Old and forgotten

Lo and behold.

For some reason, and in spite of 2 hard drive crashes, I found a bunch of links that made it. I'm talking about OLD links. Links from 3? 5? years back. Best of all, I had bookmarked the "best of" of RateMyKitten.

This one should me *my* kitty. Heh!



Loads of kitty love right there....

Facts

Here's something you don't see every day :

Fact - gave the MasterChief a series of pictures of me.
Fact - said pictures are not meant for public consumption
Fact - taking said pictures made me feel sexy AT THE TIME
Fact - a man who loves you even though you want to burn said pictures and get them professionally done REALLY loves you

Moral of the story?
Even a woman who has no issues with her body will cringe and ack! away when confronted with certain close-ups. I'm telling you - its the fact that women, unlike men, cannot get out their danglies and examine them. We don't have any danglies. Even with weird, contorted poses and 2 hand mirrors, TRUST ME you will never see yourself in this certain way until you get close-ups taken.


Go get photos taken - bloody good learning experience.

Incompetence

So I have found out that all systems are done in-house.

What happens when policy holders who .....
- have agreed to accept official marketing material
- have been tagged/coded accordingly in every single fucking database platform
- clamour for their monthly summaries
..... don't receive said emailings?

And IT refuses to check?


ARGH! I want to bitchslap the lot of them to sentosa and drop a bloody bomb on them, that's what.

Moderation

Another exercise in futility - researchers now say coffee is good for you.

Heh! Hello? Everything you take in, in moderation, will be something you enjoy. And if you're lucky, be good for you. It only gets dangerous, for example, if you drink coffee throughout the day (10-12 cups?) with no water, and you do that every damn day of your life. In about 40 years, your liver'll probably give out on you or something. Moderation is key. One good guage is to make sure you drink as much fluid as you drink anything else i.e. one glass water, one cup coffee.


Moderation. As in everything else in life, go do whatever you want, but in moderation!

Research

How interesting!
Someone, somewhere is doing research on out of body experiences. Found via the BBC.

"UK researchers are asking for your help to find out exactly what is behind out-of-body experiences (OBEs). Psychologists at Manchester University have set up an online survey that they hope about 3,000 people will fill out. By comparing the responses of those who have and have not had an OBE they aim to discover the overarching cause. One theory is that it is down to how people perceive their own body - those unhappy or less in touch with their body are more likely to have an OBE."

Go here to become a statistic.

Old VS New

This is amazing.

Take a country that actually has people living below the poverty line and yet, at the same time, harbours fantasic space-walk delusions of grandeur . Define poverty line? Fine. That'll be below RM $1000 per household, per month. Which works out to USD $266 for the international audience, SGD $445 for S'poreans.

The Malaysians HAVE come a long way, there is no denying that. But their lofty aspirations have always seems a tad inappropriate. I remember the last time I was in Kuala Lumpur, their federal capitol. There was this spanking new building for their telecoms HQ. It was incredibly shaped like 2 twisting filaments reaching for the skies. As my friend obliging drove around the building, I took in the subtle twists that made it seem as if the building was turning around to watch ME. And then as we rounded a corner, we came face to face with a slum quarter.

Old pre WWII shophouses that were desperately in need of a razing. Walls all a-tilt, grubby kids with despondant elderly grandparents in tow, it looked like the only thing that could sanitize the place was a firebomb.

The spanking, sparkling new living side by side with the old, decaying underworld. That sort of sums up malaysia quite aptly, for me at least. Hopefully with the "new" PM in place, things won't be as skewed. Already PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi seems more moderate and more grounded than the (in)famous Dr Mahathir.


But only time will tell, eh?

Overslept

Can't believe it - I slept the entire day. Argh!

Was up late last night..... I love the night and I was at my "peak" when I did the graveyeard shift at the start of my current part-time position. All quiet, all calm, all cool. Me, myself & I; and the quiet of the night. I hadn't been up all night for quite a while and it felt good last night. However, I'm normally up by about 2PM so I still have my afternoon.

Not so to-day. Woke up at bloody 7.45PM. And if my neighbour's kids hadn't made a ruckus as they passed by, I might not have woken up at all.


Damn! However am I going to wake up tomorrow morning for work?

Different

Women want different things after a divorce?

No kidding? You had to do a survey for that? A poll? Really? When all along people have been talking about the differences in gender for.... how many years now? Lemme see...... if it hasn't occured to you, we're physically different. We want different things out of life, of love. We conduct our emotional lives differently, want different anchors. We view our self worth differently too. Nothing to do with personal issues, everything to do withthe fact that men and women are wired differently.


The people who commission these surveys are obviously living on a different planet.

Twist

All my life I've loved the kitties.

Even when I was 6, I remember living in Toa Payoh and going downstairs to this old neighbours apartment. He had an enormous ginger tom. Huge. Biggest cat I've ever seen. From nose to butt, I remember him being, at least, a foot and half. And he was so placid! He's sit there, too large to squeeze through the door grills, and people who walked by would stop to talk to him. He was one of the neighbourhood's characters and he was well known indeed.

Like doggies. OH I like doggies and I'll accost most dog owners out with their pooches, just so I could have a pet. But I really, really love the kitties. Have always dreamed of having my own. When I was younger, I always told myself that soon! one day! I would have a score of them to keep me company at home. At least 3 or 4, so that I would be surrounded with warm fuzzy bodies when I went to sleep at night.

And it's finally dawned on me that the man I love is allergic to cats. Seriously allergic. As in, face swells, cannot breath allergic. Obviously, the man wins over the kitties, because I will not have anything that harms even a single hair of the MasterChief around the place.


But how's that for bloody irony, eh?

Digging

On my way home, on the bus. Tired (but what's new?)

Old couple gets up.... wife sits across the aisle from me, her husband takes the seat behind me. As the bus trundles along, I realise some strange activity is going on across the aisle. Old Lady is digging. And I mean digging.

I was morbidly curious.
s'bad enough when you pick your nose where everyone can see you. But she was GOING at it, I'm telling you. I actually realised I could watch her straight on, with head at a 90 degree angle, and she just kept on it. Allow me to share her technique with you :

• Insert index finger up to second knuckle
  
• Give vicious swivel 180 degrees around
  
• Allow back of hand to rest on cheek as the finger prods and small protrusion shows on nose
  
• Retract finger and hold hand up to face
  
• Flick
  
• Repeat blatantly until fellow passengers are horrified enough to hock up their dinners
  

Yes, I really did watch her that overtly and yes, she really didn't give a shit.

Shift

Well now - I've been put on shift.

It's strange, it really is. Big Boss Upstairs decides that it's good that emails are tended to around the clock. Unlike call centre, where you place most manpower during your peak periods, emails are pretty much stagnant.

Attest! If I come in at 9AM or noon, does it shift the email? Does the email clamour for immediate attention? Do we need to pacifiy the angry email because no one is answering it? Bloody No, No and No.


Sometimes Management needs a kick in the head.

Mortality

Back from the wake.

M's mom was a woman who seemed to bring up 2 strong, upright and much respected kids. No one really knew what happened to M's dad. But it didn't matter. No one asked. it was enough that M was happy.

M's mom lived life.... oh boy, did she live. Right until she was admited into the hospice, she was wearing those cheongsums. Always decorated with baubles and always well groomed. Always bright and cheery, surrounded by friends. Even without the obituary, people came in small but steady stream whilst I was there.

I wasn't very close to M's mom, none of the MBAers were close to anyone else's parents. Isn't that strange? Their daughters went through so much crap together! But I do find the passing a little hard because I'm close to M and it reminds me of my own loved ones' mortaity.


Sombre thoughts, indeed.

Death

Came online, all ready and fired up. Then received an SMS.

A fellow MBAer is in a bad spot - Mom just passed away. Sorry folks, no more blogging. Lots more but it'll have to wait. I am just filled with thought right now. Thoughts on how she's doing, her family, mortality, my family, my parents (Mag and I are the same age after all), living and dying.

Good grief! Nanny is 85 this year and I brought the MasterChief to see her on this trip down over the weekend - brought him to meet her even before introducing him to my parents. Thought it would make her day because she's never seen me this happy with a man before. And I confess I have been worried about how frail she has gotten.... it was like a race to get her to see the MasterChief before she passed on.


You cannot believe how grateful I am, that I had that opportunity.

Serious

You want serious? I'll give you serious.

SERIOUS serious.
Serious, as in, use of, not-oft-used words and phrases like hegemonic domination, ideological consensus, totalitarian ruler and seven electoral autocracies. I could only read the first article. I'll do the second tomorrow. Heh!


As seen on singabloodypore, one Dr Cherian George.

Thoughts

Been a while since I was here.

I found myself wondering why it was, that something I started because I was pushed into, has become a compulsion. Actually feel a little twitchy in the fingers if I don't post something after a while. Feel as if I'm neglecting something important.

But this brief hiatus was important - the MasterChief was here. Would say more..... but..... you know how sometimes you find something terrific, spurt it out to people because you can't believe how lucky/wonderful/amazing it is, then have it collapse in an all-mighty heap of crumbling ashes around your bewildered feet?


Yeah - my lips are sealed.

Highlight

Doh! The MasterChief arrives to-day! w00t!

Absolute truth

Popped by fellow MBAer Liza's blog. She's just had her bday as well, and heh! Loved the quote she had on her post! I've read it before, but it bears repeating :

"A woman over 30 will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.

If a woman over 30 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And, it's usually
something more interesting.

A woman over 30 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of 30 give a damn what you might think about her or what she's doing.

Women over 30 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

A woman over 30 has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend
because she doesn't trust the guy with other women. Women over 30 couldn't care less if you're attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won't betray her.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 30. They always know.

A woman over 30 looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not true of younger women or drag queens. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 30 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you
are a jerk if you are acting like one! You don't ever have to wonder where you
stand with her."

Go here to read the post in it's entirety. And yes, I still can't wait to turn 40!

Not good to good!

Well now - an improvement in things.

Met B this evening : she gave me a run down on the business meeting this morning. All green, all go, but (and this is an important but!) at a much slower pace.

Call it a comedy in errors, but B, RC and I were rushing to re-launch the company in Sept05 for different reasons. Turns out that all of us were rushing because each one thought the other 2 wanted it quick quick. Moral of the story - 3 disparate people may click and work well together, but it doesn't pay to give way to each other either. Business - in all it's calculating, hard, money-making forms - now comes to the forefront. Looks like we're all three going to have to morph into plain-speaking, brutally frank (but extremely polite) business people.


Well, not that harsh but certainly a lesson learned.

Not good

Something's up in job#2, as one of my friends calls it. The one I'm helping B with.

A flurry of SMSs and I'm off to her place for coffee and a discussion. I was supposed to attend the meeting this morning at 9.30AM but I was so tired, I slept through all three of my alarms. And 2 of B's SMSs. And finally awoke when B called me at 11.30AM - a good 2 hours after we were scheduled to meet.


Damn! Why do these things always happen when I'm not around!

Ready

I'm ready for the impending MasterChief visit.

Sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself - long distance relationships are never easy. I've been in 2. #1, I got dumped. # 2, I dumped him. (how's that for karma? *amused*). But the point is, they're a lot of work.

You work to make sure you're in touch. To stay connected, to stay close, to learn to trust and to learn to have faith in your partner. That's a lot to juggle. Especially the bits about having trust and keeping the faith. And isn't the truism most apt? That for the things you really really REALLY want in life, you're going to have to work for them? As in, really really REALLY work for them?


Although what the MasterChief has in store me isn't (ahem) work.

Avatars

I just don't get it.

You set up a blog. You get on it and write, rant, cuss, let loose and everything else inbetween. And you post an AVATAR of yourself. Especially the ones from female bloggers - you know the kind..... done with all the unreal curves, some done in the style of classic pin-ups, all showing a little leg, or cleavage.

Guess I'm just curious (and, I confess, a tad irritated) about all those cutesy images. Sure, your own blog, your own kingdom, your right to chose how you want to represent yourself.


But sometimes I cannot help but wonder - is this how they really seem themselves?

Age old topic.

Something interesting found on Expat life in Bangkok.

In the words of "da Wizard" :
1.Why in Asia do we see Western men mostly with Asian girls?
2. Why do we not see Western women with Asian men?
3. Why do relationships with Western women break down so often over here?
4. What do you as readers think about people that say 'Western women have gained rights but lost their femininity' and that is the reason why Western men prefer Asian girls?
5. How does the comment 'who wants to fuck a fat Western woman anyway?' make you feel? Is it a justified question?
6. Do readers of this blog think that Western women have stopped caring about their appearance? How do Western men and women feel when they see obese Westerners wearing a small top that exposes their midrift????
7. Would the fact that we don't see Western women with Asians or Westerners or Blacks mean that Western women have lost their relevance sexually?

Interesting thoughts - from the other side. Here was my own take some time back. And it's a topic that has been a sticky, persistant and sometimes thorny on both sides of the equation.

I remember meeting someone from London, my age, seemed like a high flyer, attached to an incredibly old, respected and reknowned ship insurer. We were out having coffee one evening and we were talking about expats in Asia that were just here to have a good time. (quick fucks and bucks. Heh!)

Apparently, in his firm, postings to Singapore and Hong Kong were prestigious because both cities were high-profile business centres and you needed the talent to make your stint successful.

Whereas postings to places like Indonesia and the Philippines were holidays, but a little detrimental to one's career. Why? Because you knew you weren't going to get much done, you'd still get your fat expat pay-cheque, and you'd have women spreading their legs for you as you walk down the street.

I don't know how true that is but he and his colleagues seemed to live by it.


Like I said, interesting, yes?

Good

Got my recordings back.

Just in time to gift the MasterChief with'em on Sunday. Damn, but I sound good! I am going to BLOW the MasterChief's socks off when he hears me sing. Sound engineer gave me a nice reverb. There are 3 places I can hear where I don't exactly hit the pitch but it's ok - I'm not a professional singer.

3 slightly off-key high notes are as nothing compared to this girl I heard as I walked past the other day. Holy crap - the woman needs a new voicebox.


Yes, a woman gloating is a happy woman indeed. Heh.

Admin

This company is strange.

For a quasi-govt type outfit, the admin staff are pushed hard. When I did call centre for 2 months, it was pushing off time every day at 5.30pm sharp. Now that I'm answering emails, instead of taking calls, I find myself staying back every day. And it's not just me. Practically the entire team stays until 6 or 7pm. And considering that we start at 8.30am, that's a relatively long day.


I thought I was done with that when I quit corporate.....

Perspective

Tired, needed some entertainment before I dig in and do the minutes of our last "company" meeting (I think I need to do some prodding - nothing of note achieved this week and timeline's shrinking! argh! Another story, another time!).

Popped by APOD, hoping to get lucky, and voila! prayers answered.



Each of those archs you see are huge. How huge? Think in terms of multiple times our planet's diameter. I've read about, and seen documentaries, on these corona loops and am always amazed by how insignificant our planet can be, compared to the giants that exist in our system alone. Let's not even talk about surrounding systems and galaxies. For the brief write-up on the pic, go here.


I've spent many an hour surfing from link to link. Good stuff!

Fiesty

By the way, when I'm 93 I want to be like her.

I've only ever hit a man in his balls once. Just once. No, I didn't get all drunk and giddy and embark on some pseudo power trip.

Eons ago, when I used to club like crazy, I was out on some dance floor somewhere with a bud. We were 2 women, just enjoying good beats, when this irritant came dancing his way up to us and ground his pelvis into my left ass cheek (funny how certain memories are bloody sharp, eh?)

Every time my back was turned, up he'd come. My bud would point him out but if I turned around, he'd spin and pretend to dance away. We swore at him, shouted at him, but he must have thought it was the greatest damned joke ever. Bugger must've rubbed up against me approximately 5-6 times. Yes, the 2 of us were exceptionally pissed.

So I watched him out of the corner of my eye, weighed up distance and tuned my body to the appropriate angle. And when he started to rub, I lifted my arm and swung it downwards as hard as I could. Guy was about my height. His groin was at the perfect height for my balled fist - which swung with the weight of my shoulder behind it in a perfect pendulum and hit him dead square. Perfect hit, as far as I was concerned.


Yes, he went down. Stayed down too. For quite some time, I recall.

Ship ahoy!

Is this cool or what? Guy builds a mock viking boat made of ice cream sticks

For some reason the story made me smile.

Schedule

I've been out every night of the week.

Feels strange! I've gone from getting home by 6.30PM, to having meetings at 6.30PM after work. It shouldn't be a problem because I did 14 hour days, 6 days a week, for 10 months. And before THAT, it was more of the same for 3 years :o


Must be getting old. Must be getting comfortable.

Useless

You can issue a call to action all you want, but like I posted before, getting the Indonesias off their bloody arses and into actually doing something about all that smoke being caused by land-clearance is..... well..... I don't even know what to say now. Useless is the mildest word that comes to mind.


Best not to get me started, eh?

Claim to fame

What a life.

Even after much debate, the name of the town is kept for historical reasons. And they have a reason, nay, the right! The right, I say, to be proud of a word that is probably one of the most dexterous in the lexicon that is the English language.

Fucking yeah!

Pun

The Grouchy Old Cripple has always had regular puns published. But this one seems worse than normal. Groan away!

Warfare

Is it just me, or is it open warfare between Finance and every other single operating department?

Every firm I've worked with - there's always been this You-Finance-Me-Ops division. Sometimes it's You-HR-Me-Ops, but the line's always drawn. I've only encountered one HR department that . That cared, that made an effort, that pulled their own weight and surprisingly, it was with the hotel. But every other place.... holy crap, you were lucky if they tracked your employee matters carefully.

Here? I have customers chasing me until we BOTH turn blue. And Finance cruises along, sucking in people's money, fucking up bank deductions (both wrong amounts AND wrong accounts) and generally having it's head stuck up it's arse. I've had a customer tell me to my face that my company is famous for making you pay up quick. And equally famous for making you wait if there was a claim and monis due to *you*.


What gives?

Busy

OOOoooo - been busy, been busy.
What did I miss?

Bearing the brunt

Malaysians are crying for Indonesian blood.

If you have read the article, allow me to bring up a few points which the local paper carried in hard copy.

#1
The Agreement that Indonesia agreed to, in principle, was from a series of inter-Nation (ASEAN) meetings TWO YEARS AGO. The govt has agreed, yes, but administration has to implement. And guess what? wahey! Not a damned thing has been done to this day.

#2
The Malaysian govt has gone from "no m'sians burning forests" to "feeling wretched" because m'sian firms are involved. WTF?


I really have no comment on this.

Wimp

I haven't touched a drop of alcohol in years.

I seem to have this problem - people don't believe I don't drink anymore. I go over to dear Nanny's house and it's "Darling? Want a cold beer? A shandy? We have something heavier if you want?". Has been that way for years, even though my answer is always "No, Nanny, I don't drink anymore."

Was at por por's house this evening (the other granny). One of the aunts made a tiramisu and had drenched the sponge with rum. (You know where this is heading, right?) I had my portion, drank my drink, and had a massive tummy-ache half an hour later.


I'm telling'ya, the older I get, the wimpier my tummy gets. Damn!

Of love and sample size

Ah so, we have 9 different types of love?

(1) Trust, recognition and support
- described as the "central story of love in our culture"
(2) Cupid's arrow
- love rooted in the physical attraction
(3) Hedonistic love
- little more than the pleasant and hedonistic feelings of excitement
(4) Love as ultimate connection and profound feeling
- a belief that love is the most profound of human feelings
(5) Demythologised love
- the romantic myth of love is rejected in favour of hard work and compromise
(6) Love as transformative adventure
- unpredictable love which can bring pleasure but can easily go wrong
(7) From Cupid's arrow to role-bound relationship
- love begins as an uncontrollable passion before the couple settle down
(8) From Cupid's arrow to friendship
- initial intense feelings give way over time to a relationship based friendship
(9) Dyadic-partnership love - involves "the merging of two people" where both partners put their relationship before their own individual needs

"Fifty people took part in the survey. Researchers said the most dominant view was that love should be based upon mutual trust, recognition and support."

Eh? Sorry? Say again? Sample size 50? How representative would THAT group have been, then?

Cannot get enough

I pop by to see jumping kitty pics quite often. The kitties are obviously well-loved and cared for. And this one kitty..... her facial expressions are hilarious!

It's like she's going ARGGHHH!!! GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME!


Just so damned cute!

Busy

I have a confession to make - I've not been busy with just my work. I'm in the midst of kick-starting a company with B and another partner, RC.

Was thinking about this on my way home tonight. We had sat down and pounded out our business model, mission/vision, and all the other tedious bits that needed to be done. We are slowly ironing out the perimeters of what each will bring to the table, argued about our SWOT lists, brainstormed for concepts we could tie-in that wasn't already done in the local market.

Being the do-er that I recognise myself to be, I kicked their asses on the nitty gritty details, logistics, registrations and processes. Then THEY kicked my ass on future projects and expansion plans (we're ambitious). Good. Very good. One's a dreamer (B), one's an anal retentive (me) and RC is..... well..... RC straddles the middle and is the only guy besides.


I think we have incredible synergy. I think we're on to something.

3 wives

Holy shit, this guy is in trouble. 3 wives. Buddy, that triple heart bypass was only the start of your problems.

Fat

I don't believe super fat people should be helped.

This story is incredible. Every time I hear of something like this, I would hope that something would happen to put them out of their misery. They're a burden to the state, their families, their friends and to themselves.

I do NOT believe that it's glandular problem or whatever bullshit. If it is a problem of some sort and you are so fat you cannot even get out of your damned bed, then something is VERY wrong somewhere. Society doesn't exist to serve you and your damned fat problems. A person exists within the society. That's why it's a bloody society. Get off your ass and earn some self respect.


From yourself. FOR yourself.

Smoke

By the way, if I could find a smoke bomb big enough, I'd like to cover the entire archipelago of Indonesia and suffocate them for a week. I'm just anticipating the smog that will descend upon Singapore when the winds change.

Every fucking year we have the same problem. The nations involved will kick up a fuss, especially Malaysia because it's the country bearing the brunt of it; and every single bloody year the smog will float out of Indonesia and smother us all.

Yes, you can tell I'm pissed. One year the smoke pollution was so bad, I was issued an inhaler by my Doc. And now, with my lungs acting up, I'm not looking forward to en extended period of hacking my lungs out.


Wishing for Indonesia to get it's act together is like wishing for snow in Singapore. Ain't never gonna happen.

Doggy sniffers

I think this is a great way to both harness our animal buds and track asshole rapists. Promising, indeed!

Trawling

s'been a busy busy few days. No time for me to run around to the usual suspect's hideouts and see what THEY've blogged about. Feels good to be this idle again.

Good news

Good news all around.

Managed to hit, for the first time, my pre-set target of 150 emails a day. It's a ridiculous target given by management, considering
(i) call centre target is only 90 received calls
(ii) you have to THINK before you type the words, since customer will hold you to a damned black-and-white
(iii) people who have the time to draft and send an email tend to ask stupid questions which require more thought than a "what time do you close" question posed over the phone.
I made it, but my brain feels like a fucking melon. All liquid, all pithy, and totally empty in every other respect.

Which was why I went to catch Land of the Dead after work. w00t! Zombie Movie! I was brain dead, so were these guys, it was fate, I'm telling you. Damned good stuff.

And to round up the evening? A call from my MasterChief. Joy! Glee! I get to see him soon - he called to confirm the date. And I, woman that I am, HAD to tell him about my present.


I hope I made his night :)

Apt

Long day. L O N G bloody day. This amused me no end. Heh.

Spyware

Holy crap - we had the spyware called "CoolWebSearch" on our home PC before.

Due to indiscriminate surfing, sometimes we get all this crappy stuff that latches on to our PC and then all hell breaks lose. Or breaks us down, rather. However, what's scary is this article.


Protect, protect, protect - that's all I can say.

Weird news round-up

Normally, there'd be separate posts, with my 2cents worth of comments. But I'm sleepy after all that bloody food.

Dog eats a g-string
What the hell was the owner thinking? If you have a big dog and he eats "anything that isn't nailed down", don't you think leaving skimpy underwear around wasn't the best thing to do?

Wife left at patrol station
Holy crap - if the MasterChief did this to me, all hell would break loose. Fortunately, he's a darling and I have full faith that he would never be this stupid.

2 straight men to marry
Marrying for tax benefits? At least they have a sense of humour!


Might have time to pop by the Carnival of the Cats before my eyelids get all droopy :o

Think

I think this is a fantastic idea.

Teenagers are being encouraged to think about the future. Our future. Not a fantastically futuristic slant on things, but applicable technology. How our lives might evolve and change.

"..... an emphasis on an ability to communicate "the excitement and practical uses" of the scientific theory..... The winners will be treated to a VIP visit to the Space Center, based at Cape Canaveral, Florida."

How cool is that? Our youngsters are being pushed into thinking, essentially, about man's way of life. Too many kids don't think, cannot appreciate, are unable to fathom how we've evolved. And how dependant we are on the Earth.


I wish they'd do something similar here.

Anniversary

To-day is Singapore's National Day. It is also my parents' wedding anniversary.

I don't bandy that fact around too much - people have a tendency to go "Eh? Your father very patrotic, ah?" And true, I have asked Dad before about it. Which was weird, because Dad's reply was that it seemed like a good idea at the time.

So Mom decided, on the spur of the moment, to have some family over on the spur. And I mean REALLY last minute - only found out at 10PM last night when Mom came back from tai chi class. And it was for lunch. Argh! There goes my day of rest!

They came, sat in the living room and chatted. Fortunately, there aren't any feuds between my parent's families.


Mom hasn't cooked for the longest time but hey! Some things never change. All yummy! Here's about half the food as it was being laid out in the dinning room.


And the lovely bouquet that Nan and family always send over every year, without fail.



After all that food, I am Extremely Stuffed. Nap time!

All female

This is interesting - a hotel wing all for women.

Actually, there is some truth in the matter. Women always seek security (what else is new, eh?) so I'm surprised no hotel has done this before. I expect them to be kept busy by female travellers who seem the comfort and plushness that comes with having the room designed around them. Still, if you travel for business, most executives I know of don't have the time to enjoy the little extras. So I'm not sure if it'll be sustainable.


Interesting to see how it works out, eh?

Happy Birthday Singapore

Did you want to see what my "dance team" looked like?

The National Day Observation ceremony was this morning; the teams drew lots last week and we got to go first. Which is how I wanted it, actually. Get up there, shake the booty, get it bloody over and done with, off the stage, end of story. I'm the one in the back row with the mad grin and curly hair.

It was scary - 400 people crammed into HQ's auditorium, all waving flags and singing national songs. I mentioned to my bud, J, that it felt a little like a cult gathering. Swept up in nationalistic fervor.

Actually, I can understand why there was such a push, initially, when Singapore was first born. Just kicked out of the Malaysian federation, a tiny island peopled by chinese, bordered by 2 MUCH larger land masses filled with Malays and Indonesians. As unpolitically correct as it may seem, the then government needed to make sure the racial card was never ever an issue again, especially after the racial riots of the 1950s and 1960s.

Even until this day, racial cohesion is a carefully deflected cornerstone of Singaporean society. On the surface, all is calm. And indeed, most of us don't care what race you are. But attest - our identity cards carry a person's race. All governmental forms will ask you to identify your race too. If we're truly a multi-racial community, then why continue to ask?

Heavy thoughts as the Nation turns 40. Yes, that's how young Singapore is. Inspite of it all, I think we've come a tremendous way and have done most excellently. I'm quite proud of THAT.


Happy Birthday, Singapore.

Excited

I've toyed with the idea of recording something. Just for fun..... and perhaps a little vanity.

I've finally done it. Excited! And the reason I finally took the plunge? My MasterChief will be here soon and I don't think I'll see him for his bday. So I recorded Heaven by Bryan Adams, and Love Will Keep Us Alive by the Eagles. Not my first choices, not by a long shot. But the selection was a little underwhelming. Apparently, these guys have got studio buy in so all the soundtracks are legit.

I wanted Open Arms by Journey but apparently Steve Perry has a bug up his arse and won't release the copyrights.

The studio will mix and give me a reverb on the tracks so my voice sounds fuller. And I'm surprised I managed to keep on key all the time, considering I haven't sung for over 18? 24? months. Took me 2 hours, playing around with the songs, trying to relax, trying to warm up a voice that has lost it's vocal elasticity. Heh! I pick up the CD in a couple of days and will play it for J who will (ahem) constructively criticize it (yeah right).

Then the MasterChief will receive it about 10 days later. About 2 weeks too early for his bday, but better early than late, I say.

Damn, I never thought I'd do that. But it seemed like a fantastic reason! Listen to the words, Baby, they mean a lot to me. To us.


And if you're reading this post, try and feign surprise when I give you the CD? :)

Butterflies

I've always wondered about the Monarch Butterfly's migration. What a wonderous thing! So delicate and yet so bloody determined and driven. But that's Mother Nature for you.

It's one of the few things I think I would like to experience personally.


I'm quite glad they're not making their trip alone this year.

Hearing

Please ask your male partner not to use this as an excuse?

Granted, men and women are definitely wired differently both mentally and physically; but we still need to take the time and communicate with our respestive partners, yes? Without open communication, a relationship soon withers and fades away.


And this is as literal as it gets. Heh!

Women in Saudi Arabia

Another interesting read from the BBC about women in Saudi Arabia. But more importantly, it serves to confirm some stories I'd heard much, much earlier in my life.

An ex-school mate of mine used to live in Saudi Arabia because his father was based there. All the happening parties were in the expat compound, naturally, and the Saudi women who attended were dressed as sexily as any young woman found in any disco, in ANY country. Skimpy tops, mini skirts, lux underwear and high heels. That was the standard uniform. Behind doors, of course. Mind you, this was about 15 years ago.

And another story related by a personal friend, who spoken to the Filipina who ended up in SG as his domestic help. Apparently, she used to be a hair dresser in Saudi Arabia. And her clients were extremely well-to-do. They'd get her to do their hair, their mani- and pedi-cures, as well as (get this) their bikini lines. They'd go in pairs and arouse each other during their beauty salon trips, then return home do each other.

Make sense in a way..... if your husband treats you either (i) like a baby making machine or (ii) property, you'd want pleasure from another source. I don't swing that way but I understand the concept behind it.


Only the concept, mind. The culture itself is still a tad alien.

WTF - socks with pumps

For the love of god, can someone please tell me why women wear SOCKS with their pumps?

Soon after this photo was taken on a public train, I started noticing that the woman above was not an exception. Like any other kooky thing you suddenly notice, the world was all at once filled with women who wore socks with their pumps.


Tramautic for me, indeed!

Pics up

Finally managed to upload the pics from Friday's work "dinner" and the flag mayhem mentioned before. This is a test for URL worthiness from a Yahoo! photo album so if it doesn't work, feel free to drop me a comment. Have to bugger off for now - will be back later to see if the link works.

Oogle

Oogle this for me whilst I'm busy, will you?

Long day

Loads to do to-day and tomorrow - posting will be light.

Damn! It's addictive, y'know?

Smoke

Damn - I smell smoke. Joss stick smoke. We're into the early days of August so I rather suspect the Chinese 7th Month has started.


:o

Flags gone wild

People at work have gone fucking nuts. There are flags EVERYWHERE. I've gots to take me more pics. The ones I posted are as nothing compared to the mayhem that's currently erupting in the office right now.

ToastMasters

So - no interview. Went for a ToastMaster's demo meeting instead.

I'd always been interested in the ToastMasters but never really was THAT interested to go join a chapter. Then, found out that one of my colleagues was part of a chapter started by my company, and invited me to one of their meetings.

I think the concept behind it is FABULOUS. The fear of public speaking has been consistantly rated as one of people's foremost fears. And I've tasted that fear. The first time I did stand-up training was to a group of 30 strangers and I tell you, my damned knees were knocking.

Still, giving a presentation to underlings is somehow ok. Tonight, however, I was asked to present a 2 minute speech to a group of 20 complete strangers. Some of them apparently very distinguished in their own right. Bugger who were clearly extremely experienced, in their 40s and 50s. And no preparation, eh? Up you go, you're given the topic, and off you are on your speech. And the entire room votes after all 6 presenters are through. Argh! Knee knocking is a bloody understatement!

To my surprise, I made it through. Not only did I make it through, I was given a ribbon. Wahey!


Doesn't the ToastMasters emblem look like one of those old fashioned societies? We don't get them a lot in SG. No much in terms fraternities and the like. You could say I was quite tickled.



I think I'll join up after all.

No news is good news

All clean now - came home not long ago, hit the shower, and now I'm clean enough to eat off from. Heh.

No, no news on the recruiter. She actually called me around lunch to call off the meeting. Muttered something about the JD being changed and how she'd get back to me soonest possible. In addition, the comapny nam,e she provided last night turned up not one iota of a trace. I smell a fish. But don't really give a shit anyways.....


Still waiting on another job application that I'd REALLY like to sink my teeth into!

Red & white

I almost forgot.

Since I'm working for a quasi-government type copany, I've never really been involved in National Day stuff before. One of the executives asked why I wanted pics, and I told him the truth. Since I'd worked typically in a commercial company, employees would've never been so..... enthusiastic. (more like would never have been caught dead, more like, but that's another story!)

At any rate, people here are really into this decoration thingie. I kid thee not. They went out and bought props and stuff. Damn!

Here's the admin section, where I'm now based. I have this bunch of plastiky flags in my face every damned day. That's my black handbag on the table to the right. One of the admin team leaders came over and said "Aiyoh! So pathetic! Aren't you guys going to do something else?" I just wondered if I'd made the ultimate sacrifice. My dignity! Prancing around in the song and dance segment! Heh!

Others tried to be creative and spent hours folding these paper hearts. I had to call one of the team leaders over and I just HAD to tell him..... "Eh! The flags are crooked!"


This bunch actually sat down and did their own buntings. Amazing. Too much free time, I suspect. But I do confess the pic doesn't really do justice to the riot of red and white that positively screams out SINGAPORE!!


I liked this cluster the best..... the orchid is our national flower and they were in the middle of putting the blooms out. Pretty creatively , I thought. And as a profusion of flowers are wont to do - evoking an extremely pleasing sight to the eye.


I don't normally enjoy the common purple orchid all that much, but some of the blooms were unblemished, velvety, perfect, beautiful. This one caught my eye especially.

I'll try and get you pics of the bloody prancing. Yeah, like that'll seal my humiliation in forever. :o

Thoughts

I've been following this series on and off for a while now.

It's been an interesting read, whenever the urge takes me. I've always found the Middle East to be a bastion of conservativism, a series of inward-looking, archaic islands all linked solely by religous fevor. Economics is all well and good, but that's because they have oil. Take that away, and what do you have left? Sometimes I wonder if they'll eventually revert to tribalism and a really basic feudal system.

But that's all just hypothetical thinking. I really meant to just speak about their treatment of women. Sometimes I dwell on what it would be like, with my personality and character, to have been born into a society like that. Would I have survived? Would I have been able to hide my often-times defiant self? How would I have played the demure virgin? The submissive little woman? Would I have the courage to fight the conception that women were little more than property and baby-making factories?


I think I'd go crazy.

Statutes

Can't say work's not teaching me anything - found out that all the laws passed in SG are online. All. I'm quite pleased about that, for some reason.

Whew

This is something men will wince at, but which women will find hilarious. Trust me.

Unexpected

Left work, trudged back home, bone tired. Was upstairs trying to cool off when I was asked to take a call.

From a headhunter.

Turns out that someone, somewhere, had a copy of my CV from one year ago, and this woman was trying to match her client up with candidates. Apparently (she claims) she's had lousy matches so far and think's I could be The One.

I'm interested, I'm a little excited & flustered, but I definitely am ready to return to real work. With a real company. And except for that huge pinch of salt - the one? geez! - I'm pretty psyched to meet this recruiter tomorrow evening.


More news as it happens, intrepids.

Spread again?

I wonder if swine flu is going to do a SARS thingie and spread faster than you can wheeze out a sneeze. I also wouldn't put it past the Chinese to vigourously urge proper disposal of the pig carcasses on one hand, whilst just dumping'em or something quietly behind the scenes.

I mean, it's good that you mouth the words. But how do you change centuries of stubborn behaviour?


Good luck to you.

Strange

Oh dear. What a macabre and tragic story.

9 little bodies have been found in Germany, buried in and around a house. But get this! The woman admits to being the mother but doesn't confess to killing them.

I understand the concept of innocent until proven guilty. But I find it strange that she didn't kick up a fuss about this. 9! Not 1 or 2 or 3 but 9 little children! And this woman has existing children, from different fathers.


I'm sorry - but perhaps you should have considered putting a plug in somewhere? somehow?

National Day Fervor

Oh kay.

s'the first time I've ever worked any where quasi-government. First I get "nominated" to participate in this artificially flavoured show of patrotism, now people are actually decorating their desks in enthusiasm. Competing to see who has the best decorated "team" decor. It's weird, I'm telling you.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my country and I'm proud of what we do. Yes, like any other country we have our own problems and yo-yo idiots. But the people I grew up with..... we're not fanatically rabid about shoving our enthusiasm in your face. I'll try and grab some pics from the office, show you what I mean.

I feel..... weird. A little like an outsider, actually.

Although that shouldn't come as surprise. I'm from an English speaking home, it's my mother tongue. I had to learn to speak mandarin and was forced to use it at work, when I first started out. Why? Because I had an Asian face but didn't speak any of the asian languages. I actually had people pick on me because they thought I was a wanna-be white. I learned quickly, I'm telling you.


Strange how certain things never change. Weird.

For better or for verse

Reuters won't load so I'm trawling Yahoo! News.

And this is a hoot(er).

"As he stared at her ample bosom, he daydreamed of the dual Stromberg carburetors in his vintage Triumph Spitfire, highly functional yet pleasingly formed, perched prominently on top of the intake manifold, aching for experienced hands, the small knurled caps of the oil dampeners begging to be inspected and adjusted as described in chapter seven of the shop manual,"

Yes, I'd like to be inspected and adjusted. OH the play on words. The BDSM aspect. It all WORKS, baby!

Right, that's enough of that. Onwards and forwards, people. And go read the article. This competition in bad prose has been around for a while now and every year's winner is as classic as it gets. I remember first coming across an article about this competition. It was initially awareded to someon who inadvertantly wrote bad prose. Now people deliberately write it bad, just so they can compete.


I must confess, I do enjoy the results.

Smoke

Heh - a smokeless ciggerette.

It's actually a damned good idea. At work I always smoke alone - because when smokers gather ina little group, everyone walks away reeking. I'm a woman - I want to smell good. I don't want to smell like an un-aired disco.

Actually had a colleague, once, who asked me why I stood the way I did when I smoked. Because it was the smoke, dah-ling. You stand and feel for wind direction, then blow the smoke away in the same direction. Giggles all around, true, but the next time we had a smoke break, you had about 3-4 women all facing the same way.


Hilarious!

Of statistics and service levels

I am a statistic.

Was pottering around at home when a phone call came in - person identified herself as representing the Ministry of Community Development. Or something like that. No identification and no prelude - just "would you be able to spare a few minutes?" Turns out that she was conducting a phone interview on how Singaporeans view the current climate.

Topic doesn't matter - I can be pretty reasonable if the other person is too. Took the questions in good grace; whichever company was hired to do the telemarketing at least picked someone who could speak proper english and exhibited basic couresty levels.

See, I am also a service staff's worst nightmare. Especially if you are a telemarketeer.

Have worked in contact centres all my life. I've trained telemarketeers. I've written the specs. I've assessed and audited on quality checks. I've pitched for, and won, contact centre projects for blue-chip companies. And if you cannot hold a phone conversation, especially if you want something out of me, then God Help You.


Oh well.

Dance

I have "dance" practice tomorrow.

Did you really want to hear me whine about how skinny women with no sense of co-ordination and/or rhythm are boring to practice with? Or that we have people with attitude, who also have all the grace of dutch clogs? No? You sure?


I'll try and get some pics to share the hilariousness of the situation.