Friday, March 31, 2006
17 hours in green; The last day
With Helios hot on my heels, I fled into the sanctuary of the cookhouse. There, I had 2 cups of ice tea and a stern warning by the auntie on the health risks of cold drinks.
Our fitness test was conducted at the old air control tower. Tang was the only one from our group who passed all his static tests. I chose to carry on with the 2.4km run and scored a timing of 13m 42s, which would have been great if I'm 35 years old. This means 2 months worth of training, in time for my hiking trip.
They released us at 1445 hrs and on a whim, I decided to head for Sim Lim. While text messaging each other, Roadster offered me the loan of his biking helmet so we set our meeting place to be at Bugis. A string of unforeseen events changed our evening plans and we ended up having dinner with P at Terminal 1's Popeye's fast-food restaurant. We ended the night with coffee and a nice long chat.
Helios (Greek sun god, aka Apollo by the Romans)
-eof
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
You finally fell asleep...
1) "Are you asleep?"
2) "There's a call for you, do you want to pick it up?"
3) "I solved the puzzle!" (I gave him one earlier in the day)
4) [shouting] "Shack ah!" / "Turn out!" (Any random ass who comes into the room)
5) "[my name], go and eat Prata ley..."
6) [touched a cold canned drink to my face], "Oops, I thought you were my friend" (whom he wanted to disturb)
7) "It's your duty... Oops, my mistake."
The annoyance was compounded when you looked at the time and realised that less than 30 minutes have passed since you dozed off. Fatigue and a desire to return to sleep saved them from your full wrath. Somehow, murder does not enter your mind at that point in time. Sleep eludes you and you get very pissed, wondering if it's too not too late to kill them...
-eof
Monday, March 27, 2006
Cheese and Roses
I was to go to Parkway to look for her blue roses. P followed along to lend his assistance. We finally found some and sat down to have dinner at McDonalds. After collecting the bouquet at 1945 hrs, we walked around Parkway to pass the time.
At 2100 hrs, we reached Cheesecake Cafe and sat down. I had ice peach tea and P had blueberry cheesecake. It was then we overheard they were out of cheesecake.
A meeting at a cheesecake cafe without its namesake is like meeting at a dry fountain. After checking at the counter, I found that he still have 1 tiramisu and 1 Oreo cheesecake (probably released from their reserved items). I ordered both. P then left me to wait for my friend at 2140 hrs, no doubt disappointed at not being able to catch a glimpse.
In the middle of losing my thoughts into nothing-ness, she arrived and suddenly the fountain does not seem so dried-up anymore. She was pleased with the roses and said I shouldn't have (yeah rite...). The cakes were served and we had an additional pizza as she was hungry. The Oreo cheesecake was nicer than the tiramisu and I don't like the pizza as the taste was uneven. Parts of it was yuck and parts of it nice. Our chat was still comfortable and we stayed till 2315 hrs.
The cafe as mentioned was Cheesecake cafe. Take 10, 12 or 14 from Parkway and get off before Siglap Centre.
-eof
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Xueyi's wedding
The video start at 2045 hrs (bzzt) and the dinner proceeded quickly. 2 more ladies joined our table - one of them was the young girl's friend and the other I found quite familiar looking. Gary dropped by at about 2130 hrs from his church choir, so pleased with himself that he was performing. The familiar looking girl turned out to be from TP as well, though we had no idea how we could have met except for karaoke sessions.
Xueyi looked radiant and the young gals were highly excited over the peanut rice balls. I made my exit with relative ease, discovering another location with another 3 sets of elevators.
It's a Saturday night, what reasons do people have for arriving late?
This morning, influenced either by the wine or my fatigue, I woke late. Still feel sleepy =]
-eof
Friday, March 24, 2006
My day at "work" and a trip to an IT mall
The greatest miracle of all, I had no mosquitoes bites and they had several...
2. I saw the cutest gal today =)
3. A Raymond who does not listen to my offers to let him slack, is a Raymond who regrets it within the next 30 minutes. Twice. ;)
4. This was asked of me and Tang, "When's your ROD date?", asked Mr Alphonese
"Not so fast, we only done 4~5 times" we replied.
A moment of stunned silence as everyone realised the reply was unexpected.
"Nah!!", Mr Bassanio replied for us, holding our passes. "Reservist!!"
For older NSMen, ROD means completion of the 2 years national service.
For the younger generation, it is now called ORD and ROD now means the complete end of all NS liability.
5. Rome: Total War with its expansion is bundled for $54.90. Exactly the same price which I paid for the main game itself..
6. Battle For Middle Earth 2 is selling for $54.90. The collector's edition is $59.90.
7. San Bookstore sells Computer Gaming World at $19.90, cheaper than shops at Tampinese!!
8. The sort order of the books still eludes me...
9. People for some reason, likes to look/stare at uniformed guys standing on the train/bus.
---
Btw, I'm able to leave "work" for a while to attend a wedding.
Hope I don't forget to bring anything tomorrow.
-eof
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
2 Movies to recommend

Chalee Trairat of "My Girl" fame plays a new boy at a dorm school. His bunkmates took to bullying him by telling him ghost stories. As a movie review says, this is a surprisingly mature movie for a cast consisting mainly of kids. The story and the growth of the main lead is what I like about this show.

An out of luck producer and a unhappy accountant chanced upon an idea to make a fortune, by making a play that will crash. They seek out to produce the worst play ever by trying to do everything wrong.
This is a musical movie adapted from the play of the same name. Featuring cast from the play itself, the key characters gave a good performance from start to end. Characters spring naturally into songs just as easily as they appear. Good body acting skills.
-eof
The law of diminishing returns and the bell curve
But is there a point where increased hours makes you forget what you have revised for each additional hour?
Luckily no, but there was a story (email, possibly fabricated) of a young woodcutter who joined a group of older woodcutters. He worked hard but was disturbed that, despite his greater energy expended, he was cutting less wood. Where else the older men actually took tea breaks.
Only when he finally approached them did he know the answer, that they older men took the time to rest and sharpen their axes. Thus they do more with less effort.
-eof
Monday, March 20, 2006
A short stint
I'm currently allocated to an "old company" for a period of 2 weeks. The upgrades to security are impressive. However, the very same flaws I noted years ago are still there.
You can throw unlimited resources, but there's no cure for being myopic.
-eof
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Celebrations
We started off with High Tea at Raffles Hotel, then a Japanese dinner, drinks at Iguana and finished off with a 6hr karaoke session.
---
Met with my ex colleagues this noon for a movie. V for Vendetta turned out pretty decent. There are details aplenty and the movie doesn't shout it out.
There are the old Bobbies when the story is in the past. Vendetta had a painting of the Great Fire in his hall. The river Thames with its many bridges but without the Millennium Wheel.
For those interested, the Gunpowder revolution was a plot to blow up the Parliament House. I may have remembered wrongly. Please do your own research as you please.
---
We had a dinner at Smith's Street to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. It was a speciality shop which serves Shark's Fins. It was an 8 course dinner which had Peking duck w goose liver (oops...), Buddha jump over the wall, Seafood Delight, etc.
Not too bad.
-eof
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Freebies
Mickey Mouse took me on a course on ASO - Advanced Smoking Out, around our office yesterday. We bought some snacks and he paid for them. We ended up in another dimension that no one could locate. He also confirmed what we had suspected by asking me if I wanted to take on a distraction for money. Historically, I do not like such offers, often performing for free. When money is dangled in front of me, I'm simply can get myself motivated.
This time, I said I'll look into it, since it is in my strongest medium.
---
Some of you may have noticed my blog went down yesterday. I went into the forums in an attempt to discover what went wrong. Turns out there were some maintenance.
The posts were ugly, with many people complaining about the longer downtime than promised. Some took to spamming the board. There were also the usual expletives.
You offer a free service and you get kicked upside down. Hmm...
---
It was a big five dinner last night. "Big one" and "Ti
The food and the soup were nice but our seating arrangements left a sour note in me. We told the waitresses that we were expecting a sixth patron but they insisted on putting us in a space that can only hold 5, even before their restaurant was filled up. "When you friend comes, we'll pull out the table a little". Wow. I would love to see how they would do that.
Our friend did come an hour later and it became apparent that they intend to just add another chair. "What happened to pulling out the table a little", we asked? "But that would block the passageway!” she complained. "Ya... but that was what you promised us".
In the end, we compromised. They pulled their little bit and we did some squeezing to clear the passageway. Better than not having space at all.
I didn't have to pay for dinner, cos they still owe me =)
-eof
Friday, March 17, 2006
Law of Nature
It matters if you're not doing anything.
-eof
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
The finger lives on
I'll keep this complaint short.
If yesterday was disgusting, today's worse.
More people followed the bad proj manager's example of laying the blame on us indirectly.
The nicer proj manager spoke against these people (behind their backs), that finger pointing is "so army".
Finally, evidence that the infection started elsewhere got us into the clear.
---
I finally shorn off my fur in anticipation for my in-camp on Monday. I'll be going in with Tang. Wonder what this time holds.
If I'm lucky, I'll be able to attend Xueyi's wedding. =]
-eof
Flu and finger
Last week, a network virus broke out at our Ulu ulu customer site. When I heard there might be checks, I cleaned out my hdd of any undesirables. The same virus broke out at our very close to Sentosa office, causing much headache.
What I was afraid of came true today (14 Mar). The project manager from the main contractor starting saying things that it might be us who introduced the virus into both systems, which are closed off from the outside world. He indirectly threatened to bring in government investigators. With typical style, we are to ferret out the guilty person for him to hang.
This is not really a complaint on work. I'm not pissed, I'm safe.
I'm just disgusted!
---
Met with Anastasia (not her real name) today. She's quite as bad as Pikachu as we have to walk up and down the city to decide on a place to eat. After dinner, she says not to patron Yuki Yaki again. Ha-ha.
It's her boring fren la.
I had brought her to Candy Empire and bought some gummy worms for my old company colleagues and some dark chocolate for my mother.
-eof
Monday, March 13, 2006
Arghs and Zees
Work in the morning - argh!
Work in the afternoon - mmmm... zzz..
Fellow movie patrons - argh!
Movie: Date Movie - zzz..
Dinner - not bad
On my way to the bus stop today, I saw our neighbours: a young boy and gal, (loose definition - live around our area) walking their golden retriever. He was the friendly looking sort, tails a wagging. Spotting a cat in the distance, the elder brother told his younger sister to chase the cat away. To which, the little gal took large stomping steps towards the she-cat. She looked over her shoulders in a way that signalled that she can't be bothered. The gal doubled her efforts and our cat took to walking away nonchalantly.
Amusing =)
-eof
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Silence as an answer
I send out sms-s, asking friends if:
a) they want to go watch a movie with me
b) they want to attend a group gathering
c) a regular event of ours is still "on"
I get silence; presumably the other party is not interested.
Silence as a no. Great for saving on handphone bills? How much time should elaspe before a late reply is classified as a non-reply?
Did I perchance get into their "ignore list"? Nope, for another event or issue, we could be happily exchanging messages with each other.
There're gatherings I tried to arrange, but called it off as I encountered such behaviour. For those friends who do reply me promptly, very sorry for disappointing you all, but I can't help it.
-eof
Reviews
My day at work as at 10 Mar (0/5 stars)
My stiffed neck colleague from dunno what company (-1/5 stars)
My lunch (5/5 stars)
My first try at House of the Dead 4 (1/5 stars)
How I cleared my work today (4/5 stars)
-- I'm humble :p
Atmosphere at the new Crystal Jade Korean resturant at centerpoint (3.5/5 stars)
Bday gal's dress (4/5 stars)
-eof
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Before the storm
A user called up our number and asked for a particular guy in another company (who work together under this big govt proj). As a nice gesture, I asked for more information so that I can help her search for this person. She got short with me, "If I know who this person is, I would have called him and not you all!" I asked for the email address and got a similiar retort. Finally, she gave up on me and said she'll reply him.
... Reply what? Email right??!!
Is this a sign of things to come?
I got assigned another program out of my field of knowledge. Boss must have seen me happily chatting. The headache starts tomorrow (9 Mar).
Joe (not his real name) will be leaving to support our Brunei branch. We had a mini sendoff party at winebar. Somehow, they got this crazy notion of getting the "margarita-drinking-guy" drunk. They didn't know how hard a task that is.. I filled up Joe's glass instead! mwhahahaha.
His partner has smoked out of the Brunei trip, sending him ahead as an advance scout. So Joe would be having a hard time too. It's tough being a grunt.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Memories
However, that's my "external hdd".. It's precious.. Without it, I have to rely on my own memory. *gasp*

Today, there was a discussion between the powerpuff gals on double quotes, staff movement and Pokemons. Those who are clueless at this point, don't bother straining your head ;)
Softros, a new replacement for my addiction of Sametime, proved to have memory retention, much like Trillian. The drawback is that you cannot add anyone to the invisible list.
It was another Snorlax day..
Monday, March 06, 2006
It's a whole new world we live in..
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Rojak
Met a classmate early today to catch a movie. Too bad cannot catch the one I want and added another mediocre movie to my list.. We met up with another friend at 6 to have Japanese curry rice. Not very appetising. Somehow got reminded of Xiaohui, as that restaurant rates high in her opinion.
Got a good piece of news from a classmate today. Congrats! It's long awaited.
I wonder if she reads this..
We shopped around for baby stuffs but with girls, it's inevitable that bags have to come into the picture. So everyone plus the baby we were shopping for goes away happy..
Like an evil Will-O-Wisp, I lured them into NYDC and force fed them cheese and chocolate. With something inside the test tube frames of theirs, I finally could see them more clearly and we had a nice chat.
Upon exit, we had a nice demo of Gentleman-slamming-door-in-front-of-stranger act. I shot a "Victory!" smirk to my classmate. Hee..
It's a long standing "discussion" of what constitutes a gentleman.
I also caught sight of a fren today with a date. Too bad it's platonic, else I can wish 2 pple congrats within a single day. :p
Friday, March 03, 2006
What a sleepy day!
Today, boss's boss and an Ang Mo consultant had a clash. All of us were pretending to be busy, but ears a prickling ;)
Things from yesterday
Her insistence on an impromptu date caused me some frustration and amusement, "You committed yourself to a marriage, didn't you?" It also cost me some grief and some travel expenses. A nice host and evening.
I dropped off at Gullimard road and walked home. Things have changed so much yet not at all. Between the boundaries of Mountbatten and Geylang, there are pockets where time has left a gentler touch. I saw people at prayers, cycling and at the swings. Rings rippled across the surface of the monsoon drain, in a night where no one could sneak up behind me.
I crossed 2 roads and entered an area of artificial calm. A couple was cuddling at a playground. A homeless man was sleeping at another. A pair of girls sitting at a third.
Just different.