Fire! Fire!

31st May 2005, Tuesday

Last day of May, and a pretty good one especially since JxMMy D is one a day of urgent (I try to refrain using emergency leave because that might mean his poor spouse is down with the illness again)... He composed an excruciating essay via SMS about his leave and what is left to be done back at work in which my phone would required to decipher in 3 seperate messages. And the most queer thing is that even with that long message, I still need a while to understand the true meaning of it, which actually could be summarise in a few words... if only he would speak out more words than his SMS, note or e-mail.


The bustle in our workplace today is the scheduled fire drill that took place in the morning. I was assigned as one of the 2 assistant fire wardens for our level but since I missed the briefing a few weeks back since I took MC for diarrhea on that particular day and LF went on my behalf; thus I wasn't too sure about the correct procedures.. To complicate matters even further, the designated Fire Warden for our level was recalled for reservist, and either me or the other assistant whom I had the slightest idea is had to assume the role of the fire warden...
So as I was kept busy with the routine service work in the morning I kept peeled at the clock, as I assumed the simulattion would starts at around 10am, and duly so the fire alarm went ballistic...
As the PA system at our side was almost inaudible, people started lining up at the corridor waiting for the confirmation message...

I went to check on the fire panel by the "Fireman Lift Lobby" to see whether the fire broke out at our level, but I missed the part that I had to call the Fire Coordinating Committee via the "Fire Phone" (think Commissioner Gordon's phone specially to summon Batman, just that this is inclined on the wall).

So the 2nd alarm went and the crowd duly made way for the escape route..Now the ruckus began when I had to scour every corner on the level for any obstinate patrons still adamant to the fire drill and continued doing their work, I had to usher a couple from our neighboring laboratory... I comb one side of the level while the other assistant did likewise at the other side.. We also had to check on the lavatories as some forgetful staff might had picked the wrong time to answer nature's call.. But seriously with all the little rooms here and there, some people might gone for their hiding and would be excluded by us (hopefully not)... Anyway if there was a huge fire raging the building I would be burnt to smithereens by now...

So we the fore wardens are supposed to be the very last to reach the assembly area and it was a long, unbearable wait under the hot sun for the roll call process to be done....

There went the entire fire drill, not as cumbersome as I envisioned it to be, definitely less tedious as the fire-fighting we had to do back in our Navy days....

One big local news that would hit almost everyone who is taking public transport (MRT & buses), is that by 1st July of this year, the inevitable annual price hike kicked into effect again... despite all the furore & public outcry all these while...
Well when it was to be done it would be done here in Singapore...I am just glad it only increase by 1 to 3 cents for MRT trips, which i calculated should be around 30 more cents for me for my trips to work and $15.60 for a year...it's a pinch definitely, but not strong enough to inflict blue-black...
Then in the forums, people started the "Stayer or Quitter?" debate again...
Seriously as quoted from my colleague, BY not too long back, we the common middle class whould not imagine migrating to a foreign land...and just ahd to bear with whatever new legistrations & regulations been enforced on us and tolerate without a quiver....

Japanese word of the day: 火事　~ka-ji~ (Fire) Touchwood!

<~Quote~>U Whine too Much!<~Unquote~>

30th May 2005, Monday

Had a pretty long and comprehensive chat with my buddy over the MSN messenger (version 7.0 is out! go download it, it's cool!) yesterday as once again a tropical storm ravaged the entire island...
Seems like everything in his life is on the up especially his passion for his job which is really splendid as how many of us can actually admit we have passion for our jobs.. He also picked up a brand new hobby in air guns in which those are like replicas of the real deal except they show harmless pellets and not real bullets. This is ban in Singapore very much the same as porn and chewing gums, as the side effect of such "toy guns" might really aggravate some social and ethical problems (yah...yah...)

We also talked about when I am going to get married which is a really profound question that requires even more profound considerations before answering... He then asked about the cost of a normal wedding these days and I mentioned depends as a common not that lavish package might adds up to even 20K or so, which really appalled my dear friend in Osaka...He thought below 1K would do, which I actually hope so too...But sad to say that sum doesn't even comes close to foot the bill of the wedding gown rental and album...bummer..

I then delved into Japan been such a romantic place with seasons, special dates and venues to pop the question but he said it all depends on the parties involve... If a couple is madly, deeply in love, a sewer (!?!) could be a romantic place... That is of course the couple had difficulties differentiating odors or the guy has a BO which stinks much more atrociously than the sewer..

As we end our 45 min long chat, he would go into the target he set when he is 30; and half the time I thought he was talking about rifle range during his in-camp training... heehee...seriously, he seemed very determined on where he would stand in 3 and a half years time while I remained pretty uncertain whether I would be a father by then (SCARY...) Really glad he got everything figured out, but also mean I wouldn't see him as much as I would like to in the future as the situation is currently...

Well he would reading this occasionally which I am actually surprised when he was concerned about the news about my dad been retrenched... And I thought all these while no one actually gives much thought about my blabberings here... And of course he quoted, "You whine too much, no good to keep reading"... maybe I do whine a lot in this blog... but guess what will be my response.. "SO BITE ME MONKEYBOY!"....think I'm not thinking straight for this mundane Monday..

Japanese word of the day:不平を言う　~fu-hei-o-i-u~ (complains) closest to whining...

Claustrophobia...

29th May 2005, Sunday

Yesterday went to Orchard Road to dropby and visit Matthew and Karen who was tending to the stall La Tendo acquired at the Street Fest I talked about the day before...

It's a scary experience once again as I always tried to avoid hitting the shopping central of our mundane island on weekends, however for a 2nd Saturday straight, I had venture to the street of Orchard Road which has an average of human traffic enough to feature in the grand battles in "Lord of the Ring", "Alexander" and "Kingdom of Heaven" combined...

So this street festival is labelled as "Street Revolution" organised by Singtel which feature tentages stretching the entire length across Mandarin Orchard, sandwiched between Ngee Ann City and Orchard Cineleisure...Each tentage already occupies 2/3 of the street thus the crowd had to squeeze through in the remaining 1/3 of the lane which was why I noticed plenty of irritated faces as I made my way to my destination...
The business so far wasn't too notable despite the crowd perhaps due to the fact that the pushing and hustling made the entire shopping experience unbearable.. of course the escalating heat and humidity ain't not helping the cause... I helped out for a while and immediately I feel all sticky all over from the humidity, and Karen was thoroughly drenched due to her ultra-effective sweat glands...
But for La tendo, spending 5.5K for a 16 days stint, we calculated that an average daily earning of $800+ would only be suffice to break even and make a good profit but looking at things I doubt they would even get half the sum back..Nevertheless it's a good publicity stint to attract unlikely customers who had complete no knowledge of where Sunshine Plaza is...
During my stay, I did sell a kiddish Naruto Glider plane to a Japanese family as well as a Gundam Wing model kit to a Malay boy (who has an aggressive mother dead on to get a further discount and that's no surprise)...sure brings me back to my Clarke Quay days
By 4 plus I made my move to La Tendo, and the free coca cola booth sure is a main attraction of the carnival as everyone loves a freebies.... cheapo Singaporeans

After the 15 minutes walk all the way down to Bencoolen street, I didn't know I would be walking back to Orchard with Chan in the evening again as Matthew needed time off back to get his car..
The claustrophobic effect kicked in to the max as the streets starting to flood with human presence and even the junction between Heeren and Mandarin had cars piling side by side and the traffic lights have no effect on regulating the traffic no more.. The entire walking process on my worn out sandals sure took some toil on my soles and I once again was pretty taken aback by the large crowd, which was why I immediately made my way back to the comfort of my nest....*Take note to avoid Orchard on weekends for the next half a year*

Japanese word of the day:群衆　~gun-shuu~ (Crowd) Not a big fan of that...

I like to Move it, move it... MOVE IT!!

28th May 2005, Saturday

Had a pretty eventful day yesterday...

Another of the P.I. Symposium like what we had a month ago....so more free food to keep us full and drowsy the entire day and the dry talks given by some of the PRC PIs aren't helping much at all.. Once again the "vultures" & the "hyeenas" are on the prowl for food and this time ticked off our deputy director whom we affectionately known as "Goofy" as he arrived half an hour late, to discover no food left for him...

Back on the work front, JxMMy D cooped himself in the robot room, trying to come out with a script (the one he called "semi-manual" for out new kit so that he could cut some slack on the pipetting which he find ineffective in doing. He also managed to find some protocols and information on a flourescent-spectrometer which our supervisor just made a casual mention the day before...This caused a little furore among the girls and myself...It sure made everyone looks bad for his extra effort and it might turn out to be unnecessary as the whole process might npt be put in use....When you thought relationship is on the mend between him and us, he would go drop that touch to ruin it all over again...バカー　野郎!!

I met up with a couple of buyers today, and earn myself an useful $65 ...
Buyer 1: Bought my "University Square" comic compilation, even bother to come to Bouna Vista MRT station to transact...However I had to take a few minutes off work to scurry down the slope to the station, a good workout nonethless..

Buyer 2: A young Malay lass who bought a Dir en grey concert video I bought about 5 years back for lile $90 back then but selling her for like $50.. the main problem that I thought would arises is because it is a VHS instead of the usual VCD or DVD at currect technological advances would be the standard...but I need the cash and she seems like a "easy lamb" on the chopping board, I'm all out to "bully" her to fulfill the deal... after been "played out" a few times before when prospective buyers bid without asking questions and back out after realising the nature of the item... Afterall this particular "Minah" made me scrambled up and down Dohby Ghaut MRT station to look for her presence and wasted a few precious minutes on my phone bill to locate her.... After aggressively coercing her to buy it, I left for La Tendo immediately because I was a bit off schedule

La Tendo was badly in short of manpower with Vincent off to Japan and now they had to put a person at their booth at the Orchard Road's "Singapore Street Fest." which comes in conjunction with the annual Great Singapore Sales...Therefore they had to enlist Karen's help to tend the booth today (Saturday)

Then the trio of me, Karen and Ferris had to rush down to Plaza Singapore to meet the ultra-cool Chan who was waiting for us impatiently yet pretended that he was cool about it... But in the first place I did not fix a time to meet him at the location...My girlfriend joined us for dinner a few minutes before the movie... The movie, "Madagascar" was really hilarious sure is as good as the "Shrek" series the same Dreamworks SKG churned out not too long back...
It's always funny to see animals assuming human roles and the Indian-accent, self proclaimed king of the furrbies of the Madagascar island, Julien (subbed by the famous Ali G) really steal the show...
My poor girlfriend was totally exhausted and doze off halfway through... I felt bad asking her to join us when she was so drained after a long day at work...
As she tried to retire early for the night, she was badly bothered by her laptop which had the LCD monitor went out on her, I know it's hard to sleep like nothing happened when an appliance you held so dearly in your heart suddenly went bonkers on you out of the blue.. Hope everything turned out better for her the coming week....

Japanese word of the day: 事件　~ji-ken~ (events) Plenty of events happened over the last 24 hours...

空島へ一行!! (To the Island in the Sky!!)

26th May 2005, Thursday

Poor Dad, yesterday must be the worst day in his life...beside been retrenched, he went to operate on his left eye which contracted cataracts resulted from the past works which really left him in extreme agony the entire night long...

Meanwhile Liverpool did the impossible to come back from 3 goals down in their UEFA Champions League Final against the mighty AC Milan to score 3 in 6 minutes in the 2nd half before the former baffoon known as Jerzy Dudek saved a couple of penalties in the PK shoot-out to allow the unfancy Liverpool liftng the cup this season...

Yesterday evening I was very much enthralled by an anime series I had missed for a while.. the series that brought me back to fall in love with manga and anime a few years back.. the one about Luffy and his pirate crew in search of the ultimate "One Piece" pirate treasure..the one they known as "One Piece"

I was continuing the series which I had last left off from my VCDs collection which is at the end of the "Battle at Alabasta" arc... and their journey to Skypiea... There are some intermittent side stories at first before Luffy and gang gain knowledge of the island in the sky from Mont Blanc Crickett... The interaction of the crew is especially interesting in the anime series perhaps the way the seiyuus (the voice actors) acted each characters superbly which we cannot feel the atmosphere in the pages of the manga...

I could understand the story better with the anime series and a lot of inside jokes were told much properly.. which is why it is always advisable to watch the anime series after reading the manga of the same title because the seiyuus sure can make a vast difference with their performances...
And my fave member of the crew had a very comedic presence for the last few episodes I have watched...
Usopp is not the most popular character of the lot as polled on Arlong Park, but in him I saw a lot of myself...
A coward by nature yet a true man in spirits... Love the way he grew mad with every out of this world decision made by his skipper, Luffy; the way he cowered in fear behind anything or anyone he could find when face adversities; the way he always tricked the gullible Chopper on all the things he had not done...


Usopp: My Idol...

Alright gotta go continue watching my series before I could return the DVDs to borrow future episodes...

Japanese word of the day: ワンピース(One Piece) Still a fave anime series of mine

Retrenched...

25th May 2005, Wednesday

The morning started with dark, lightning -ladened clouds casting over the entire island as the usual hustle bustle to work and school became decapitated by the torrential rain...

For Dad the dark cloud would cast over him for a while...
For one immensely proud, his pride and dignity has been wounded badly as his boss gave him a buzz to break him the unfortunate news of he been sacked...
No wonder I had seen him pacing around the house looking listless last night...

What an ingrate, my dad got into such bad state of health, with his aged ribs got hurt in the process of carrying heavy load in the workplace....
We all knew that Dad's fellow workers hated his guts, so I guess they would try all means to find this golden opportunity to oust him out of company... well the boss would taste the repurcussions as without Dad their projects would never deliver on time properly...

So today Dad has to return the blue Isuzu truck which has so accustomed as our family transportation (NO~~!!) and Dad has the possibility of getting only half a month pay for his recuperation period and no medical claims from his boss...that's the problem when you worked as an unregistered employee with no submission of CPF...

Well now the family gotta make plans in case Dad is to go on his unemployed state for a while.. actually sis mentioned to me a few days back that he is actually looking much cheerful without the burden of his wretched work, so perhaps it's good for him to stay off work for while and recuperate for full health for a while..Plus it seems like age is really catching up on him to do those tedious dare-devil like construction work...

Mom also contemplated on him becoming a cleaning uncle in some factory somewhere but seriously doubt his pride would stoop that low for him to work as that...

Been a paraniod as he is, he would thought his position at home would be threatened if he is not working full time and in some parts the financial state would be affected a it..but with my sister completing her studies in a year time, and if she managed to clinch a job fast enough we would have another source of income in the household...

well sometime I would want to whine that if I am earning 5 digits a month now, I could provide a comfortable life for my loved ones at the same time able to indulge in my lifestyle easily... well we just gotta to see how the situation will work out..all these money woes is really bringing me down...

Japanese word of the day: 首にします　~ku-bi-ni-shi-ma-su~ (dimisses) My dad got the end of it...

Independant woman...

24th May 2005, Tuesday

After a long, lazy weekend, it's back to work once more..it always feel good to start work on Tuesday as before you realize it, it's weekend once more... well Vesak Day will mark the start of 2 full months (June & July) with no public holiday to look forward to...bummer...

Well had a great time with my lass over the weekend as she slept over on Sunday which is something I sorely miss for a while, with her been pretty caught up with work the past month...well that's her job as a process engineer in a renowned semi-conductor making company...Beside her job, her weekly schedule is filled with tution lessons, seminars for her MLM business as well as work-outs session...she sure knows how to make her life seemed so fulfilling while I am just please to be drunk in anime, toys and Football Manager...

Despite been 3 years younger than myself, she has always been the level headed one with a lot of objectives waiting to be met in life..But over the years I had to bear with her the many obstacles that propped out along the way, and now with this current job, she has the stable financial backing to accomplish the rest of her objectives...

It is true she is earning more each month but I am actually glad that she is very independant herself rather than "leeching" on me to foot all the bill during our dates or vacations etc... In fact she usually asked to "go dutch" even in our courting days and been a miser like myself, that is really important...

However recently her expenditures been reaching an alarming state... I mean it's of course aye-okay that she is spending her hard-earnt money but if we are to settle down in a few years time and initiate our own little family unit, keeping some money aside for stormy weather is really critical...

After taking out a cool 5.5 grand for the Japan trip, with precede her 2K plus adorned on her laptop last year, she had bought the handphone which she had been eyeing on for a while now which cost another $800+... She knew I cast objections over her lavish expenditure but she also made known to me that once she wanted something she just need to have it (thank goodness she ain't Swaroski crystals or Louis Vutton handbags..); so I felt the 3G handphone is something she felt is rightfully hers to have... She has also spent a small fortune going for her workout sessions as well as her skin care products... But that is of course paying off, with a slimmer frame and a smoother & fairer epidemis covering, my girlfriend starts to be much charming and all I have to do now is to plot & scheme to fend off sex-charged fiends on our island...

Well once again I frowned on her spending habits and she herself knew her limitations, this I very much trust her to gauge on her own...
If we are really to get hitched in a couple of year time I doubt I can provide her enough to enjoy such luxuries she is enjoying at the moment as well...

Anyway I am also the one who bemoaned about that measly $50 spent on my Saturday outing and fervently looking for extra cash for the next movie get-together for the new Dreamworks animated features, Madagasacar..

Japanese word of the day: 費用~hi-you~ (Expenses) My girlfriend has a high one to keep.

Saturday Night Out with the Clique

22nd May 2005, Sunday

Still feel a bit burnt-out from the escapade with the La Tendo Clique last night....

On Friday night, Ferris buzzed me a SMS, beckoning me to join them to watch "The Amityville Horror"; and for once I step out of my enclosed hermit's shell and condescended...

Wanted to leave home early but a typical tropical storm just envelope my place, making mobility really difficult and I wouldn't want to get wet the moment I left home...

So I got to La Tendo by around 4 plus and despite the rain and the lack of new stocks, I can still see a pretty stable Saturday flow this day which signifies La Tendo's status as a renowned reputation as a friendly toy shop in Singapore...
Waiting for Karen to appear as she claimed she would make a stop at La Tendo first and she duly arrived at only 5 plus... Once again drizzles forced us to take MRT down only 2 stops to Orchard as we would be having dinner at the Burger King outlet at Wheelock...Chan was already there waiting with a tinge of impatience for the fact that everyone was late including Ferris and his alleged interest of affection (please don't flame me if you read this and it's not true altogether), ZW...

We took too much time chatting and eating with only minutes away from the time the show would start at Lido...and somehow my bladder is really loaded with all th coca I drank, and not to spoil my show, I made a pre-show toilet trip... The miserable Lido 7 is pathetic small and the seats were not particularly comfortable... so the show started and the rabid-craze girld up in front would shriek and scream at any horror/non horror moment... people around were sniggering at their gimmicks but seriously everyone would be appreciative if they just shut the hell up.... Midway thru., once again i knew I had to go to the toilet again, and sitting in the middle of a row of 5 with minimal room space is not helping the cause... I was to the Gents freshed from a scene when a young boy in the show was haunted by a scary apparition during his late night loo trip and the little hidden Gents at the side of the theater with not a soul inside sure made me imagine things...luckily I was out of there fast enough which at that point a girl also vamoosed out of the theater ready to relieve herself but her face was well shocked perhaps from the movie or she really need to go...she rushed to the hidden Gents without consideration before realising she made a mistake, that scene was pretty hilarious...

The short movie was pretty anit-climax and ended in under 90 minutes, felt a bit robbed..But seriously the night is just beginning and you could see young (maybe happening) people starting to flood Orchard; and in our original itinerary was a karaoke session...However only Ferris was hyped on that idea, ZW claimed she would just be following suit and the enigmatic Chan went on his aloof mode once more...The price was deterring at K Box especially for Karen and we then went on the next hour looking for a better spot as well somewhere to have a drink which is difficult to spot one in vincinity available in wee hours and not crowded... So as Ferris and Karen were drenched thoroughly in perspiration and Chan started to give his usual out of this world crap suggestions... Finally we came down back to Prinsep and settled at Mr Bean, a 24 hour coffee joint (once again after Ferris' failed attempt to get everyone into his karaoke session which I felt he really was in to that the entire time)...

Even Mr Bean was badly cramped but did eventually get a place in the air conditioned (what air conditioned?) interior..Many people were glued to the TV to watch Man U versus Arsenal for the FA Cup final.... Out of the blue, one of ZW and Chan s' friend appeared to join our chit chat session.. a lot of conversation on typical ice breakers like job whinings, movies, urban legends and ghost stories, vacation spots etc... All these time the usually chatty Chan was fixing his eyes on the TV on the other side and kept mum... I mean it's ok if you are no social animal but I'm sure he is the only one to know everyone at the table most and yet keeping that awkward silence... even ZW was pretty into the conversations at time... by 2 plus, we decided to call it a night and once again Karen was the unfortunate one to have take the cab back alone since she is the only one staying at the West... I reached home at 3 plus (creepy after the movie in which it was 3:15 am when a horrific massacre takes place).. I doze off watching the "One Piece" anime DVD which I borrowed today while waiting for my hair to dry...

Few points that I could conclude today:

1. Chan is strange, period...
2. Lido is not a good theater to go anymore
3. Ryan Reynolds from the movie had a well-chiselled body...
4. Rabid screaming girls in theater can really spoil your watching leisure
5. American horror movies still trail their Asian counterparts by some distance in the scare quotient
6. Karaoke in town on weekends is expensive
7. People love to hang out in town at wee hours when they should be dozing back home
8. Burger King meal sucks a lot which makes me miss the good old BK meals
9. None of the people in the clique are decision makers and would simply waiting for the next one to make the decision which unfortunately has to be me at times (in fact most times)
10. Man Utd need to get back to the books after losing the FA Cups finals to bitter rival, Arsenal in penalty shoot-out and leave a dreadful season without trophies..
    
11. This little get-away which is unplanned yet cost me a bomb and now I had to go back to my budget book to contemplate on ways to put back every cents I spent...

    Japanese word of the day: 奇妙な　~ki-myou-na~ (Strange) Guess who is...
    

Confession

20th May 2005, Friday

Before you go humming the Usher's hit, and start taking off your shirt to show the gleaming abs, this confession has nothing to do much with that...

Anyway my supervisor is back and she is visibly jet-lagged and weary from all the travelling; and she has to come back to a pile of information, news and workload to be tended to....

I came in to work a bit late today after a tedious struggle to creep ut of my cozy bed; and upon reaching and switching on the handphone, immediately BY buzzed me a SMS that "Boss is in the office, where are you?"

As I reached the area, I could see her talking to BY about a new project SeBan is taking on, which is do cover the ends of the project we had completed some months back; I also kept her update of some important events that had happened the last fornight when she was gone..Before finally told her about my little episode with the "illegal exploitation"... I discreetly avoided the details as she might be pretty ired about it and after a long trip and just returning, I think that's something she could do without...

Nonetheless, now that she is informed it's a load off my burden and I could at least take it easy for the long weekend (Sunday is Vesak Day, thus Monday is a public holiday as well, YOHOO!)

One good fallout from thewhole episode is that the tension between me and JxMMy has been slightly alleviated but of course it is omnipresent no matter what...

One more note is that time passes really slowly today...urgh can't wait to cry out to the frigging weekends... before we can play some Usher and party along....

Japanese word of the day:告白 (Confession) This is what i did today...

Good Bye Tom!

19th May 2005, Thursday

As the world awaits the final chapter of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, "Revenge of the Shit...er..Sith"; I hope today would pass as prompt as yesterday in an uneventful fashion....

Feel a bit more relaxed today unlike the rigidness like yesterday, and even did some work at my workstation, something I dare not do before...

Our internet service access to foreign websites are tremendously been slowed down due to the server problem at NUS (which is our parent server) and the IT team sure has been badly preoccupied the entire week through...

I left yesterday evening with Tommy the Norwegian programmer struggling to finish up the other process which seems ok on dry run but failed on the actual run, but he managed to accomplish it by 7..and returns today to finish up the loose ends..sure is one responsible guy...
He told me that he has reserved a pair of movie tickets for Star Wars Episode III this evening and he was estactic that the tickets are so much cheaper as compared to his homeland ($8.50 here, $22.50 over in Olso)...
We also chatted more of the difference in culture between the 2 nations and he showed me the picture of his 3 and a half years old daughter whom he really missed during this Singapore stint...
He also mentioned that his fiance is in her final year to become a professional nurse and that his salary package is not as attractive as our professions back in Norway which is a pretty wealthy country with the natural resource of oil rewarding the next few generations...

I also recommeded him to go down some club at One Fullarton to get a feel of the nightlife in Singapore, which he would consider if he and his colleague, Morten would get a day off for tommorrow before he departs our island...

He is also under the weather with perhaps jet-lag and fallen ill as the flu bug has been rampant for a while now...
As the program runs smoothly, he requested to take a picture with me and JxMMy to commemorate his visit and it sure was an enlightening one both professionally and personally...

The rest of the afternoon I just slack around, awaiting the return of our supervisor which seemed very much improbable, tommorrow perhaps..

Japanese word of the day: くつろぐ ~ku-tsu-ro-gu~ (Relax) a bit more today

Jittery all day long

18th May 2005, Wednesday

I was quite surprised I did not wake up in cold sweat from a nightmare of what consequences I had to bear for my "caught in the act" yesterday
There was a scene though just as I was waking up of JxMMy been the harbinger of my worst news which I had no slightest idea what it was actually...

As the breeze of the light drizzle sends shivers all over my body, but it's my heart and mind that is trembling in distort and totally disarrayed, and thoughts of all the scary consequences kept me awake throughout my MRT journey as I was sacred stiff as I approach my institute closer and closer...

For the entire day, I am jittery and my body becomes rigid with anxiety and tension..I dare not even do my normal surfing on my workstation, just checked my emails of any updated news about my "illegal exploit" of the company been reprimanded or phone calls demanding me to anwser my act to the authority..I also got very jumpy with appearances of anyone that I thought would be bringing me any bad news..I was really stressed and even lunch became tasteless... All I could do was to keep myself busy so that time passes by fast..
In my mind I kept thinking if my supervisor is around, I would do my confession and the entire incident could be resolve...but I was keep stranded at this position...

The Norwegian programmer is in again today to tie up everything yesterday and finish up a new program for another process... Therefore I stayed in the cozy support room, shielded from the world outside, especially dare not step into my workstation, afraid that the scene yesterday would be re-enacted... but time passed and still no news, so i live another day, and pray that my supervisor would made it back by tommorrow afternoon... anyway she would be stunned to find LF (an alleged fave of hers) would be joining a new lab by July...

Japanese word of the day 有罪: ~yuu-zai~ (Guilty) as charged

Norwegian aura anyone?

17th May 2005, Tuesday

Was totally burnt out last evening by the time the clock struck 12, it seems like 5 hours of sleep each on Saturday and Sunday was taking it's toll on me and I woke up, still very much groggy, you could easier do you Smackdown move on me....

Back to work, it seemed like the spam e-mail still spreads like wildfire across the board the root of the problem is still a bane for the IT team..well it's alright by me, just need to do more routine deletion of mails that's all...

Today a Norwegian progammer by the name of Tommy came together with the product kit specialist to perfect the program ran by the $800,000 white elephant (automated robot I mentioned before)...

One perk (well not exactly perks) of my line is to be able to meet with people from all over the world... firstly my institute alone resides researchers and staff from far and wide, countries like China, Malaysia, Scotland, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mauritius, Germany, U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, South Africa, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Japan, Korea etc etc....
Then we have specialist or collaboraters from places like the U.S., and now from Norway

My only known fact about Norway is that they are part of the Nordic/Scandanavian regions together with the likes of Sweden, Denmark, Iceland & Finland, and they have high-grade salmon... of course Rosenberg is a big footballing club in Europe and they have such excellent footballers like Ole Gunnar Soksjaer, John Arne Risse, Tore Andre Flo, Erik Bakke and Ronny Johnsen..other than that not much is known about the people unlike the "Beautiful Bosom Blondes" from Sweden...

This guy who looks uncannily like the lead vocals of the British band, "Coldplay", Chris Martin; is really well versed in going through all the program scripts which read gibberish to me.. He must be a Virgo as well as he always try to perfect each single procedure even only nano error present,; of course they are true blue professional...

Well while enjoying the fact that the niggling problems we encountered on our inferior program starting to be corrected, we shared some information about his Nordic homeland...

A serene country with size trillion times bigger than our little "booger-size" (quoting some infamous Taiwanese foreign minister) island... but about the same population of 4 million... Like Sweden, they have very high taxes but free medical coverages.. The women workforce are given at least 10 months of maternity leave while the men get 6 weeks for paternity reasons (man our 3 days are way too measly)... and little did we know that today is the National Day for Norway as well...

Back to office, I felt amiss when my workstation has been man-handled as someone opened a folder of mine with an episode of "Samurai Champloo" and my worst fear became reality as JxMMy informed me the IT team came with an admin personel to check on my d/ling activities, and even took screen captures as evidence..I'm truly done for it, as my mind go berserk and my heart weakens.... I really don't know what would happen to me...my colleagues compassionately said a warning is the most probable punishment but it could be worse..but knowing myself I always tend to blow matters out of proportion to scare the wits out of myself... no matter what, I have to bear the consequences and of course deserve it...

Japanese word of the day: 国 ~ku-ni~ (country) There sure are a lot representatives in my workplace...

My Top 5 Wants

16th May 2005, Monday

Manic Monday morning in which our island was well-soaked in rain and commuters were in adrenaline rush to get to work fast yet not get drenched under such circumstances... A day of solitude for me as JxMMy D took MC (yoohoo!! Perhaps a weekend of rampant and uncontrolled passion-inflicted injuries)... I'm running the entire show, for the service which is rather predicatable especially I need not tend to the Germans' project....BY is also on MC today thus the girls are especially quiet on their side....

Our local network went a bit haywire over the weekends and tons from e-mails from some Eastern European countries kept flooding our mail box and thus the IT squad went in depth to resolve the problem and for a long while we had to survive without internet today...

Anyway would like to cover on a very self-centered issue (hey, "self-centered scourge" is my middle name)... I had a tradition with my buddy in the past as we envision ourselves 5-10 years down the road; well it's been a good decade since the last time we "dawned" over his old place in A.M.K which holds most of my wonderful memories...reaching 27 by November I would like to make a list of what do I actually want in the next few years...

Of course:
I would want to go for Japan trip twice annually...
I would want a convertible Peugeot/Lexus coupe...
I would want a little gallery to pay tribute to my toys collection..
I would want a one-night-fling with either Celest Chong, Joanne Peh, Lynda Liow, Sarah Michelle Gellar or Hasegawa Kyoko...
I would want Singapore to have 2 seasons: spring & autumn...
I would want a flexible 4-days work week...
I would want 48 hours in a single day...
I would want..hey.. it's more like "unattainable wishes" here...

Ok Ok...on a more serious note...let's begin:

No. 1 "Want": Good health... As the saying goes, "Health is the essence of Wealth" and it is very true as disease and illness can drive a wealthy man into extreme poverty...
For myself, I don't dabble with cigarettes nor alcohol, my diet though is a bit too inclined to my fave fatty/ unhealthy food in which my mom played a part to keep that in check...
I lack the self discipline to go for regular workout (what workout!?!), which the SAF kept that in tab for me annually by enforcing the 2 months remedial trainings..
Well truly hope nothing would jeapardise my clean slate of health...

No. 2 "Want" Good health to my loved ones... seemingly self-less but since I am over-reliance to my loved ones, I would devastated if anything happened to them...

No. 3 "Want" Money... Hey it makes the world goes round, seriously to reach a certain level of happiness, "$" is very very crucial... I don;t expect any windfall befallen on me since I never gamble as I hate the feeling of losing..
Therefore I am required to work for my money... however my current job seems to be limited in income capacity..so I need to look in other avenues to earn some extra cash and I'm still in review of some other methods, we'll see

No. 4 "Want" A Family.. Yes I want to get married, period... as for becoming a father, hopefully before 30... I don't want to old and wrinkled when my children are just enlisting into Primary School... well subjected to changes because I'm not the only one making all the decision.. of course the way my parents (esp my mom) are exerting pressure on me sure is not to be easily trifled with...

No. 5 "Want" Happiness...A stress-free life with the basic necessities taken care of... Fulfilling at times but doesn't mean I need to embark on a world voyage, win a Nobel prize or make the world a better place for you and me (like MJ does in "Heal the World"...er...I think the only healing he did was to the children featured in the music video) Actually I'm very happy and contented with my current state, so I wouldn't mind going through the same motion for ever and ever, man I'm really narrow-minded, and void of any big ambition but for every successful person, you need a few common, "Heartland Joe" like myself....

Well if this blog can persist for 5 years, we shall see whether I manage to attain my "wants" 5 years from now...

Japanese word of the day: 欲しい ~ho-shi-i~ (want) I still want a one night fling with Celest Chong, please...

Sleep....waste of time?

15th May 2005, Sunday

wow can't believe it, with a blink of the eye, it's Sunday already... went back to office to reboot the system yesterday, then to La Tendo with another fruitless week, as Karen returns after 2 weeks of illness but not sight of Ferris and Chan while Tay chan has left for Hong Kong (*green with envy*)
I also met up with Bens*n, the colleague from the “笑裏藏刀" lab who has been done with his leg injury for the last few months, who frequents La Tendo even with his leg in cast.... once again more rantings of the institute and how conniving his frigging boss is which he agreed without a 2nd thought...

Today just like to talk about how much sleep I am getting these days

Seriously slept at 5 am this morning but still up and going by 10 am, because I don;t want to waste the day away... there are games to be played, anime to be watched, webpage to be made etc....
Plus in less than 24 hours it's back to work again...

My colleagues always tend to sleep their weekends away which is what many working class would do also, my Dad could even just drooped into slumber just be stationary idly for more than 10 seconds... But to me the limited hours in a day is insufficient for me to accomplish all the things I had on hand , then why would I want to waste it away on sleeping (despite it was believed that sleeping is a very efficient way of working out)...

During the weekdays I also really squeeze in the most 6 hours of sleep a day because if I turn in by 9 every evening on a work day, I felt my life is less fulfilling (while watching mindless Taiwanese variety shows while playing Football Manager is not exactly something to make your life flourish as well).... Eevn so I rarely take any power naps at work like the ladies in my lab, the most i would catch a wink on my MRT trip (almost any Tom, Dick, Harry, Muthu, Beng Seng, Mohammed would do so in the air conditioned carriages as well)

One thing I missed about the hectic mugging days was that i could really stay up late to watch all the Japanese doramas and could switch fully nocturnal in my biological make up at my prime... which is why I would try to stay awake on my weekend evenings to reminiscence those days... although Friday evenings my eyelid would really get immensely heavy as perhaps physically and mentally my system went on a full relax mode as my body would recognise the fact that no work the next day, and totally shut down despite I my attempt to use Masking tape or tooth pick to prise my my eyes opened to watch as many anime series on my PC...Once again i felt 24 hours a day is way too little... but time is like money there would be never enough....

Japanese word of the day: 睡眠 ~su-i-mi-n~ (slumber) falling into one now...zzzz..ZZZ

Unwilling....

13th May 2005, Friday

Friday the 13th and there are quite a few scattered over the time, nothing inauspicious befell on anyone, in fact some Friday the 13ths can be quite smooth sailing... much like today

Nothing too outstanding to be done to today, as the entire institute get ready for the major power shutdown tommorrow, however for a cruising day in which I just wanted to slack around till scurrying back home for one of my usual Friday night activities, however I was put into a few unwilling situations...

1) My colleague, LF requested (actually demanded) me to attend a meeting in the afternoon, as a repayment for her favor I owed her (what?!) as she had attended the fire drill meeting in for me on Tuesday when I was having MC.. It was right after lunch (drowsy zone) and a brief on sending and receiving infectious and other biological sensitive items abroad which our lab would never be involved with... Luckily, Old Hag who was hosting the brief makes it short and sweet for us...

2) I got to knock off early but had to meet this particular buyer from Yahoo auctions to earn a nice $10 at 5.30pm which did not really allow me to get home prompt enough.....

Well anyway with our collaboration with the German, it was a rarity to have a day to sit back and relax especially with our supervisor still on her overseas conference trip

Tomorrow as mentioned I need to dropby after the power shutdown to make sure the machines and equipments did not suffer any detrimental repurcussion... maybe a bit unwilling but for the half day off which I will be sorely in need of in coming months, I guess I have to be a willing party...

Japanese word of the day: いやいやながら~iya-iya-nagara~ (unwillingly) Sometime things just prop up to make me unwillingly to commit...

Revenge of the Shit!

12th May 2005, Thursday

Estactic yesterday evening when the team I was rooting for in "Amazing Race 7" came back from adversities as they finished last in the final pit-stop in Jamaica which was also a non-elimination one, but void them of all their money and possesion and they had to strive for everything they could to survive the final leg....

From begging for money at the Montego Bay, Jamaica to lagging a few hours behind Rob & Amber (of Survivor fame) as well as former P.O.W. Ron & pageant queen, Kelly, Uchenna and Joyce managed to scale back to even grounds in Puerto Rico and eventually cajoled the American Airlines to board a plane which was moments for departing for Miami, and found a good cab driver to lead them to the final clue ahead of Rob and Amber who were completely baffled by the location.. It was so fortunate as well as they nearly lost it due to the fact that they had to beg around for money to pay that particular taxi driver.. it would be too cruel to lose that way anyway...
Well for fellow fallen contestants, they truly deserved to win due to their kindness as well as Joyce sacrificing her hair in a "Fast Forward" in India... of course no one wants Rob and Amber to win another million as they had done so in "Survivor: All Stars".

Sis who as supporting Rob's team was pretty devastated by the result while we were stuck to the google-box on AXN for the final result after the exciting 2 hour finale...

Ok back to the main title...it has nothing to do to the return of the diarrhea I had on Tuesday, but that in a week's time George Lucas' highly anticipated finale to his Star Wars series, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (not Shit) is about to go on world premiere...

I don't know, I was never a big Star Wars junkies like many of my friends and perhaps 78% of the world population.. I knew the Episodes IV to VI was revolutionary in the late 1970s, but after our local TV been re-running it every 2 weeks or every New Year, Chinese New Year, X'mas, Father's Day, April's Fool etc... It was reaching saturation point but the demand is still there, because the horde of fanboys just could not give up...

The original trilogy sure will blow minds away with the galatic concept and propel Lucas and his ILM team to the top of its industry but beside the adorable Ewoks and cool Stormtroopers nothing else really grip my affection and the hippie-hair, whiney Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) doesn't helped the cause and till these days I did not understand why every single being would gasped like with such astonishment with Darth Vader (sexy voice by James Earl Jones) revealed that he was actually the father of Luke.. I was more stunned by the dismembered hand from the light saber attack...Talking about light sabers, they are just florescent lamps with anti-heat handles...

Then come the prequels in 1999 with Episode I: "The Phantom Menace", sounds very menacing but the only malice creature was Jar Jar Bink which irritate many (except me) throughout the show... That show was pale as compare to its predecessors but it did spawn tons of merchandies which made up for poor box office showing... Then came Episode II:"The Attack of the Clones", I completely skipped this one and did not miss it altogether... I think a lot of fans were looking for some redemption with this last episode in which Anakin Skywalker (Hayden "should be a Scandanavian" Christensen) complete his transformation into the sinister Darth Vader...and a classic duel with Obi wan Kenobi (Ewan "Come what May!!" McGregor) to be follow by... But seriously i still feel no hype about this even if they are showing it free on local TV, that's why I rejected Chan's kind invitation to a movie outing on next Friday, the 20th without a second reconsideration...


The most anticipated duel of the year other than Jennifer Aniston & Angelina Jolie

I know I would really offend some hardcore Star Warroirs (I guess that's how you call them, since fans of Star Trek are known as Trekkies)...but I would choose "Lord of the Rings" anytime.... and yes Sauron would kick Darth Maul's ass anytime....

Japanese word of the day: スター　ウォーズ　~su-ta wo-zu~ (Star Wars) Yes even the Japanese are crazy over it!

Holding a conversation with the opposite sex

11th May 2005, Wednesday

Back to work after my half day sabbatical, and my supervisor is already off for her conference in the States... Thus we are on our own to deal with the usual routines, and of course fend for ourselves with all the scowl and scorn from the other people, eyeing in our space or critical of our facilities....

Anyway called HZ last night. She was one of my numerous superficial "targets" during my days of bewilderment in university days.. However we still keep in constant contact (twice a year actually)...
With my hermit tedencies these days, you would be glad I actually call someone up for a chat at my own will...

HZ can be a very loyal friend and at times has her own charms which perhaps why I was attracted to her in the first place, but somehow poof into thin air when she became an overly-sensitive creature who is negative about her life and whines about it (reminds me about myself)

Conversation over the phone with her generally constitutes a lot about hoe she was been bullied at work and how her life sucks...blah blah blah, heard it all before... This is not helped when everytime she would be interrupted by her family members at the background which I really wonder if they have any degree of basic courtesy when people are on the phones, leave them alone.... Last night's conversation reaches a whole new pinnacle when she took a toilet break in between the conversation which I did not pay much attention as I was devoting about a portion of my focus on my Football Manager game while also flipping between 2 channels on the TV....

However there's a problem in me that no matter how bored I was with the conversation, I rarely is the one ending the conversation and hang up...So there I was wasting about a good 40 minutes of my life chatting with HZ, about how she was down with fever or whine about how badly her current employers are treating her and showing off the fact that she manage to clinch her driving license with 2 points lesser than mine.... I also starting to wonder why I called her in the first place which was to plan a get-together with our usual gang (known as the 4T gang, which there are 4 ladies (exception of me of course, I'm more like a "gu niang")with the surnames beginning with "T", leaving around the same area and would mug exams together)

I don't know I never liek conversation over the phone... the fact that you cannot see the facial expression & body language of the party at the opposite line makes me queasy, and there might not be much sincerity in the words at all...However I could go nostalgic with my buddy on the phone for hours and not get tired...

These days the women I have a casual conversation with (nothing professional), are actually my mom, my sister, my girlfriend and the 3 witches of Eastwick at my workplace...
I doubt I can hold a one to one conversation with any other ladies anymore, without feeling jaded or bored after 2 minutes....
But even with some guys, I could not hold a minute of casual conversation with, namely JxMMy D...

I don't I think it's my own problem, I could not find interesting topics to talk about anymore, which is why "gossiping" about people we know or well-known celebrities is always the best way and as my colleagues and friends could verify, I'm perhaps the only guy who goes full-blast indulging in gossips, which sometimes I thought I should start working for a tabloid or have my own entertianment news program to expose the skeletons in the celebrities' closets...

Well although I could not engage in an one-to-one conversation, I love a group chat session (no not MIRC or MSN messenger).. because there would be someone else who you might find points of interest to talk to, if not it would just be awkward and everyone dispatched in no time (that is of course I'm chatting with a group of JxMMy Ds)...The presence of 1 or 2 bubbly characters or livewires are evry important, and of course the "suan-ing" element in which the scorning and provoking sure help cook up the chatting atmosphere to a whole new level for sure...

I doubt I would be chatting up with any female acquintance anytime soon with so many things I need to do at my own time (which I need about 48 hours a day for myself at least); and definitely doubt I could be calling HZ again in the next quarter of the century because her constant whining sure would not add any useful meaning to my life...

Japanese word of the day: うわさ話をする ~u-wa-sa-ba-nashi o su-ru~ (gossip) I love to do so...

We are going to the Loo..how about you..you ..you

10th May 2005, Tuesday

Not the best day ever for me when I was made very late for work (by my own standard) by the fact that I had to send out an urgent parcel as requested by my buyer from Yahoo auctions...

Then halfway on my journey, I got that agonising feeling in my stomach I had not experience on my daily trips for a while, I had to go anwser the massive nature call and I did so at Jurong East station which cost me an extra $1 or so for my transport fee...

However the ache in my stomach kept haunting me as I reached my workplace and after umpteen visit to the loo..I knew I was down with a bout of diarrhea, which really slowed my progress of work...
Which then I decided to call it a day for a doctor's consultation and a MC...

Well as I reached home under the rain-soddened skies, I actually felt better... sure is a good way to enjoy your MC without the misery and pain of course

Oh yeah, I also found out that... the bloody clinic got a 2 hours lunch break...lucky buggers
Made me make an extra trip

Japanese word of the day: 病気~byou-ki~ (sick) sure am today...

The Shady Side of Me

9th May 2005, Monday

Back for a full week of work with a pending designated return to the lab on coming Saturday (14th) at my own will to reboot the equipments due to the power shut down on that day itself.
In doing so I could perhaps claim a half day off, which may be advantageous due to the need to do a lot of administrative issues for my forthcoming Japan Trip...

Anyway like to reveal a side of me which I always aware of its presence but couldn't do anything about..

I definitely follows a trait of been a Scorpio, the vengeful side... Not that I would be on mission to eliminate anyone who did wrong to me... it's just that I could not handle things in a magnanimous manner...
I always tend to shield myself from been spotted by people who I am adamant not to have any dealings with...
Knowing that these particular individuals are in my way, I would usually:
1) Find anywhere to avoid them altogether.
2) Walk pass and pretend to be engrossed in something else that I would have not noticed that present (although I am fully aware)
3) Stay put in a safe zone so that that individual might leave and I could continue with my life, if not I would go to (1)

One very prominent case that occured over the weekend was when I was at La Tendo.
I used to patronise any toy shop whom I had dealings with back at Clarke Quay, and not residing across La Tendo...
We used to have such constant relationship that i joined him for the Wonder Festival Hobby convention last August.
However it was in late last year when his business started to stagger and took a beating, and he struggled to deliver new products out in the market, which then I entrust my usual purchase back to La Tendo
(at this point I have to admit, I have a tedency to wheel and deal for the best prices around and could not so much say I have "loyalty" to any particular shop, that's another bad characteristic of mine)

Since then when I started to discover the warmth and cohesiveness in La Tendo especially with the La Tendo clique, I started distancing that shop whom I could hang out more than half a day in the past... Now I don't even dropby and say hi. Perhaps deep inside I feel a guilt of the switch of loyalty, but in more pragmatic way, could be the fact that I already have found no meaning of dropping by...
I feel ashamed as a human being as of now, I really do... Perhaps in the first place that shop owner is more of someone whom I could find advantage to derive from rather than a normal acquintance; and now when the advantage diminishes, I of course jump off the sinking ship...
That's despicable thoroughly, so I guess in my case it's not to such extend...

But after weeks of not going over to the shop, I guess it became a formality that I would give it a miss altogether...even start been shady, and would dodge here and there just to let him spot my presence. But he of course would be aware of my "gigantic mass", but he is one with much pride (and ego), and would not take the friendly move to come over and greet me purposely. Which resulted now our encounter became a very remote and awkward one...

So on Saturday he cajoled Vincent for a smoke and a chat (as all smokers love to do that during their smoking break), and I was about to leave. However their smoking point was situated just at the entrance where I would leave from. I could have of course bid both smoking friends farewell, but the ugly side of me (and I'm not talking about my facial features) kept me from doing so, thus delaying my return home...

However the wait wasn't worthed it as the other shop owner would eventually arrived to La Tendo and started chatting with the people inside, leaving me pathetically awkward inside and made my silent departure....

It's sad but true, and it's hard for that relationship to be mended; but I'm afraid that I would give people that impression that I'm not ardent enough as a friend and more of looking at ways how to draw more gain to myself... which I think people would have thought so as some of my actions have become very blatant... However I can be as true a friend as anyone else, but somehow something deep within my soul just always spontaneously find ways how I could get something out of a relationship...

Well, I would try to better myself in the future not to so pragmatic in the way I handle people and relationships, and less "shady" in my behavior but seriously I doubt I can guarantee that...

Japanese word of the day: 醜い ~mi-ni-ku-i~(ugly) There's a side of me that is very ugly...(;_;)

Ode to My Mother

8th May 2005, Sunday

It's Mother's day Sunday, and our island began to be shrouded in torrential rain since early morning, and comes fittingly on a Sunday morning, sure makes you late wake up really nice and cosy, cuddling in the warmth of your blanket/futon/bed covers/quilt...

While everyone at home is still dozing away, one person was already up and going; cooking with heart and soul, a sumptous breakfast to satisfy her family...

It was my mom, and perhaps thus far the most important person in my life for the last 2 decades or so...

My father has always been the straight face, stoic one who worked his ass off to provide for our family and kudos to him, but when it comes down to an individual, the role of a mother would and could never be replaced....

I'm a mommy's boy, which you all know and my dependance on mom has attained a malignant stage and I doubt even would be independant when I start my own family, heck I even plan to live with my parents after settling down... It is because I knew my mother would be an asset to any family...
She single-handedly prevent the likes of me and my sister from going astray and successfully develop into a much better individual both morally and academically... I couldn't imagine me becoming what I am if not for mom

Like myself, my sister and my father are equally dependant on mom.. She is the very one to lend a listening to listen to their ranting and whining and believe there sure is a lot... In fact I really doubt whether there would be another woman on earth would put up Dad's unreasonable, spontanaeous and self-centered fits and disrespectful blast and glare... Mom always said if not for us, she might really ask for a divorce years ago... Mom is a very smart and hardworking woman, and I believe if the family did not pull her down, she might be a successful businesswoman...

With her around, the house is always neat and tidy, we always have food to eat, clean and ironed clothes to wear, and of course the house is always bustling with activities.... In her absence, Dad became a literal "invisible man" which revealed how reluctant Dad was when Mom is off for her rare mahjong session with my aunties or a trip to Malaysia...

Beside tirelessly maintaining the well-being domestically, Mom is also able to juggle with her job which helps to supplement the finance of the house... From an electronic factory worker to a supermarket assistant to now a cleaning lady of a factory, Mom has always been a model worker who works relentlessly and without any complains...never late and absence without leave...

Seriously there's no words could express my love for mom, nor any carnation, gift or a Yumcha tim sum breakfast... I knew her biggest wish now is to see me and my sis settling down soon and me of course deliver a grandchild for her to cherish... so been a useless son for the last 26 years, I hope I could at least do that for her real soon...

Last but not least, thanks Mom..your devotion and love for us is very much appreciated..Happy Mother's Day

Japanese word of the day: 母 ~ha-ha~ (My Mother) She is irreplacable!

Friday already..so fast?!

6th May 2005 Friday

Yes, that's the great thing about working 4 days.... really looking forward to the Vesak Day Long weekend in 2 weeks time again...
Then have to endure 2 full months of no public holidays at all (June and July)
Before our Nation's birthday and off I fly to Japan....
~Fly me to the moon and let me something something something~~~

I think it's retribution for me to rant about MRT yesterday, today for the 1st time in ages, I couldn't get a seat for my journey to work... luckily the songs of Exile & Nakashima Mika helped made the ordeal much tolerable... there was this particular uncle who was all filled with angst not able to grab a seat for himself and was thoroughly pissed with an old "Beng" who accidentally nudged him... I love to see those angst-filled uncles and aunties who sometime think that the world actually owed them 2 billion dollars or something...

Back to work, relatively laid back, as all Friday was supposed to be..NOT!
Our supervisor would be going for an oversea seminar in the States from next Tuesday, so time to run amok..NOT!
Had a hearty chat with the girls as we once again covered our favorite topic to go nostalgia and BY relates to us how she joined our laboratory years back and how wretched it was working with the classic version of "Se Ban" (色板)...
Upon listening to the entire story got the final conclusion:

1) Se Ban (classic ver.) is a terrible, obnoxious boss who really need wake up and smell whatever frigging flowers he can find back in Bangalore.
2) Old Hag (our auntie deputy director) could not face up to reality especially when dealing with obstacles... and she would labeled you a "rebel" once you did not cooperate and follow her way...
3) Our supervisor was a much responsible person but over-protective of JxMMy D
4) JxMMy D was always in solitude, even back in the old days...even his first love, C, did not even bother to work side by side with him...

Anyway on the news today Tony Blair retains his role as the Prime Minister of United Kingdom for a 3rd term while Sporting Lisbon will meet CSKA Moscow for the UEFA cup finals...

I always thought Mother's day is on the 15th but actually it is on coming Sunday...till then I would perhaps compose an ode to my wonderful mom...

Till then, I'm gonna enjoy my weekend.. especially this new anime series which really draw my buddy's and my attention, "Trinity Blood"...

Japanese word of the day: no word for today..bummer

Mass Rapid Torment

5th May 2005, Thursday

It's 4.16p.m and I am awaiting my knock-off time and freezing as usual as outside the buidling it's raining cats and dogs, sure help to alleviate some heat and humidity accumulated over the past week or so....

Well since Dad is recuperating at home for the past week, I do not enjoy the luxury of a free trip home, and once again reliant of the public transport which never feel to drive me crazy... MRT (mass rapid transit)...

Namewise:
Mass - Oh yes, there are aplenty... as statistic shows about 2 million people uses the MRT everyday, and I'm sure all of them (including myself) commutes during peak hours (morning and evening)

Rapid - It depends, morning trips are generally very smooth unless bad weather, electrical shortage or someone decided to join the national sport of jumping into the railway tracks (aka commit suicide but there was once a victim tries his best to recover his dropped $2.50 "Tat Sing" flip-flop but failed tragically)

Transit - This is apparent, to serve as a transport mode and for around 17 years now it has served it's purpose...

But the true meaning of MRT goes beyong that 3 words...
SMRT is the governing company which also controlled SMRT buses (formerly known as Trans-island Bus or drivers from hell) as well as a division of cabs...
And many actually take MRT for 2 main reasons: fast and economical.

Fast as it is, I always feel there are some unexpected occurences when the schedule would go haywire and of course commuters get cranky, and when commuters got cranky, all hell break loose...
There are also cases when if I miss a train the next one would only arrive 10 minutes later (!?!), so much for the rapid part...

Economical...I don't so, hośe... a trip between Yishun to Bouna Vista (where I work) would easily cost me S$1.54... multiply that by 2 for back anf forth trip and 5 days a week, plus additional trips on Saturday..one week I would be glad to keep the fare at under $20... which is why I am always exhilarated when Dad could pick me up off work, I could scrimp and save a bit which will eventually adds up over the months... now the company wanted to increase the fare again in July by 2.4%..sigh we just can't win...

My journey everyday covers the following stations:



I will need to transit at the Jurong East Interchange and that exchange thoroughly resembles the 18th level of eternal hell... where commuters (usually lowly-educated blue collar workers and army boys) try to rush for the latest train as if as we Chinese said "rushing for reincarcination"... I could understand urge to get back home to have a good rest and a sumptous meal after a hard day at work... But that doesn't mean you have to do it in such ugly, unruly manner... Of course they don't really care about self-image nor they give a damn about the "courtesy" campaign the government is holding whatsoever... Their aim : "To grab a seat" ... even the commuters who would drop in the very next station which is just 3 minutes away, is adamant that he/she needs that seat...more than any handicapped person, pregnant moms, elderly...you get the point...

For me I don't not having a seat but sandwiched between some body-odour ladened workers/soldiers is not exactly what I envision to be the ideal way to get home as well...

Well the smell I can tolerate, but the noise at times can be out of the limit especially when you have some hyper-active devils scampering around, making a din like this is their play group..then the embarrassed parents intervined, give them a smack, they wept like no tomorrow.... hey papa/mama, that doesn't help the situation a single bit!

There are all sorts of colorful characters to watch on the train... lecherous uncles (chee ko pek), scantily-clad nubile beings (to be eyed by the chee ko pek); uncles communicating over their GRID walkie talkie loudly as if everyone on the train needs to know their conversation; youngsters showing off their library of handphone ring tones/ talking about everything under the sun which usually doesn't make any sense and you could do without & live a much fuller life/ snuggling and making out in a corner/ sharing the loud music from their radio/mp3 player/Discman; tired people who could snooze the minute the train moves; voyuers who take pictures of sleeping people & scantily clad girls; and of course "hard life" people like me irritated by each & every individual on the train...

Not to forget, mentally-challenged people tend to appear now and then on the MRT...
There was this boy on my morning train sometime back who would start humming songs in the most twisted and out-of-tune manner imaginable loudly while everyone is dozing off on the train...and the scary part is I actually some of the songs he is humming...

But the most extreme case I have seen is a middle aged man, who would glide around the train and pressed himself upon every passenger who is standing on the glass panel by the doors of the carriages....Luckily he gave me a miss....

Well there is thousand and one thing to talk about a innocent-looking, common MRT trip, which I would perhaps whine about later on... No matter what, it sure is much cheaper than owning a car...
How I wish I have a direct bus between my workplace and my home... maybe by then I could then rant about the irritating I met on the bus....

Japanese word of the day:電車　~den-sha~ (transit train) Ours still lag behind their Japanese counterparts.

Midweek Dilemma

4th May 2005, Wednesday

I got a feeeling that midweek always leave people in doubts and bewildered and perhaps cooped up with the work to be done...

This would be the point when the engine is already running in smooth momemtum and work is to be accumulated, yet you got the notion to try to clear the work within the next 2 days so you could leave Friday relatively relax...

This morning, our supervisor gathered the entire lot of us into our service room to brief about a few outstanding issues...

One of those is of course the lab-space acquisition I mentioned about yesterday. I could sense the unwillingness in her words but I could also capture the helplessness as the decision was assented by the deputy director (whom we labeled as "Old Hag" if you would be interested to know)..
Our supervisor just told us to pack whatever we have no in urgent need to allocate to the space dedicated to us in another level (which is of course of extreme inconvenience).. Then again don't forget we are also known as "The Push-around service Lab" (and not just JxMMy alone)

Another issue she brought up was that our institute is going to make a much apparent aid to outstanding and long-serving lab biologist with a chance to relish a Phd (not permanent brain damage)... It is only open to locals and at least have served the institute for 3 years, and of course need a basic Bachelor's degree/honors ...hmm... match my criteria exactly.. However it won't be easy to grab a place as the qualification interview would be brutal and in our institute brutal is something close to "holocast" or "point of no return"...
There's another issue that if we wanted to embark on our own project our current service lab status is inadequate, thus there's a need to move to another lab to do so.... which itself is a pretty tough decision to make...

Our supervisor also mentioned that the institute is also gradually going to upgrade existing batch of lab biologists with a chance at just normal bachelors or masters, thus improve on our own self-value... But it is only time before this would actually be realized...

As the girls are grinning with a tug of the heart on whether such opportunities would be an ideal way to upgrading themselves and thus increase their employability before adjourning to greener pastures...Me myself is in the douldrum on whether I have that sufficient level of interest/energy/passion to do a research and eventually grab that elusive qualifications...
But there's also a chance that I might not succeed and I'm too embedded in my comfort zone at the moment, a Phd has never came across in my agenda... Of course there's always a need to upgrade yourself...
Sigh.. it's tough..and for now just procrastinate to perhaps after settling down with a family and see how (I can bet my last penny that that's not a wise decision but since I made it, I gotta uphold it)

Meanwhile, the prank I mentioned yesterday about Eddy's blog been hacked is totally untrue and he himself decided to close it down...for reasons only perhaps can be found in the future episodes of the X-Files...

Well seeing Dad in agony from his injury is hard, and really wished his aged bones could recuperate soon, and perhaps he should not get involve in such high risk tasks anymore...but then again he would never listen would he?

Japanese word of the day: 困った ~ko-ma-tta~ (puzzled) About my future path of course...

May's Fool?!

3rd May 2004, Tuesday

Back to work after a pretty hefty weekend incorporated with the Labour Day holiday (nothing to do with giving birth actually)...

Yesterday while in my pursuit for accolades and awards in my Football Managerial stint, I was tuning in to Class 95 FM, and the unfateful harbinger of sad news had to be Vernetta Lopez who annouced the passing away of a former President of Singapore, Dr. Wee Kim Wee.
Since I started to acknowledge the presence of a president in Singapore, he was the one , holding that amicable role and surely is the "People's President"... His passing away sure is sad news that engulf the entire island in grief.. The daily national anthem at 6 am in the morning today only showed our national flag in half mast while the Singapore Symphonial Ochestra playing the solemn note...

Back to work, had to get myself into that Monday morning frenzy momentum so as to finish up the usual "after the weekend" routines as promptly as possible so that i can do my usual "surfing"...

Overheard from the radio that today is the annual "Play a Prank on your colleague" day (yes there's a day dedicated to every single thing people do, we have 365 days so should be enough to spread around)...
The DJs on the morning shift started buzzing their afternoon/night colleagues who most probably struggling to wake up and disclose a news that the victims thought they had failed to do...
It was always interesting to play a prank on some unknowing parties but as for colleagues, it is not advisable as you never know whether they are fellow Scorpios like myself who would "forgive, but never forget"
Don't forget colleagues are the ones you see day in day out, and if you have some bad blood with them (like mine with JxMMy D), the tension and the animosity can be pretty life-threatening!

Anyway I decided to play a prank on the girls...
Actually not in conjunction with today, but on Saturday, Ferris sent me a one of those "FWD:" emails which was attached with a movie file of a British car advertisement which claimed to be snipped before even making in to the viewers because of a white mist that looked seemingly like some supernatural entity and streamed pass the car in the ad as it cruised around the highway...
The mail also stated that the sound quality is pretty bleak, so might have to tune up the speaker as you watch it...
Normally curiosity kills the cat, & upon closer investigation whether if there is a passing ghostly mist,a creature which resembles possessed girl in the Excorcist appeared from the corner of the screen out the blue and howls at the viewer...
I was shrieking like a wuss when I first watched the clip as well, and it sure made my heart pounded extra hard to calm those nerves untwined in me...
The ending of the clip is those typical, "You should be working instead of watching this"...
At that point you really don't whether to laugh or cry...

So knowing the girls had a thing for such like of supernatural hoax, I forwared the clip to them and true enough it severely petrify YM, the one who is most prone to such scares... and they are watching without any sound... so you can only wonder what if the speaker was on full blast....

Well I just had my cheeky snigger in the end....heehee

Meanwhile our neighbouring lab with a P.I. we know as "Xiao Li Cang Dao" （笑裏藏刀）who has always been eyeing on our already limited lab space, went to lodge a complain to the deputy director that our stuffs stored in the shared support room had contanminated his tissue culture... and been the usual "push around" we concede his claims and had to move to another spot.. this really angered my supervisor as well as the girls, seem like this is the biggest prank pulled on them for today...

Meanwhile Eddy's Bubblemunche blog has been hacked by a prankster which immobilised his site with just "I am sorry"...I think Eddy would continute to whine about why his life is so wretched...

Dad also had a big prank pulled on him as he accidentally slip from his work site and sorely hurt his left rib cage area...

Japanese word of the day: いたずら　~ita-zura~ (a prank pulled) Not to pull one even when it is April the 1st

Budget.... can be hard and the pain on my finger is not helping...

1st May 2005, Sunday

Labour Day Sunday... and as mentioned today is the day my entire family as well the extended members (my gf and sis' beau) would go to Yumcha for a nice "tim sum" breakfast/lunch/brunch... served as a belated birthday celebration or advanced Mother's Day celebration for Mom of course...
Wanted to hop on the MRT for everyone till my gf suggested taking her brother's car but Dad would have to be the driver to navigate around the complicated roads of Chinatown area... well Dad was pretty reluctant at first due to the fact that he does not fancy taking on other people's vehicle but eventually obliged to facilitate the transport process...

I was really glad I made the prior reservation as the beeline started to form slightly after we made our entrance and it would really be a looooonnnngggg wait for those impromptu suckers....

The hungry worms within our stomachs prompt us to savage on any "tim sum" presented on the round stone table we were residing...
I brought the camera and promised to take more pictures, but my hunger won the inner battle and I couldn't stop to take a picture or two, but I did take the pictures of the nice desserts that soothed our main meal and put our feasting to a wonderful conclusion



My fave dessert: 金枝玉露, cold milk with mango mix and pomelo


姜汁燉奶, curded milk with ginger essence... taste a bit like "Dao Hua"


I was really glad the bill totalled up to slightly above my budgeted sum and not too extravagantly superceding that amount....
Which leads me to the problem that is bothering me for these few days... I was happy to have a bit of surplus from the unexpected bonus package but suddenly a string of event starts to eat into that surplus which I deemed important to sustain any extra expenses after what I have exhausted for the Japan trip...

Firstly a couple of "acquintances" of mine from NUS known as B&J are getting married in June and this fact is already made known to me for sometime now, and I would be sure that me and my gf would not be invited as we weren't that close to them.. However it seemed like we always bumped into them.. whether it's seafood dinner at Turf City or wheeling & dealing at the NATAS Travel Fair.. we of course would bring out the impending wedding and so they would always remembered to invite us from then on... and thus an imminent "red bomb" waiting to take away part of my budget...

Then my formal shoes who I had bought for like 3 years now suddenly had both soles almost stripping off .. there's the problem with cheap brands....
So my mum suggested me getting a pair of good ones and I felt I have to as well (just for the B&J wedding banquet at Rasa Sentosa perhaps)
So that's a hefty sum devoted to that as well...

Plus looking through the list of items coming for the next few months on my wish list I am seeing my back up budget diminishing as day gone by...

It's hard to keep a budget I swear, even if I bring my own lunch to work everyday, reject the ideas of watching movies at the theater or dining outside unnecessary or even coaxing my father to pick me up from work just to safe that puny $1 or so from my transport budget, I still could not meet all the predicted budget I have conjured up...

Recently I pricked my right index finger out of the blue...



It can be really incovenient with that pain constantly bothering my most useful finger ... for typing, for using the scroll on my mouse, for digging my nose , for scooping the hair gel to apply on my hair, for scratching, and 1001 other uses....

I hope I don't prick my right index finger ever again...

Japanese word of the day: 痛い　~i-ta-i~(Painful) My finger sure is at the moment...