Arrrrgghhhh....another parking fine!!!!!

Went out for dinner with some of the guys at this very far place, and not being too familiar with the place, I parked my car somewhere near the shop houses. While we were having dinner, I suddenly remembered that I didn't put a parking coupon. And being an optimist, a buddy assured me that those parking attendants don't visit here at night... So, we had dinner, and sure enough, when I reached my car, there and behold was this little parking fine...
I remember an incident where 4 parking attendants were grouping at one car park and every 1 minute, they would take turns walking around and throwing summons to any car that did not have a coupon or had it placed too early or is expired. If any industry in this country have improved its efficiency, it would be the parking fine industry...
If only they handled other issues as effectively as the parking fines..

Err....French? German?..

Went for a forum today... lots of speakers talking about how you affect change and sharing philosophy. Initially, they had someone influential start the forum. Then, they proceeded with the Q&A sessions and asked if anyone had any queries. Just then this guy got up and posed a question. Ironic thing is that his question could not have been any less politically correct and being curious of what he intended to ask,I opened my ears wide. Actually had a hard time understanding what the heck the guy was trying to say! Then, thinking that this could've been a one off occurence, two other guys got up, did the same thing, and again, it made me wonder if they took english lessons from some Ivy League University that had a language of its own. Don't people use simple english anymore? During the tea break session, I asked one of my colleagues who those people were, and sure thing, those were scholars.... but that being said, it still feels funny to hear their politically correct questions and the equally politically correct responses. Maybe I opened my ears too wide....

The bridge troll's adventure...

In an island, a bridge troll, that newly migrated from his bridge to a new hut, was invited to attend a function to celebrate the village's 1st anniversary formation. Being new to the village, the bridge troll attended the village celebration for the entire day. During the celebrations, the villagers grouped into groups and went around performing village rites. Groups of villagers had to compete in aboroginal bonding activities and challenge each other to see which group is supreme. The troll, feeling awkward, found himself looking at the sky and thinking how nice it would be to have a cup of coffee with other bridge trolls under his bridge. But then again, in the future, after the troll is more familiar around the huts, perhaps the troll would be familiar with the huts and would then become a villager. Or perhaps, the villagers would all become trolls.... sigh, wonder what the other trolls are doing..

@#%$^$# door....

Whilst having refreshments at a talk today, I decided to get myself a cup of coffee outside the function room... I walked out and walked past a corridor and realised that the exit was way back the other way. Feeling sheepish, I went to the exit, pretended that I went to the other corridor on purpose and proceeded to open the door. As I tried to get out, I realised that the door wouldn't budge. I exerted more force and still the door didn't move. Some people in the function room started to look out and notice me. Just then a colleague shouted out,"press the exit button"... and I realised that more than half the room was looking at me. Deciding to exit asap I pressed the button, pushed as hard as I could and then tried to exit. Still, the @#$%@@ door wouldn't budge. Then, I heard my boss shout out,"you have to pull the door in first, press the button, then push it outwards. The door is a bit cranky". Without looking back, I pushed the button, got out of the door and finally got my machine dispensed cappucino.

Where's the keys?

After starting work for a couple of days, I was feeling the lethargy from travelling to work by public transport. The season parking label for my company is not available yet, and parking in the city costs at least $12 a day. So the best option was to travel by public transport.
When I reached my apartment block, as usual, I checked the letter box, then took a lift to the 10th floor. Upon reaching the 10th floor, I found my keys missing! Thinking that I must've left it in the mailbox, I rushed downstairs to get them. When I reached there, the keys were not there. So I rushed back into the lift, went back to the 10th floor and searched almost everywhere.
Finally, I decided to give the ground floor another look. Just then, I remembered throwing away an advert slip that I collected from the mailbox. I looked into the garbage bin beside the lift, and viola, there, in the bin, was my keys!

Guests..

There was once a Bunny who hopped by to stay over at a Dragons lair. It has been years since the Dragon got to know the Bunny and the Bunny had always been bullied by the big Dragon. Knowing that the Bunny had a bad sense of direction, the Dragon set out to find the Bunny. The Bunny as usual, got lost. After searching for a couple of rounds, the Dragon instinctively spotted the Bunny. You see, this bunny had wierd features. It had a huge muscular body and small legs due to his erratic gym routine. Finally, the two friends met up and the Dragon brought the Bunny to his lair. At the Dragons lair, the Bunny exclaimed that he wasn't really interested in gaming. However, as soon as the Dragon switched on his DMC3, the Bunny got hooked. Even when World Cup came on TV, the Bunny was more interested in the Dragon's entertainment system. So the night went by and the Dragon and Bunny reminisced on old times when the Bunny was scrawnier and the same size as the Dragon. Though the moment was brief and the Bunny had to meet other female Bunnies the next day, the Dragon had a great time.








A couple of weeks later, a Bug turned up near the country which the Dragon resided. The Bug had a wierd obsession for soup. And the long distance travelling to a nearby kingdom to get soup wasn't going to stop the Bug from getting it. When the Bug reached the yonder kingdom, to his dismay, he found that the soup hut was shut down. The Bug, feeling defeated, went back to his rented Bug lair. Seeing that the poor bug had no soup, the Dragon decided to pay the bug a visit. When the Dragon reached the bug's lair, the Bug brought out a set of Magic-al cards. The Dragon, being well prepared, unleashed his set of Magic-al cards as well. They both battled for four rounds and at the end, it was a draw. The bug was really estatic that he drawed with the Dragon and both agreed that they would meet again to duel at the Bug's rented lair the next time the Bug comes to visit.









The Chicken went awol after he got his first chick.

Let's Celebrate the Day... the Day...the Dayyy...

Funny thing how the World Cup brings people together... to be frank, some of us (e.g. mua) are "soccer challenged"... before Germany 2006, Argentina is a country... so is England...now all of a sudden, we're staying up late every night glued to the TV set, getting our adrenaline pumped up during the match and risking looking like a zombie the next morning.

Was on my way out for lunch when I met someone who was a so-so acquaintance. Having nothing to talk to him about, I brought up Spain-France match and lamented how dissapointing it was for Spain to be downed 3-1 by France... just then his face lighted up and all of a sudden, we were chatting like long lost friends! This really reminds me of what someone told me of the beauty of being a kid: "You like Coke? I like Coke Too! We're best friends!" ....

Job woes..

During work,in the middle of a meeting, I got a call from someone from a company I was applying to. That someone was asking me when I'd be free to go through some details. After the conversation, I went back feeling happy that I had a good offer. Just then, a colleague brought up that there were rumors that 700 letters were being prepared by the HR Dept and that the Division I was in was likely to be retrenched! Arrrgghh... why is it always so ironic, early dun say, late dun say, I plan to move, then only say...
Add salt to the wound, the previous day, someone brought up that working for the company I was applying to was said to be very stressful... sigh... all the funny news come in all of a sudden...
But, not to despair, I dun think I'd change my mind... nothing seems to be worse than the current situation I'm in... so good or bad, I'd still be moving on to a better place... Guess I shouldn't think too much... The more I think the worse it gets, so better not think...hehehe

Ai Piah Jia Eh Ia

Hehehe..can't believe I'm surfing for this song..

Back in 2000, I can remember myself wondering why people use words like "wahlau" and "chialat"...I can faintly remember me telling myself not to catch on to this Singapore type of slang... that was back in 2000....

Now I'm sitting at home trying to find the song


...maybe I really need some motivation..hehehahaha

For peace of mind..

Went to the temple near my office a few days back. When we got there, we were shocked that the temple was closed at 7pm. There at the entrance was a sign indicating working hours from 9am to 6pm. So, we got our bags, headed home, and planned for the next trip the following day. When we got there in the afternoon, it was quite a surprise that lots of people were there and everyone was either carrying a jos stick or some 'chims' (wooden sticks used to tell your fortune). Instinctively, we each took one and started praying for something that was on our minds. We had peace of mind when we left, and none of the things that were in the temple - the joss sticks, the lucky charm, the 'chims', cost us a cent! Donations are voluntary of course and we did donate, but knowing that the not-so-well-off could also come and pray and not be required to give anything is a nice thought.. The following week, we made our trip there again. This time I took a 'chim' and asked for something less noble - my career. What I got was a medium 'chim' which asked me to "Don't worry, eat, drink and sleep. Success follows". Hmm...That is great! That shouldn't be medium it should be very very good! So, those who want to drink tea this week, pls call me yah!! I'll be sleeping in the office..

Job Hazard

Just got a new project for widening of an existing road. One of the constraints we faced was a cemetary that was at edge of the road. While having a discussion with some members of the project team, one guy brought up that there were groups of cyclists that like to visit that road...one in the morning and one at night. "The former, you have to ask the workers to be a little bit careful. For the latter, just make sure your guys are not easily scared." I was pondering what he meant by that, until one colleague burst out in laughter and said, "You mean those cyclist got no leg wan rite?"
Also recall an incident when I started work near this shopping complex. My site office was abutting a forest. Half way through a meeting, we heard a worker squeal. And then the foreman came up and told us that they found a skeleton hanging at a tree!
Talk about job hazards...

Some sound advice..

"You will receive sound advice from an unexpected source".. that was what my zodiac read yesterday. Didn't turn out yesterday, but it got delayed till today instead. As I was walking along the linkway, I saw a senior staff from my former department. Seeing that we seldom exchanged much words, we greeted each other casually and as I was passing by, he asked if I was doing ok in my new department. Being sour from the past ordeal, I told him that there's nothing to be happy about being in the new place. His response somewhat caught me aback. "Sometimes, when we face a difficult situation, the best way to deal with it is treat it as one of life's challenge. Often than not, we end up laughing it off some years later and wonder why we found something so simple to be so difficult to handle." He added by recalling his first job as an enforcer.. someone who tears down people's houses. "The key is to be able to tear down a house and still have the house owner thank you for doing it!" At that point, I looked at him and wondered what he actually did. He went on by explaining that "The easiest way to do something is to help people and to remember that you're always learning. No one wants their houses torn down. And people understand that sometimes, the people doing the actual work may not be the ones who ordered their homes to be torn down." "So, as long as you try your best to help them, be it helping to find them alternative shelter or directing them to the right people to seek help, you'd find that most people reciprocate with gratitude." "You can't learn people skills like this in expensive seminars or talks, so forget that you're in a difficult situation, and just tell yourself that you'd be able to learn no matter where you are. Then you'd be alright!" Well, needless to say, I guess it woke me up a little. The self pity I was feeling waned. I felt a new sense of meaning to what I was doing. Walking back to my cubicle, I wondered why I'm always blessed with wonderful and nice people around me whenever I need them..... :)

When you just know something is wrong the moment you click on the send button

Was talking to my other half when I recalled this incident when I was typing an e-mail to a friend. We were on the topic of business opportunities.. and half way through the e-mail exchange, we were discussing about pumping in capital to start a business... just then, my friend exclaimed that she had no capital to start anything.. trying to be supportive, I replied by e-mail telling her, "If you can run the place, we can pool some capital and start something. I can be your sleeping partner", and clicked on the send button. Just then, it dawned on me that something was wrong.... I leave the interpretation to you..... Lucky thing, that friend didn't realise the pun and replied in a normal way that the biz was too difficult to begin with....phew!

Paranoia..

Talk about being paranoid.. was at a meeting room helping a colleague prepare for his presentation. Just then, my supervisor, who was standing beside me, turns around and sees this chart pinned to the wall... the next reaction was spontaneous! He grabbed his glasses from his pocket and started staring intently at the pictures...My colleague, who was preparing the projector, came over and started staring at the same chart.... I was the next looking at the small boxes and the names below them... "Nope, nothing new.. outdated organisation chart..." And as spontaneously as we started staring at the chart, we went back to preparations. After the presentation, some managers gathered near the wall. And instinctively, a manager spotted the same chart we did. Guess what, four managers went towards the chart and repeated what we just did!!
This really shows how stable things have become back at the office.....

Singlish...

An excerpt of an e-mail I got from an ex-colleague working in a foreign country:

My attempts at speaking good English have failed miserably.
It was not too difficult for the first few days to pretend that I was truly English educated but once I got focused on the job, Singlish expressions were just too direct and practical.
I have tried the following expressions during meetings and it always resulted in blank stares or laughs:

"Where got?"
"Nahbe"
"Can or not?"
"Sure or not?"
"Cannot be wah""Got meh?"

A new start...

First day at a new department!! Still feeling a little strange in this new place after spending such a long time in my ex department... Lady luck isn't on my side though.. guess 'fan tai sui' comes in many forms:
a) First news was that I've been posted under a slave driver....
b) Got pulled in a meeting before the seat was even warmed..
c) Today was my first day and already tons of projects have been assigned to me..
d) My colleagues use the word 'challenge' to replace 'impossible' and 'inhuman'...
e) Each of the projects I got have 'challenging' preset deadlines...
f) First news I got was that the past two people who sat in my cubicle have left the department..
g) The only people left in the department after 7pm are the colleagues from my team...
h) Nobody seems to know what I'm supposed to do...
Now where did I save that copy of my resume?....

Hey! It's Valentine's Day!!

To all visitors, Happy Valentine's Day!!! Got a Ravnica Deck Box (yep, the one with the novel, 6 booster packs, 2 card boxes, a random Pro tour Player card, 2 card boxes, a life counter, players guide, 40-land cards, etc.) for Valentines, so I'll cut this post short. Have to spend some time opening my gift! hehehe...

Moving out...

Have been packing up, shredding papers, preparing handover notes for the past week. Frankly speaking, moving out from my current department and shifting to another is not a pleasant experience. I mean, this is not the first time I have shifted departments. 3 years ago, I requested for a shift, and back then, it made sense for me to move out. This time round, I've requested not to be shifted, but ironically, I am not given a choice. All in all, for the past 3 years, I've made a couple of buddies here. I guess I've also become quite attached to the job, the people, the friends and even my bosses here in this department. Starting off in the department was difficult, but after adapting to this environment, I guess I'm starting to miss this place. Consolation is, I'd probably get to meet some new people, get closer to those I already know and I'd have 3 departments of buddies to share things with! The people in my first deparment were great. Had 'lou hei' with 5 of my buddies just last Thursday. The second department is swell too. I can at least single out one great buddy which I would make an effort to keep in touch with. Let's just keep my fingers crossed and hope that things go well for a third time. After all, this is my second transfer and as the cantonese say, "hou see sing seong"!! (good things come in doubles)....

Getting Old...

Today, after work and dinner, I got home and was preparing to countdown till 12am beside my pc, waiting to wish my best buddy a happy birthday. Whislt waiting, I was actually lamenting on what I should say to him and what type of reaction I would get from him. So I waited till about 11am, and all of a sudden I receive an sms from him telling me that he was depressed because his hamster is in hamster heaven. So I told myself, be patient... wait a little while more.. 'I know you're sleepy, but just a few minutes more, wish him a Happy Birthday, and then you can sleep' . So I logged in to blogger, posted a post, then waited a few more minutes before I called. Enthusiastically, I pick up the phone and hoping to surprise him, gave him a call. No one answered, so I decided to send him an sms instead. After the sms, to my surprise, he returned the sms. The sms read "Hello..My bday not here yet la...lousy bro.. it's at least a week away!!!

Uncle.. excuse me ler..

After dinner, we decided to hop by the local lottery shop. Surprisingly there was a huge crowd, but no one queueing to buy lottery. We made our way to the queue line which was arranged in folds, and there at the start of the queue was an uncle blocking the way. I tried to get past him and asked him to please 'excuse me'. Just then, the uncle turned around and smiled. He looked at me, giggled and said, "nobody queue la, can just go straight the other way". Turning back, I realised that I could have just walked straight to the counter instead of walking in the folded queue line. Sheepishly, I made my way through the various bends with no one in the line, but with everyone else staring at me wondering why I am using the queue line!! Finally, when we reached the counter, two uncles that walked straight to the counter was in line in front of us. We followed the queue at one counter not knowing that the queue was meant for horse racing. Another uncle behind me tapped on my shoulder and said ' eh, buy toto that side can la' pointing at another counter with no queue! We couldn't help but laughed all the way from the toto shop up until we reached the car. Man, the patrons of the shop must think that we have never patronised a lottery shop before!!