Dinner....

Had dinner with a buddy today. It was really enjoyable. Felt a lot like I left my brain back at home. Haha... practically spoke without thinking the whole evening...

Sometimes, you just need friends like that, friends who are fun to be with, friends who don't judge you and friends who really dun take jokes to heart. I guess I'm quite lucky, to be blessed with nice people throughout my life. Never realised that I have so many pillars of strength to fall to. Sincerely, thank you all....

Well, a good deed deserves another. So if any of you ever need a pillar, just dial 1800-Suai-Ge or msn "小童"... I'm sure I have a spare ear somewhere..

Hmm...

Something to think about:

"If we are to judge of love by its consequences, it more nearly resembles hatred than friendship."

Who?

Went to the airport this morning. As I was walking from one end of the terminal to the other, I noticed a a whole bunch of people crowding around...and a queue forming in front of a bus. Thinking that it was tourists, I walked past the crowd and went to look for my other half. While looking around, I suddenly heard a bunch of girls screaming "小童, 小童" (xiao tong, xiao tong). Wonder why they were screaming at me so affectionately. So I turned, looked around and said "Who? Who call me?". Waaa....I really diden know I got so many fans wan leh. One thing though, there was this guy in the middle of the crowd who was wearing some sunglasses and a cap. He probably annoyed my fans so much that the security had to escort him out. Nonetheless, I guess the crowd dissapated after I left.

My new room...







What'd ya expect!! Guy room leh! hahaha.. of course dirty wan la..

Isn't it ironic....

Sometimes, things are just plain ironic. Wonder why I always feel so outta place. Guess I can make a list that even Alanis Morisette would be proud of.

a) I drink 8 cups of coffee a day to stay awake....coffee makes me sleep
b) I drive to work... then walk 15 minutes to get to the office
c) My job title is "Specialist"... I do anything that no one else wants to do
d) I'm assigned to go back to my home country...... to represent another country.... on a subject which I know nuts about....
e) I like going to kbox to sing chinese songs..... I can't read chinese
f) I bought a 30" LCD TV.... and its doing a good job collecting dust under the bed
g) I shifted to a new room with air-conditioning!! Yaay!! ... But I don't like being cold le..
h) Every night, I set the alarm to wake up early .... somehow, I never fail to be late

Could probably go on and on and on... have so many more examples that makes my life really ironic... how I wish life was just simple...

Feels like stupidity..

If there was an award for being stupid... I guess I would win hands down...

On the way home, I dropped my other half back to her place and she took some stuff out of the boot. I realised something was wrong, and went down the car to check. There and then, I realised that the boot was open. I tried 2 times to get it closed, but it just popped right back open everytime I close it. So, having learnt the trick of using a pen to temporarily disengage the hazard lights, I stuffed a pen in and drove on. When I reached my place (ya the new place) I tried once again to see if any part of the boot or locking mechanism was faulty. I took out the pen, and tried closing it once more, but it popped back open. Then I guess something just dawned on me. I don't have strength... have been carrying stuff for the whole week, I guess I really was feeling a bit weak. Using a bit more strength, I closed the boot again, and it popped shut. Opened it once more and tried again, and it closed shut real nicely. Ya, I think I better rest more and eat more rice... hehe

Not even worth a foreign worker...

Was having this conversation with my former housemates, the foreign workers. It went something like:
"eh, u shift"
"ya, I shifting"
"eh, we also shift"
"hah? when"
"end of month"
"why, how come u shift"
"here not good, place dirty, market far, mrt far, no good, lousy...agent find better place"


It was then that it dawned on me that I was living in an environment for 6-7 years which even foreign workers found it hard to live in!!! My god... I really have to learn to be more demanding.. haha.....

Old man with shaking hands...

Aiyo... I old already la. Today was the first day I start shifting some stuff over to the new place. Drawed the deposit and 1 month rent from the ATM and headed home to stack stuff into my car.

Disclaimer: Half way reading, u will not understand a word I'm saying... but its ok... this is my blog leh... not yours...hahahaa

First target... the keyboard. Had trouble figuring out how to dismantel the dam thing. And somehow managed to drop the dam power charger on my toes. Owww! Owww! Oww!!! Some internal bleeding and a red toe, but have to live with it la. After the pain subsided and half an hour fiddling around the buttons and screws, I finally managed to remove the top with the hammer keys and decided I would not dismantle the bottom... instead, i could make 2 trips...one for the top and one for the bottom to the car, 10 stories below.

I got the bottom down to the car, then realised the stupid thing cannot fit in the back seat... tilt also cannot, diagonal also cannot. So I ran upstairs and got the allen key (is that how u spell it??) then took the key down to dismantel the bottom.

I reckon, bringing the key alone would waste another trip, so I took the top along with the key downstairs. The top was exceptionally heavy. It was like lifting weights. Only thing is that this weight was as long as me!! Tried stuffing in the top into the car... after 15 mins, it miraculously fit.

Started dismantling the bottom like an idiot at the carpark. Everyone passing by had that "is that fella trying to steal a car?" look on their faces. Then I got the rest of the parts of the keyboard into the car in like 3 more trips to and fro from upstairs to the carpark. When I got back to the car, I was drenched and exhausted. Then I realised that both my hands were shaking. Another sign of old age.

Told myself "Uncle, half the job done aredy... one more half then u can rest".. phew... then drove to the new place at Villa Verde.. The landlady there was telling her husband... "You see, people can play piano and guitar wan leh" and her daughter was saying "You can teach kor kor...he also got guitar"... and there and then, I had to correct them... "No..no... I cannot play one...I am under the category of sibeh lao pok.. and never take lessons" "Maybe your kor kor can teach me leh"...hahahaha...

Finally managed to get the piano to 3rd floor. And after being drenched in sweat a second time round (gross rite? haha) I got to the car, drove back.. and felt a sense of relief knowing that the piano is there... then I turn and look at the 32 inch tv, the isqueeze, the tv console, my 4 boxes of books, clothes, toys and dvds... and tons of other things I haven't started packing... and I guess slip disc will be coming soon... hehehhee... just kidding...

Hmmm...

Something to think about:

If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.

A for Apple, B for Ball....

Met up with a uni student to be interviewed on what I was doing at the request of my boss.

The poor guy was waiting for me at the sofa at level 1. From his looks, I could see that he was really expecting the worse, some gross government servant with a cruel demeanour and a ghastly look. So, just then, I decided that I was going to change his impression of government servants. No I did not put on a bunny suit or danced "ni shi wo de hua duo". I merely flashed my teeth and told him, "Hey, lets not make this so formal....lets go grab a cup of coffee somewhere while we discuss this".

We went on to URA for coffee, and I switched on my laptop and made some small talk. "So, why did you join civil?" and his response "That was the only thing that caught my interest". "Well, it has to be either salary or career development" and his eyes lit up while he said "Err...what about job satisfaction?"... for a second there, I was tempted to say "That's a myth, it doesn't exist" but I blurted out "Well, have to somehow balance the three" to not disillusion the poor guy.

We went on to discuss about the processes in what I was doing, what laws were passed and some historical background. I guess halfway through the process, he was getting to be quite comfortable, knowing that I was not being adversarial. I then remembered what my boss told me... "ask him.. ask him to do the competency framework... do the framework....ask him to do the training framework...ask him...now...askkkkhiimm". It was like a haunting voice, trailing part of my brain...the part that was really lazy to come up. After all, I was trying to play host and then finish it off asap, so that I can return to the comfort of my cubicle. Sigh. Against my conscience, had to tell him, "Well, if you want to churn out a better fyp, it is better if you concentrate on ahem...ahem.." "On what?" "on ahem fra... ahem wor...ahem" "What was that?" "ahem....competency and training framework...ahem ahem". He really didn't know what the heck I was talking about...so I spent the next 15 mins or so explaining how our company could facilitate his study and research... for the benefit of the 'ahem' industry. Finished off the final bit of Q&As and walked back to the office.

On the way back, he explained that he already knew his grades due to some cap system used in NUS. And I wondered why such a demoralising system was used in uni nowadays. He clarified that it was supposed to "make student work harder when they know where they stand" and that "NTU is also adopting the same system". No wonder kids nowadays need so much tuition.

I guess all in all, it felt as though he was still in school life. Well ya, he is, but it just feels like he is still not infected by working experience. No crappy decisions, no last minute arrows, no bad management. Perhaps, one day, he would be the one being interviewed... and he would be telling the student "Job satisfaction? That's a myth...it doesn't exist"...

Changes..

Man I just hate changes... I hate shifting, hate colleagues leaving, hate job scope altering, hate having new people to work with... man, I just seem to hate everything... ya ya... I am an introvert... and my pretentious outer core of an extrovert doesn't work at all...

Just don't understand why there must be so dam many changes all at once... why can't they just spread out...or come one at a time... why must they all come at one go... sigh....

Wait till I become a director... then I can impose a no change policy (NCP)... totally no changes allowed for 3 years... and each change must be substantiated with a full 5000 page report... anything less and no change will be allowed...

Basket...if only things can change for the better... whoever upstairs is writing the script, wake up la...stop sleeping...

Where got old aunty??

We were at Vivo City getting some transparent containers to contain my hoards of stuff accumulated over the year. Thank god they invented the trolley, or my back would've given way carrying 4 huge containers to the car. When we offloaded the container, the first thing that comes into mind was, where is the old aunty who collects trolleys and gets the $1 stuck in there?

This time, cannot find the old aunty leh... so we looked at each other and decided that we shouldn't let the trolley hang in the car park lot. Then we did the unthinkable. We decided to push the empty trolley cart back to Giant!! (actually, we kiam la...want to save that $1, I was lamenting that we probably earned more than 10,000 times that amount and we do such stupid things to get back $1). We pass through the car park, took a lift up 2 stories with the empty trolley, walked past the restrooms, past a long and winding corridor, back to the main area, pass the newstand we bought newpapers from and finally back to Giant.

Now that I think of it... where is the old aunty when u need her??!?

Public Holiday (No Post)

hehehe....going to eat Bak Kut Teh at Keppel now.. ciao!!!

Updates...updates... man am I tired or what...

Some updates for bros and buddies...

1) KL conference is confirmed... 12-14 Nov...will be staying till the 18th... guys, get your MTG cards ready....
2) Going to shift room soon. U heard right...shift room not shift house. The house will be ready in Feb next yr I guess. Saw a room at Villa Verde last night, not too bad. The landlady even offered to have my clothes washed and ironed by her maid... hahaha... haven't had that kinda service since I was 12...
3) No change in job or job location. So, Amoi fans pls feel free to drop by or gimme a call.
4) CCLia, I'm still waiting for the interview on my arcade days... and what happened to the room?
5) YY, if you're reading, thanks for the updates on Chevron. Will get a copy of NST after I finish this blog.
6) Trips: Macau and Maldives confirmed albeit the bombings...haha.. so you guys will hear a lot less from me in Nov and Dec.
7) Shippuuden still on 29-30, Bleach on 143 and Ikkitousen on 3... yawn.. they're really slow la..
8) Chiu kua buddies, tonight party world confirmed?
9) OK...thats all the things I can think of for now... bug u guys later!! (Bug...hmm...)

Exhausted...

Dunno why sometimes I just feel mentally and physically exhausted.. like everything all of a sudden is not going my way. Perhaps there is something wrong with me, or as I prefer to believe, perhaps it has something to do with some astrology thing...

Wait, gimme a second, lets see what the yahoo astrologer has to say this time... haha..... I know I suck...

" The intellectual in you will see many interesting facets to the day -- and be very intrigued by every one of them. Everything you encounter will be confusing, but also fascinating. You will want to dissect and interpret everything you survey, and this curiosity will serve you quite well. It may even lead to a new financial opportunity. It's been a very long time since you fed your brain just for the sake of learning something. It would be good to get back in the habit."

No leh... where got financial opportunity? Maybe they're talking about toto.

But true also la, haven't been spending much time learning things... maybe there are many more things I can learn that I haven't bothered to....

But not tonight la... tonight I want to sleep... yawn...

What is the link between 5 Myanmese, Slip Disc, Birthdays, Allergies and Stomach Flu?

Ok... this is gonna be another rant... if you've had a long day, and am fed up of the whole world complaining about everything under the sun, then close your eyes, or shut down your pc. Easier still, shut off your monitor.. (hahaha...if you did any of these, you must be a moron)...

I got back from work the other day, and went to my rented unit. Was having a normal day so far... a bit hectic, but normal. Planned to get some stuff done then get to bed early, when what I saw in the dining room startled me. There standing at the hall, was 5 Myanmese guys, foreign workers from Myanmar standing there trying to get a bed up at the balcony. I was a little upset, because somehow, I knew that the landlord had rented the other room out... probably to these 5 guys... I found out later, it wasn't 5 Myanmese...it was 6. The landlord came, and I told him that I wasn't really pleased with not being told earlier, and decided to get a unit somewhere else..

Then I got into the room... and my back hurt. Must be from the can lifting we did for charity for the company. It was really nothing much, just a few boxes of cans here and there, but there was this other guy over there that really made me have the chills.
You see, we were all working together to get the cans from one room to the other. But there was this guy there whom I noticed took two cans each time, one on each hand, and walked over to the other room. He went a second round with a packet of 3-4 small cans. When he came back, I really couldn't contain myself. Luckily I didn't laugh out loud, it would've been pretty rude. But then again, I guess he was smarter... at least he didn't get a back strain after the event...

Then I received a call, and my other half had rashes. Went to the doc and got some antihistamine for the allergy. Thank god for removing the queue from the clinic. When I got home a second time, I realised my stomach flu from last week didn't really recover, Worse still, my buddy's birthday was on the next day!

Haha.. was really exhausted for the longest time. Just pray that these 'coincidences' don't occur too often. My other half said that I am always happy, and maybe I was being punished for just being too happy... perhaps there is some truth to that..

Oh wow... people actually read this stuff??

Haha.. ya I'm talking bout this sad excuse of a blog.... this buddy of mine made my day....

Was having tea with two bro's, when we started talking about blogs and ad revenue. I was as usual, busy explaining the intricacies of earning net revenue through adsense and why my account was banned (dun ask), when out of nowhere, he mentioned that he passed my blog address to a friend of his and he actually received an sms telling him that I bought a piano!

I mean, its actually quite flattering that anyone would even be interested to read the load of crap that I post here, less the original cast of Chicken and Bug. So, to whomever you are, a warm thank you for visiting and please do come often...thought I can't promise that I'd provide anything more interesting.... haha

Hmmm?

Something to think about:

There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it.