i thought it might because the ladies would moonlight as prostitutes to beef up their salaries or perhaps led to families break up with their dangerous liaison with some local guys...
Little would I know that the thoughts that made our Pepsiman shudders is none other than the fact that the Chinese girls don't shave their... ARMPITS!!!

Once again CS takes the cake for such absurd revelations...

Coincidentally when we ended our call by midnight, my the other buddy, TW, the bubblegumlion came online in MSN and guess what he also did got his blogspot membership to account his Japan stint online....here.
Man even so many miles apart we can click in such way, seriously no agreement before-hand...
Well tonight he would rig up his web cam again so we could really chat...

Lastly just a run through of the anime I'm watching recently:

1. Tsubasa Chronicles - Based on the Clamp's manga series, "Tsubasa Reservior Chronicles" which I thought only featured Syaoran and Sakura from "Cardcaptor Sakura" but little did i know it's the ultimate guide book on who's who in the Clamp Universe with characters of "Chobits", "Magic Ray Earth", "X", "Clamp School Detective"... Nice opening and ending tracks as well
2. Gankutsuou - The ending is impeccable, a lavish display of Gonzo's ability to show the beautiful scenery of France.. Love the Gallic feel for the entire series and the intriguing story based on "The Count of Monte Cristo", just glad the surviving characers had a happy ending.
3. Gungrave - Watched the 1st 3 episodes, I like the whole Sicily like Mafia story, Rad the Mad dog is a scary character on how he torments Brandon Heat and friends.
4. Samurai Champloo - Also watched the 1st 3 episodes, Edo Samurai mix with hip hop music, how cool is that? Solid storyline but feel the producers seem trying to hard to impress at times.

More to come tonight...mata

Yeah a bonus, what's next ?....a house?

15th April 2005, Friday

Coming to a roller coaster week in week I was so dampened and crumbled in my morale level to a fantastic bonus package set to me to an orgasm I had not experienced since my last surprise (which was so long ago, I couldn't sketch it in my mind)

A pretty short day for me since I applied leave for my administration stuffs with my parents at the HDB for the transfer of ownership for my current place...

So I waltzed into my lab, and once again a "love letter" from you-know-who, this time in dull red marker, slightly resembling blood (don't tell me he got menses too?).. more bad news this harbinger brought, but in such high spirits I took it with a pinch of salt...

Then my boss told me JxMMy D's wife who had a recurring health problem (I sincerely wish her quick recovery) is down with the sickness again (slipped disc? a trip to the gynea?), and of course a caring hubby like our dear friend had to accompany her and unwillingly had to apply for emergency leave...

On other days (like the past Monday), when the workload is managable I would even hound him to take his leave (which last I check still holds at 867957578586087 days, this stoic and boring freakass never applies for leave, I tell you)... However as you guys would know the Germans had started their second plates invasion and I am withstanding the end of it all by myself...~~ don't wanna be all by myself anymore (Air Supply you there again?)

Plus I gotta serve those god-forbbiden mother-sons/daughters from my institute...man I need to quicken my pace...which I found out that I still had the bounce on my feet since yesterday... money sure makes my life worthwhile...

However I notice another point of animosity arising from another part of my lab, it seems like my colleague BY is still pretty bitter over the fact that she got a lesser bonus package, and could sense the tension everytime I'm near them and the scoff in their words...
Hey to keep the records straight I'm on your side, girls... But then again, because of slight difference for the fun of it... "HA HA SUCKER!"... ahem, if they ever read this I think I would have no tomorrow...

So very routine stuff that preoccupied my entire morning that I had no time for my daily dosage of internet and barely had time to finish my lunch before Dad came to pick me up..

Well my father is you typical, ego-headed & remotely-funny guy who is very talented and down-to-earth but due to lack of luck and his temperament, if not he would be a very successful man...
He loves to lambast about his wretched job & life, no one seems good enough for him at times...
Seriously even my mom been the only one that could tolerate his behaviour for the last 20 over years, grew weary at times.. she sure is a very patient woman...
Anyway I mentioned that I wanted to to drop back home to grab my bank book so I could pay a rapid visit to the bank, he then kept persuading me to not go as it would really crowded this time...he could have told me he needs to get back to work after our HDB appointment..

well in the end I did go to the bank and it was a dead town..me 1: dad 0

At the HDB office, a lot of paperworks needed to be done and clarified and Dad once again wasn't too impressed the whole procedures and got off with his usual whining..
Then as the officer slowly went through the doubts with us he brought up the same questions we just asked moments ago...
Well my old man did have a hearing problem after years of toiling at the construction sites which are always filled with high decibels...
Lastly he even was anguished by the fact that our apartment's value depreciated from the cost they acquire back in 1996, oh there's something call economic recession and property depreciation...

Well my obstinate old man would remain the same forever I guess...

Japanese word of the day: 親父　~Oyaji~ (my old man) He sure is one of the kind

There is a God up there... ども ありがとう！

14th April 2005, Thursday

Creeping to the end of the week and I think I slept in some rigid position last night (don't let your imagination runs amok, I did slept alone), got a sore neck for the enture day...Meanwhile my sister is having a good life, as she flew to Hong Kong to "buy stuffs and eat stuffs" .. "買東西，吃東西！"

As I stepped to my lab this morning quite flabbergasted by the fact that I was so close yet so far from managing to board the feeder bus... damn the MRT which schedule which is as fickle-minded as J Lo's choice of boyfriends/husbands...

I wasn't in the right mood when my dear O.C., JxMMy D wrote another of his famous long note, reciting the fact that a lot of stuffs went awry after I left last evening...wooh yeah, surely the perfect welcome note, NOT!

More routine clean up process to be done for the never-ending truck load of samples from our German collaboraters, not even have the few seconds luxury of reading how a very defensive Liverpool managed to stop Juve from scoring in the 2nd Leg of their Champions League Q-finals at Stadio del Alphi, Turin...

Once awhile as the $800,000 "white elephant" robot carried on on its own, I would scamper around to whine about how we are not appreciated by this freaking institute , and no bonus was going to be designated for us for this month... it seems like it would take a fraction of a nanosecond to get anyone to join in chord of pessimism, as everyone hits a level of chemistry never to be found any other time... The more I whined, the more disheartened I made myself, the more I felt the angst filling up my brain and the less the morale is contained within me...

With a dampened mood, a sore neck and a wrecked budget for my entire livelihood happiness, I just wanted to end the afternoon as soon as possible till I came across a few chit-chatting colleagues from the "Se Ban"'s lab... I spotte a couple of them holding letters with our company's letterhead... then a spark of optimism ignites within me... then the most senior of the lot we known as "Lei", asked, "so Kei, got your letter already?"

YES!!!

I need no second clarification to realise what the contents of the letter was about...
Oh baby, you will never know how much I have long for this timely reconcilation, how much I have yearn to slowly disrobe you from your envelope, how much I have wished to caress your body and read you so thoroughly I would regurgitate your contents the very next moment...
And all you need to do is to give me a number followed by a 5-letters word, starting with "b" and ending with "s" and "onu" in between...
Please come to papa, come to someone who can't live without you~~~ (Air Supply melody please)

Someone mentioned a figure a few times above my expectation, and that alone sent me into a state of uncontrolled shivering in extreme ecstacy...
For the next hour or so, I could not settle down properly as the anticipation is empowering my body, mind and soul, as I awaits our phone to ring to beckon us down to the admin department to collect our respective letters of notification...

But it never came so I continued with my own work, trying to be normal and contain my overwhelming want within me...
Then a colleague, LF called me over at the other lab, and the letter had landed safely and ready for redemption...

Like a kid opening his X'mas present, awaiting what's inside, I immediately ripped the pristine white envelope and scan through the contents before reading every single alphabet printed to double confirm...
I got a bonus package way above my benchmark, and I could not contain my joy, and I had to show it to my 2 colleagues, prompting one of them to scurry to read her own...
She said she would be devastated if she did not get as much and the truth is she didn't...
so the scorn and scoff followed, and rumbling about how sexist this institute and that "old hag" at the helms was...
I had to agree and in some parts, I do agree with her accusation...
I'm sure JxMMy D would at least 2 times better my own bonus package

well at the end of the day I would be just glad with that pathetic small package I was hoping for...
ladies and gentleman, my life is back on track... and I worked tirelessly for the rest of the day with a bounce in my pace.. yes I'm that pragmatic, that calculating, that realistic, so bit me monkey boy!

Lastly I met up with this particular buyer from yahoo auctions, of a couple of Pokemon figurines..
Already had a bad impression about him as he always procrastinate out meeting and kept bargaining the first time round.. In need ot cash urgently then I obliged to his bargain..
So today supposed to meet 6pm at Yio Chu Kang MRT station, he only made it there by 6.30p.m
I wasn't too please about this and guess what that chap even got the cheek to cut an additional dollars off the original price as he was rushing for his train...
Luckily I spotted a green colored $5 note within his wallet, and immediately offered him the exact change, so he had no choice to make the transaction before making into the train back...
Not the best transaction experience I had...
I met late buyers/sellers before, I met people who live to bargain even the last cent, but I had never seen a combination of both on the same lame-ass...
Well the deal is done and I got my money, so no qualms...especially my mood swing to the better, and nothing much could ruin it...

Japanese word of the day:　うれしい　~ureshii~ (happy) that's what I am at the moment.

Grass is always greener at the other side

13th April 2005, Wednesday
Yeah mid week already, no music for me for my lofty MRT journey from Yishun to Bouna Vista since I had forgotten to recharge the batts for my iPod...bummer

well the 1/2 of 2nd legs of the UEFA Champiosn League fixtures are completed with Chelsea (as expected) edging Bayern Munich on a 5:4 aggregate into the semi-finals despite losing in injury time at Munich Olympic Stadion 2:3...
Meanwhile in the hotly contested derby tie in San Siro, Milan, the refree had to bring the game to an early halt due to the crowd hurling flares into the pitch as Milan was leading 1:0 (3:0) overall with 19 minutes to play...although UEFA still yet to decide on whether the result was to stand, it's apparent that Inter in dire needs to score 3 in 19 minutes against an unbreachable defence of Milan especially against an in-form Dida...

Well a pretty hectic day ahead as our German collaboraters had loaded a tonne of plates to be processed (maybe upset due to Bayern's failure in the UCL)
My P.I. always assured us that there's no immediate hurry to clear the entire bulk, but deep inside she fervently hoped we can process as soon as they sent the newer batch...

So I appoint myself to do the purification process of the entire batch...
If you give me a choice that I could stay in the nice,cosy robot room, keeping a watch on that $800,000 "white elephant" from churning out errors while you are gone (all the time) or stay within vicinity of JxMMy D and served thos ungrateful ingrates/bastards/ ass-freaks in our insititure, I would glady take the formal even though I had to routinely replace the water supply and clearing the waste as well as topping up all the crucial materials , much like taking care of a baby..

today's big rumor that really made me and the girls to sit up is the fact that a fellow lab tech from the "Se Ban" 's lab after years of wretched slavery and lament on the thoughts of moving on to greener pastures had finally tender her resignation to join National University Hospital, serve that bloody Ban right for always made his staff overworked and very unappreciated...

Talking about unappreciated , for me the monetary appreciation is very crucial which once again leads to the bonus issue...
It looks increasingly that the absence of the performance bonus is a forgone conclusion

sigh...perhaps we should really start looking for our greener pastures as well as two usual suspects , my colleagues BY and LF would eagerly in search of a job that would duly rewards you when it's time to do so...
Let's consider my own preposition:
Pros of a new job

1. Higher Pay.
2. Bonus included.
3. Better benefits
4. More Leave
   
5. Better job satisfaction.
6. Need not tolerate JxMMy D

Cons of a new job

1. Heavier work load thus more stress.
2. Bad employer (who doesn't buy you afternoon tea snacks like egg tarts, durian puffs and most importantly Mee Chiam Kueh ..Yippee!)
3. Worst colleagues than JxMMy D
4. Longer and inflexible working hours
5. Longer travelling time.
6. Worse off medical benefits.

Sure is a dilemma , thus I called my girlfriend who was off work schedule to bring me out of the doldrums...been grouchy for the past 2 days, her response wasn't the sweet and hospitable one I was hoping for...
She did struck me hard in the head that despite a better wage and bonus package I might end up unaccostumed to the new environment and for one who is too dependant on a comfort zone my roots in my current workplace could had stretched too deep in...

Man I felt I'm a unaspiring wuss who is lack of a solid ambition and high aspirations to succeed in life..
For me once again as long as my family is with me , all healthy and well and we are not stuck in any financial predicament, everything is aye okay
But my green with envy could be the source of this paradigm from shifting...

well I would be staying put at the moment for I could not afford to let go the job as I still have a Japan trip in August..so any new venture would have to procrastinate till next year...

Anyway no other job allows me to read the entire editorial series by Azareal for the whole afternoon as I let JxMMy to wipe my ass as I vamoose towards the pick-up point for a free ride back offered by my father (yoohoo, another $1.54 saved on travelling)...

Japanese word of the day: 緑　~midori~ (Green) Whether the grass is greener on the other side, only I will find out for myself...

SHOW ME THE MONEY!!

12th April 2005, Tuesday
A pretty leisure filled day for me as they said it's the calm before of the storm, seems like our collaboraters would be delivering an avalanche of sample plates to be processed in the very near future...

JxM D, the O.C. did not apply for leave tonight...urgh, so generally spending his afternoon mugging his administrative stuffs (which could be left undone in the first place) while attending to all this adoring and endearing customers/fans...As for myself I spent my after lunch hours, captivated by the intriguing climax of "Samurai 7" while issuing views on Katoots whilst having a good laugh on Eddy's conquest of Boon Lay Girl as well as Azarel's rants about mating rituals...Which is why I cannot deny why sometime I love my job...

However this bring me to the curx of today's rant about the appreciation we are actually getting. I mean I doesn't mean to be "lobo" (slacking) but there are times when I started work from 7.30 am and kept me preoccupied all the way through to 5.30pm... I treat my responsibilities and tasks with upmost dedication, thus it's fit that my company showed some appreciation in the form of a performance bonus...

Well it's dued time to award us since we had our usual bonus package (in which most civil servants had received last July & December) been absorbed by our institute itself ..
Rumored that the money was used to further upgrade our "state of the art" building even further...
Thus everytime when I took a serious view of the automated laboratory door to the arty-farty signboards to the LCD PC monitors to the automated taps for the sink in the lavatory (which always breakdown by the way), my heart aches even more (as my colleagues love to spite, "Your Bonus over there ah!)

An Indian principle investigator who out lab usually collaborates (or slaves under), even forced the institute to satisfy his personal vendetta as he wanted to show a rival research institute that we could be fully automated as well by acquiring a robotic system which cost a hefty $800,000...arghhh
Dr. B.V (or whom we love to call "Se Ban" 色板 ~吝嗇 (stingy)，好色(lechrous)， 黑色(black) 的老板~), just spent an entire bulk of supposedly everyone's bonus for his personal "white elephant"...

After an informer leaking the fact that the expected April Performance Bonus could just a deceit, I feared each and every second that his claim would come true...

Morale is seriously in the dumps and hope some salvations could appear as the truth unveils...

Actually even a 0.5 month bonus is very crucial for my eternal happiness:

• I have actually set a budget for my Japanese trip in August.
• The trip's budget is fixed thus it would resulting in me using my personal savings.
• This would affect the projected target I would like to have for my wedding budget which I hope would be realised by end of 2006.
• If the budget is been down-sized, a lot of extravagant expenditures like a lavish photoshoot would have to be sacrificed.
• My prospective wife-to-be would hate me forever for not able to satisfy her "big day", thus my utopic future is been ruined...

I don't know many of us are actually comtemplating on a change of working environment that would actually appreciate our efforts at work...
Of course then I would not be enjoying my current laid-back life, man I'm in such dilemma...
Then again money could be an important factor to lure me away, so prospective headhunters looking at this post, please "shower" me with contracts with better monetary packages and benefits...

Shall end here as my sister who could be the only one gracing my blog, complains that my posts are really long-winded...
By the way, you should be go back mugging for your examinations instead of reading this!

Japanese word of the day:ボーナス　~Bo-nasu~ (Bonus) In dire need of one!

University = Hunting Ground

11th April 2005, Monday

A brand new 5-days work week... The main thing to look forward to is the probable performance bonus, then again after a leak of information from a somewhat reliable source, it seems I better not count the eggs before it hatch... well let the mystery unfolds by the end of the week then...

After the excruciating hot Sunday, Monday help chill our little island and perhaps the drowsy minds of many who are back to work or school... A really soggy afternoon which was much sweeter especially with the half day leave applied by my O.C.... my own domain, own realm..all mine...muahahhahaaha

Which leads me today's main theme...
An equation well justified for generation, even resistant to time and tide and the whole evolution junk...
You and I both know schools are not just location to acquire knowledge and make you a better person acedamically but it's a vicinty where tensions fly (definitely not the same kind my colleague and I are having).. where boys meet girls, boys meet boys, girls meet girls, gays meet gays, sadist meets machoist etc...
It's a perfect game park for the prey to be predated while the predator hunts for its prey...

None is as boisterous and as vociferous as tertiary students (undergrads, poly students)
The prospectiv preys and predators are in the right frame of mind and maturity level, of course puberty is on high alarm, people are on heat like fertile cats prowling in the night...
Especially guys who had be "imprisoned" in their national service for 2 years (in the past it's 180 days more), the opportunity of meeting young, nubile targets is overwhelming....

Personally I'm sad to admit I'm with the masses, and eventually was real fortunate to find my current squeeze and prospective partner to accompany till the twilight of my life in my NUS stint as well. She was one year my junior, but that story we will delve into some other time...

There's a commotion in the NUS engineering faculty recently...
It seems like a very obliging Mathematics lecturer helped a student of his to present a self created PowerPoint slide to publicly declare his undying adoration to a fellow course mate...
Romantic as it seemed but it got into some controversy when the whole process was videotaped down in the webcast which was able to broadcast the entire global community...
You can watch the entire 2:01 minutes of the clip here.

The news spread like wildfire and within a week, even my sister from SMU heard about this...
Rumored that the story had a tragic twist for the main 3 parties involved:
The guy: got rejected and now the official "piero" (clown) of the faculty (don't worry people will forget as fast as they have forgotten William Hung, unless you pull yet another bound-to-fail stunt).
The girl: got hounded by every single soul that have watched the clip, however the fact that we only knew her name is "Cui wen", however the internet community was prompt to shovel out her photo (the girl on the left) & her blog...she might found blessings in disguise as she starts assimilating a mini celebrity status...
The lecturer: the most innocent party, now seemed to be investigated by the cohort administrations who are of course more uptight than this supposedly uninhibited lecturer.

Well my take of this incident....
This poor yet courageous chap is just heeding the "Romancing Singapore" campaign... what? it's over...er...ok he is too little too late...
Very different point of views were been debated by both genders
It seems like not many of the female population would actually appreciate such a stunt, it doesn't goes down to well to be spot-lighted especially in the middle of a Maths Lecture!
Our male lead ain't no Don Juan DeMarco, but he should be given credits for his guts that yours truly still had it frozen in the -80 degrees freezer in my workplace...
Perhaps he has made research on the fact that Cui wen is single, and vey available, thus he thought he stands a good chance, and by professing his love in the public, it's like ladies' fantasy comes alive (read into public proposal)
Then again someone pointed out that such declaration is world apart from proposal because in the latter case both parties love each other dearly...duh....
seems like our male lead has missed out a single detail in his research...
"Cuiwen is single and very available, but just not available to you"...

*OUCH*

Well I feel everyone should really give our male lead a break, he must have been crushed into shambles both spiritually and emotionally, while he requires yet a time span to recuperate , find a brand new target (perhaps he already had a few to begin with, sorry Cui wen, you just happen to be the unlucky one), and think of a love declaration antic... (perhaps doing crop circles around the barren soccer field in the NUS sports complex)

All these happened while 25% of those living in halls are still cuddling in their beds during lecture time, perhaps with each other ...in a pretty risque way.. *GULP*

Japanese word of the day:恋人　~Koi bito~ (Lovers)... obviously our friend desperately in need of one while so does Cui wen to fend her off unnecessary attentions which she might really enjoys basking in...

The OC Part 1

No Not the Fox TV teen-flesh sleazy series, my OC stands for "Obnoxious Colleague"....
As you guys must have seen from a few posts before, I had a personal agenda against my co-worker..
Well to make it clear black and white, I don't actually hate him... it's a very strong word...
Despise him not exactly either... neither is abhor, demean, execrate or disdain...
More of a mixture of loathe, disapprove, disfavour with a tinge of scoff, scorn and shun...
I'm more of disapprove of some of the gimmicks he pulled over the days I worked with him (which usually work well for him but not usually good for others, especially the 3 ladies musketeers of our lab)
Sometime some of the stunts he pulled can surely send you amuck, and coil up in anguish...perhaps lead to more detrimental side effects to your bodily, psychological and phisiological functioning...

Before I go ballistic with my frenzy vociferation, I have a disclaimers to add:

JxM D, a nick we gave to this particular colleague, is actually a down-to-earth and stoic chap.
He always gives 101% to his tasks without a second remification and no qualms either.
Always approachable by other fellow colleagues from different lab, race, religion, nationaility or sect of irritating people, he is held at a high position by the scientific community near and far.
(Of course they did not have the first hand experience of working side by side with him)
I actually salute his professionalism and always felt I could never match him in many aspects of work and life itself...
So here you have it, before things get really ugly, I actually pointed out he's a much better person than yours truly...

So some of you might say I did this string of posts as an act of envy, jealousy and spite... If you thnk so, I would not rebut or rebuke; but within me I would never ever want to step into his shoes... ever....

Well hey come to think of I just post all these just for entertainment purposes, he sure is one fascinating person at times...

Now I'll begin with his personal profile:

Male, early thirties, qualification: Biotechnology diploma with a degree in business IT (or whatever shit-ass name they gave it)
Married with a fellow lab biologist met in our workplace who gradually moved on to greener pastures (of course her track record of single-handedly closing down 3 laboratories she had worked for doesn't helps her cause)
Started to work in our institute at age of 23(?) after his 2 and a half year stint in in the arm forces...
I believe he has always worked in our servicing lab ever since and became a cornerstone to the lab and favorite right-hand man to our supervisor/principle investigator...

Interests....
At Work

1. Sprouting out brand new uncoventional ideas for better the functioning of our work process.
2. Vehemently attending to the requests of every mother-sons/daughters in our workplace with undisputed zeal.
3. Made a mess of stuffs and rearrange back from scratch, or just rearranging stuffs.
4. Doing unnecessary security administration of our local computer network (which includes uninstalling colleague's personal softwares, downloading administrative softwares aplenty that result in slowing down systems and creating excessive backups to every single file from the beginning of time).
5. Looking for new materials to acquire for the good cause of our work, so that he could flirt with the respective sales personel (both male and female).
6. Adamant to his own methodology and agenda (and his huge ego), and compel others to follow suit, and resistant to changes and advice.
7. Because of point 6, tends to cause probable damages to machineries and equipments (and at times running away from the scene of his own crimes).
8. Recruiting new targets into his reputable agglomeration of "mistresses" after his martial status has converted to "married". Before that was just "targets for gutless behind-the-scene adoration".
9. Because of point 7, bring about bad and unfortunate news to colleagues one time too many. Also love to highlight the error commited by others.
10. Leaving little irritating notes or mass mailing plenty of emails, when he could just pass his messages verbally.
11. Reluctance in doing trivial, diminutive and insignificant chores like filling pipetting tips (excuse: fate fingers) etc...Since maids like Maria, Sophia and Cecilia are always on the stand by to serve his every needs.
12. Surfing Porno when no one is around while masturbating at colleague's personal photographs of their spouse/loved ones. (still a myth yet to be corroborated so don't take too much into it)

Off Work

1. Thinking of new methodology and ideas for work purposes
2. Upgrading his personal computers and hunting for the best hardwares and softwares, perhaps for his own pornographic and gaming requirements.
3. Waiting for his reservists/IPPT/ or any thing associated with assuming his role in national security, as he is one of those who simply love his male bonding/ torturing sessions only the arm forces can provide without breaking a sweat.
4. Committing his spouse into some unorthodox sexual impalement to satisfy his own fetish and propensity, and resulting in some unpleasant repercussion (slipped disc, broken pipes etc.) (still a myth yet to be corroborated so don't take too much into it)
5. Purchasing bootleg entertainment materials (PC games, album CD, movie VCD/DVD) even when the original materials are cheaper than the bootlegs one.
6. More to add on.... .... ....
   

Personal traits and features...
Have a wardrobe filled with garments that require very little ironing. Also have the tedency of buying pants and wearing them immediately without a prior wash (the sticker that indicates the measurement still adhere on the trousers).
Perhaps have a dream of taking over his parents' chicken rice stall (still a myth yet to be corroborated so don't take too much into it)
Spotless and pore-less porcelain skin which might have a zit infection once awhile (very obvious to his clear and fair complexion).
One symbollic feature is the heavy and darkened eyebag sure is apparent on his face..



Despite standing at a 1.75 m frame, tends to hunch and love to slide his way , a bit like tip-toe hastily with the background jingle from "The Muppet Show"...



Not too sure about his personal hygiene but rumors was spread that he had a history of rushing to work and neglect the fact that he requires to have an early shower.
He also has a tendency of not drinking water or down a freshener mint, thus you have to pray you are not the first to chat with him first thing in the morning or after a sumptous lunch like once I got burpped into my face with the smell of Chinese traditional "Lou Bak" (Century Sauced Meat). Nearly black-out then and there!

His hair style is in pristine black and rarely long enough to go beyong 1/4 of his forehead before he paid a due trip to his favorite Malay barbershop.
He once did caught on the crew-cut stylo-milo "Armani" hairstyle back in the mid 1990s. However to make it a fashionable signature you are much needed to invest on a bottle of hair gel to maintain the look (think the Roxette's song).
Perhaps hair gel is off his budget or he just too lazy to do the gel-ling, little did he realised he would look awful without gel.

He once told me he had a preferance of buying more than a pair of shoes (athletic or formal) which he might fancy on, aka stocking up; in case he could not find another more suitable one. Then again, looking at his footwears, I would really like to scoff on his taste at times....

I have heard on a particular incident that someone once spotted him rushing into the Gents with mucous leaving a visible sticky trail on his cheeks...*gasp*

I could imagine he is one which could use a single bar of soap for all purpose... hair, body, nether parts, and face...

Well behind all these, he is still very popular with the female population which is mystery on its own...

I would conclude this column with his frugal personality... it seems like he did not have much indulgences as in most of us (perhaps only computer stuffs, bootleg stuffs and pornographic supplies)... Beside his honeymoon at New Zealand and a Penang trip, never heard him going anymore excursions with his wife...
However the wedding and his new love-nest are sapping his income. But I'm doubtless he has a pretty fat bank accounts....
well living his routined, stoic and systematic life, I believe he is saving up for his kids for sure

He is sure a charmer of a son-in-law all mothers would love their daughters to marry!!

Japanese word of the day: 理想 ~risou~ (Ideal) JxM D is sure an ideal man for many, NOT!

May Day in April

9th April 2005, Saturday...
I managed to be subdued by my girlfirend's coerce to attend an open air Mandarin Pop musical event...
Never envisioned myself stuck in the midst of a horde of screaming fangirls/ fanboys while counting down every nanoseconds when the bloody event would end and my torture could put to a fateful end...

However the event last night was not to be that way (of course the screaming girls and boys were omnipresent)...

The event was held in the extension of Bishan Junction 8 which had became an official hub for such kind of event, free for all...




My girlfriend just knocked off from work yet she reached J8 earlier than yours truly who was ever-unreluctant to leave my toys haven (La Tendo that is)... Through a closely-knit fangirls alliance network, she managed to get us to be nicely place in the thick of the very front and foremost region which was like only meters away from all the performing artistes.
Supposedly to begin at 7.30pm, we still yet to see any sign of ignition at even 8.30pm... talking about pompous, unsympathetic celebrities!
Actually it seems like such events never meant to start on time anyway.

The 2nd region just behind us started to flood in.. There was a bunch of younglings just residing at the rear of us and one or 2 looked like they had just fresh from kindergarten but on for every gimmicks that their older counterparts can pull... surely not short of spirits...

So came in the artist to carry the first half of the event, Li Shen Jie:




A guy famous for struggling in his singing career for 5 years now and only managed to break through in recent times...
Well he should follow the suggestions I gave about making in the Taiwanese entertainment scene, bound to be successful...
So he started to croon his few hits, and we are marvelled that he actually can sing live unlike some large-head songstress known as Jolin...
The fanfare for him was moderate since everyone in the freaking place knew almost everyone came for May Day...





After his "heart and soul" performance (with jugular veins clearly stressed how hard he sang), his rewards was some of his adoring fans lining up a beeline for his signature while the host Ling Zi of FM 93.3 kept selling the charity event for NKF happening the subsequent night,, This event itself was a publicity act for that event.. I find it's bewildering that the crowd comprises of mainly primary and secondary schoolers who don't event have spare cash for additional stationery, do you think they have the dough for the donations?!?

Then in came the band everyone was dying to see... May Day!



From left: Guitarist Monster (怪獸），Bassist Masa (馬沙), hidden Drummer Guan Yu (冠佑), Vocalist Shin (阿信) & Guitarist Stone (石頭)



I can see why May Day is the premier band in Mandarin Pop scene, they are so full of energy on stage like they owned it... and their usual interaction enthics with the crowd sure is enough to send all the unsophisticated fans go ga-ga... In Japanese or Weestern pop scene, they might just be one of those indies bands, but in Mandarin scene they surely rule...
But kudos to the guys, they surely can rock, and with inspiration and friendship with Glay, they sure was influenced a bit by the J rock thing...

After a 4 songs medley, they guys bowed and made an early exit but even the atoms in the air molecules in the atmosphere knew an encore was sure to follow suit and once again they charged back to the stage for an encore which was much endearing than the first part...







A few familair tunes, fast and slow, to compse of the encore and the night deemed to come to an close...
The compere came on again and once again forced the artistes to sell the NKF event...






Seeing your own idols beckoning you to do your part for charity, the gullible fans followed suit as the mass started sending in their donations sms, only to drive their paying parents berserk when they see the handphone bills at the end of the month...

The toddlers at the back even wept a tear as the band made for the duly departure... and I wonder would they even weep if their family went backrupt because of their lavish indulgence...

So at the end of the night:

Was the event enjoyable for myself? Probably.
Would I got yet another such event? Probably Not.
Would I make a donation to NKF tonight? Hell No, I'm broke!

Fustrations

Never expected I have to compose my last post TWICE!
The server seems to be jammed up on me at my office and last night at home
Now as advised by my sister to do a backup with my compositions...
sigh...nothing is perfect in this freaking world...

No pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow

Fact: The ousted runner-up of the inaugural "Singapore Idol", Sylvester Sim is releasing his debut Mandarin album today, titled "起飛" in English means "Take off'

It seems like Sony/BMG is tipping Sly (more affectionate known as) to take off into a major superstar.
But seriously I doubt Sly and his Idol compatriot, Taufik Batistuta..I mean Batistah could really last more than 2 albums since this Idol euphoria would be faded into oblivion especially with the memory of us Singaporeans..

However since Sly is dabbling in the mandarin pop scene, there's a chance he would have a slightly longer-lasting success with another album (since Comic Kidz 可米小子& Cyndi Wang 王心凌 can do it, I'm sure Sly can do likewise）

Actually it doesn't seems hard ro break into the Taiwan market, even if I smear manure all over my face and do a pretty lousy cover of a cheesy but upbeat Japanese /Korean /English /Thai /Tagalog/Hindi/Zulu, and have a better singing talent than Leon Lai (which is not that hard by the way trust me), I'm sure I would be a big hit...
Of course I have to make appearances at all entertainment new progams and variety shows, giving out free copies of my CD albums, get punked out by the cpmperes, get physically harassed by Dee Hsu (徐熙娣）from "康熙来了", get slapped by 余天, and of course fooling around with Jacky Wu's gang...
Then again there would be the 3 billion people China market... can even peddle bootleg versions of my own album CDs using bootleg Compact Disc on bootleg tables using bootleg stereo system and loudspeakers, and no worried about caught out by law since the police are bootlegs as well..

Anyway how Sly sapped the allowance money of his young fans/suckers, it's really not my problem. But what really aggravated me is that as reported by Today (on 7th April 2005) is that he would doing a cover of L'Arc~en~ciel's song...Oh hell no that he is doing so, no way he's ruining my fave J rock band... no way he can emulate Hyde-sama's vocal ability... He couldn't be breathing the same air as Laruku is breathing...





Then again who am I to prejudice him when myself had a woeful experience when doing my own tribute to Laruku...

The year was 1999 or was it 2000... anywah I was still doing my Japanese classes at JCS (Japanese Culture Society), they had their annual karaoke competition. With a return ticket to Japan and $2000 prize money, I decided to give it a try...
I felt I had to revitalised the dour competition usually marred by elderlys doing "enka", thus choosing to do "虹" by L'Arc~en~ciel.
It had a haunting yet soothing tune and generally a much simpler lyrics to follow (of course plenty of English inside as well like "labyrinth to your heart").

We have to submit a copy of the background music to the song we were performing a week before. But I looked in vain for the karaoke version to the song, thus decided to tape the song using the "Karaoke" mode of my stereo system then which helped to mask a large portion of the vocals but not completely. Feeling it's ok, I submitted my tape...

At the meantime, I used whatever free time available (shower, answering nature's call) to practise.
I even force an innocent Japanese girl who at that time was coming over to Singapore for homestay at my place, to listen to my rendition.
After which she just kept proclaiming, "sugoi (great)!", of course we know there is not limit to how courteous Japanese can be. Then again most probably she was numb by the whole process after spending so much time with a fat, pockmarked Singaporean loser. I guess she is most probably scarred for life, so if you happened to be reading this, Ayano..."お元気ですか?"

So came the day for the preliminary round. Beaming with confidence I proceed to the battle ground.
However I felt something amiss when I reported my name to the auntie who was in charge of the tapes had that stunned look and started rummaging the entire place.
Eventually she informed me that she has left my tape at home!

WTF?!?!

She claimed that she thought that my tape was a mistake as she could hear some vocals within...urgh...
She then gleefully suggested I should do an aucostic, no more like no-music version since I was already there...After reconsideration I guess why not. Perhaps the judges would really be impressed by my vocal ability.

So after a few obasan and ojisan doing their "enka" and a few "First Love(by Hikaru Utada)" and "長い間(by Kiroro)", it's finally my turn.
Among the audience were 3 of my supporters, much thanks to Jack, Loke & Mich to witness such folly on my part.

So after explaining to the audience about my "mishap", I began the first few lines...
Suddenly the atmosphere become really cold and awkard, because it's hard to go into the next part without the music...
Then what I fear most actually happened, suddenly my mind went blank and I lost all traces of lyrics... and after 10 seconds of silence, I decided just to jump out of the spotlight as soon as possible... from the corner of my eye, I could see the judges gesturing to each other, "that clown must be kidding", I could also see my supporters totally embarrassed while some of the audience left for the loo, or taking out their earplugs, one even taking a short break...

Muttered "Thank You", I made my escape...

I felt the urge to get out of the place and no requirement to confirm the final results. Just take the case that if I was competing against William Hung, I might still not make it as well.

As I was leaving the same auntie still got the cheek to come over and gave me a grave advise,
"Next time don't see this kind of song, the judges won't appreciate it!"

.... .... .....

Japanese word of the day:　虹　~niji~ (rainbow), for me there was never a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow...